Spain’s Xavier Tondo held off the peloton to snatch the sixth stage of the Paris-Nice race after a 180km breakaway on Saturday.
Cervelo rider Tondo attacked a group of fugitives in the final ascent and never looked back to clinch his 10th career victory at the end of a 220km effort from Peynier.
Compatriot Alejandro Valverde was second, five seconds behind, and he snatched six seconds of bonuses to narrow the gap on overall leader Alberto Contador to 14 seconds.
Slovakian Peter Sagan, who has won two stages in the race, was third.
The whole Astana team kept their cool and let others do most of the chasing work as Contador retained the overall lead before the final stage in Nice.
A group of 23, including Levi Leipheimer of the US, France’s Sylvain Chavanel, the biggest threat to Contador’s lead, and former Giro champion Damiano Cunego broke away after 40km.
The peloton, with the Astana, Liquigas, Garmin Transitions and Caisse d’Epargne teams swapping positions at the front, controlled the gap at about 1 minute, 30 seconds, with Contador perfectly protected by his domestiques.
Leipheimer’s RadioShack teammate, Tiago Machado, however, stepped up a gear in the fugitives’ group to stretch the lead to 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
Tondo attacked in the demanding ascent to the Col de Vence and was followed by Cunego and Frenchman Cyril Gautier.
Tondo was the strongest of the trio and he went solo midway through the climb as the other fugitives were caught one by one by the favorites’ group, led by the Caisse d’Epargne team.
There was only Cunego left in between, but the Italian surrendered with 15km left.
A group of seven, including five Frenchmen, powered out of the main pack to chase down Tondo, but they did not collaborate and the Spaniard flew to a deserved win.
Five riders were involved in a scary crash some 45km from the finish while riding at full speed in a descent, with Frenchman Arnaud Gerard being forced to pull out.
His Francaise des Jeux team said he suffered a fractured left hip. The four others managed to get back on their bikes and cross the line.
TIRRENO-ADRIATICO
AP, CHIETI, Italy
Defending champion Michele Scarponi won the fourth and longest stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico on Saturday and also took the overall lead in the week-long race.
Scarponi broke away from a small group of riders on a steep climb about 4km from the finish and completed the hilly 243km route from San Gemini to Chieti in 6 hours, 23 minutes and 47 seconds.
Benoit Vaugrenard of France was second, 14 seconds behind, and Leonardo Bertagnolli of Italy finished third.
Scarponi, an Italian with the Androni Giocattoli team, holds an 18-second lead over Vaugrenard in the overall standings.
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