Belgium’s Gianni Meersman of the Lotto team claimed victory in the fourth stage of the Paris-Nice on Wednesday, with Britain’s Bradley Wiggins (Sky) holding on to the leader’s yellow jersey.
Meersman crossed the finish line in Rodez ahead of Slovenia’s Grega Bole, who had launched the final sprint, and Dutchman Lieuwe Westra.
Spain’s Xavier Florencio pipped Frenchman Jonathan Hivert on the line to claim fourth place.
Photo: Reuters
Wiggins kept main rival Alejandro Valverde in his sights in the final climb.
The Spaniard finished in eighth position, two places ahead of Wiggins, but the 20 seconds time difference between the two men remained unchanged.
“Our objective today was to let a breakaway get away until the end,” Wiggins said. “But Rabobank went for it, because the gap was three minutes. It was perfect for us. We stayed on their wheels and we were able to rest the guys in the team for the next stages.”
“The final was crazy — there were roundabouts, it was really dangerous, but I was OK and I stayed in the top five the whole time,” he added.
Having finished third in the previous stage, 26-year-old Meersman registered his second success of the season after winning a stage in the Tour of the Algarve in Portugal earlier this year.
“First place is what counts,” said Meersman, who was plagued by injuries between 2007 and 2009.
“Yesterday [Tuesday], everyone said it was good when I finished third, but what matters is being able to lift your arms. You don’t make sacrifices to finish second or third. This winter I’ve trained a lot for the sprints. I have to thank the team, who worked really hard,” he said.
TIRRENO-ADRIATICO
AP, DONORATICO, ITALY
The new GreenEdge team led by Australian rider Matthew Goss dominated a team time trial on Wednesday to open the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico race.
Gaining nearly a second per kilometer on its nearest challengers, GreenEdge clocked 18 minutes, 41 seconds over the 16.9km route from San Vincenzo to Donoratico near the Tuscan coast, and Goss crossed first to take the overall leader’s jersey.
“It’s incredible to have won the first team time trial we’ve entered,” said Goss, who was a surprise winner of last year’s Milan-San Remo.
RadioShack, led by quadruple time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara, came second. The US’ sprinting standout Tyler Farrar and prologue specialist David Millar led Garmin to a third-place finish. Both teams finished 17 seconds behind.
Sky, featuring world champion Mark Cavendish, finished fourth, 23 seconds behind, while the BMC squad with Tour de France winner and defending Tirreno champion Cadel Evans — plus Belgian standout Philippe Gilbert — was 17th, 58 seconds back.
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