Germany’s Tony Martin of HTC-Highroad hammered home his victory intentions at Paris-Nice by winning the sixth stage time trial to take command of the “Race to the Sun” on Friday.
Fellow German Andreas Kloden started the 27km race against the clock with a 10 second advantage on Martin, but could only finish in fourth, 46 seconds back, as Martin scorched to a superb stage win two days before the finish.
Racing at an average of 48.5kph, Martin left Britain’s Bradley Wiggins in second at 20 seconds with Australian Richie Porte placing a commendable third at 29 seconds adrift to move back up the general classification.
Photo: AFP
Martin, the recent winner of the Tour of the Algarve, was to head into yesterday’s penultimate stage — an undulating 215.5km from Brignoles a Biot to Sophia-Antipolis — with a 36 second lead over Kloden.
Although the race does not -finish until today, Martin is quietly confident he can claim his second stage race win in as many months.
“Paris-Nice is one of the first races I’ve started where I’ve been one of the favorites, so to show that I can handle that responsibility is important,” said Martin, who is considered one of the world’s best specialists in the race against the clock.
“This is one of my best ever victories, especially since I’ve taken the race lead. It’s still early in the season, but it gives me confidence for the races coming up, and for the Tour de France, Martin said.
With three of their riders — Kloden, Levi Leipheimer and Janez Brajkovic — in the top seven, RadioShack are sure to give HTC-Highroad food for thought in the ensuing two stages, which are hilly, technical and could be held in challenging weather conditions.
“Andreas had a solid performance, he can’t be too disappointed, but what can he do against the younger guys?” RadioShack sports director Alain Gallopin said. “Still, Jani [Brajkovic] and Levi [Leipheimer] are not too far back and the weathermen have predicted rain, so maybe we have a chance.”
Martin’s team will also be wary of Team Sky, who saw Wiggins move back up the overall standings to third at just 39 seconds.
The Londoner is not known for his attacking prowess, but after a solid ascension of the difficult Col de la Mure on Thursday he is far from being out of contention.
Among the big casualties on Friday was Belgian Jurgen Van den Broeck, who finished fifth overall at last year’s Tour de France, but was more than three minutes slower than Martin and dropped to 24th overall.
TIRRENO-ADRIATICO
AFP, ROME
Argentinian Juan Jose Haedo of the Saxo Bank team took the 189km long third stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico, from Terranuova Bracciolini to Perugia, on Friday.
Tyler Farrar of the US finished second to retain the race leader’s blue jersey, with Haedo moving up to second in the overall standings.
Farrar leads Haedo by five seconds with Dutchman Lars Boom, an all-rounder who is a contender for overall victory, a further second back in third.
For the second consecutive day Norway’s world champion Thor Hushovd did most of the work for Farrar, bringing the American to the finish line before peeling off.
With British sprint king Mark Cavendish struggling to keep the pace again, the coast looked clear for yet another Garmin-Cervelo win.
However, Farrar appeared to run out of juice yards before the finish line as Haedo’s top end speed came to the fore.
Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi of Lampre finished fourth, with HTC-Highroad’s Cavendish down in fifth and Australian Robbie McEwen in sixth.
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