Belgium’s Tom Boonen won the final sprint of a cold and wind-wracked second stage of the 2012 Paris-Nice cycling race, taking third in the general classification.
“I felt good,” Boonen told Sporze.be. “In the beginning of the race, we weren’t pushing that hard, but once it got going, it was really intense. Once I realized we would end up sprinting I felt good, because after such a tricky stage there would certainly be a hard sprint, and I had the power.
“The most important thing for the team now is to deliver Levi Leipheimer to the final time trial in the best shape possible. He must win Paris-Nice for the team; it is as simple as that.”
Stage Two was probably the only one for sprinters at this year’s Paris-Nice, and some of the best weren’t there at the end.
The 185-km (115-mile) ride from Mantes-la-Jolie to Orléans was dead flat; the only climb was a 1.5 km (.93 miles), 3 percent incline—so slight as to be unnoticeable to riders of this caliber. The real obstacle was the weather: 46 degrees with crosswinds upwards of 20 mph.
A group of 30 riders attacked just after the feeding zone 35 minutes into the race. Caught unaware and buffeted by strong winds that prevented large groups of riders from sheltering each other, the peloton split into several small groups, none of which could organize sufficiently to chase down the leaders.
The lead group contained four riders from the new Belgian superteam Omega Pharma-Quickstep, plus Tejay Van Garderen and Taylor Phinney from BMC, and British National Champion Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas from Sky. Missing were defending champion Tony Martin, also from Omega Pharma-Quickstep, and Andreas Klöden of RadioShack Nissan, both considered favorites.
A crash in the lead group dropped several riders back; 21 continued on with a two-minute advantage over the peloton.
With the peloton split, the race for the stage win was also the race for the lead in General Classification and likely the whole event; the chasing groups were losing too much time to make up in the remaining six stages.
Heading into the city of Orlèans, the leading 21 riders had 2:20 on the rest; all that was left was to see who would win the sprint. Omega’s Sylvain Chavanel kept the pace high all the way to the last kilometer to stifle any attacks; then teammate Nikolas Maes took over.
Jose Joaquin Rojas...
Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) and John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i) are both strong sprinters, but big Tom Boonen, who showed great form in the Stage One time trial, simply overpowered the opposition. Boonen’s leadout train ran out of gas on the slight slope to the final few hundred meters, so the big Belgian took over and muscled his way across the line first. Rojas took second and Degenkolb took third.
British national Champion Bradley Wiggins of Sky took over the yellow jersey with six seconds over OmegaPharma-Lotto’s Levi Leipheimer and seven over Boonen. American Tejay Van Garderen lies fourth overall, 11 seconds down, easily taking the Best Young Rider jersey.
Tom Boonen was hailed as the next big thing when he turned pro, but a suspension for off-season recreational drug use and unfortunate injuries to his knee and wrist kept him from achieving his potential. All that is behind him now as the 31-year-old Belgian has regained his form, and as part of the powerhouse Omega Pharma-Quickstep squad can count on many victories to come.
Boonen, a very powerful rider, is looking toward the one-day Classics, but his performance at Paris-Nice will surely earn him a spot on the Tour de France squad as well.
Omega Pharma-Quickstep is the new HTC-Highroad, the team so strong they can field a winning squad anywhere. In early March the team has already won 21 races.
Stage Three, 194 km (120 miles) Vierzon to Le Lac de Vassivière, features two Cat 3 climbs and a hilltop finish. The Côte de Bourganeuf runs 1.2 km at 4 percent; Le Lac de Vassivière, 5.2 km at 3.9 percent to the finish line. While Wiggins and Leipheimer are both excellent climbers, the slops are gentle enough that a power rider like Boonen could well keep the pace.
The only certainty is that Paris-Nice 2012 will be won by one of the top 11 riders in GC after Stage Two. Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde, back on form following a suspension, lies 11th, 30 seconds back. The rest of the favorites are three minutes behind, or worse.
With a few steep climbs and hilltop finishes to come, plus the uphill final time trial, one would have to lean towards Wiggins, Leipheimer, or Van Garderen—who said at the start of the season that he planned to win here—taking final honors.
| 2012 Paris Nice Stage Three | |||
| Rider | Team | ||
| 1 | Tom Boonen | Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 4:22:15 |
| 2 | Jose Joaquin Rojas | Movistar |
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| 3 | John Degenkolb | Project 1T4i |
|
| 4 | Sep Vanmarcke | Garmin-Barracuda |
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| 5 | Francesco Gavazzi | Astana |
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| 6 | Angel Vicioso Arcos | Katusha |
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| 7 | Maxime Monfort | RadioShack-Nissan |
|
| 8 | Taylor Phinney | BMC |
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| 9 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar |
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| 10 | Geraint Thomas | Sky |
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| 11 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky |
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| 12 | Tejay Van Garderen | BMC |
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| 13 | Anthony Ravard | Ag2R |
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| 14 | Sylvain Chavanel | Omega Pharma-Quick Step |
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| 15 | Levi Leipheimer | Omega Pharma-Quick Step |
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| 16 | Lieuwe Westra | Vacansoleil-DCM |
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| 17 | Simon Spilak | Katusha |
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| 18 | Nikolas Maes | Omega Pharma-Quick Step |
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| 19 | Arnold Jeannesson | FDJ-Bigmat |
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| 20 | Robert Kiserlovski | Astana |
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| General Classification after Stage Three | |||
| Rider | Team | ||
| 1 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Procycling | |
| 2 | Levi Leipheimer | Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 00:00:06 |
| 3 | Tom Boonen | Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 00:00:07 |
| 4 | Tejay Van Garderen | BMC | 00:00:11 |
| 5 | Sylvain Chavanel | Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 00:00:14 |
| 6 | Maxime Monfort | RadioShack-Nissan | 00:00:18 |
| 7 | Taylor Phinney | BMC | 00:00:21 |
| 8 | Lieuwe Westra | Vacansoleil-DCM | 00:00:22 |
| 9 | Geraint Thomas | Sky | 00:00:28 |
| 10 | Jose Joaquin Rojas | Movistar | 00:00:29 |
