http://www.tdf-tours.com/Spyns 2010 Tour de France clients may already know of the Amaury Sport Organization. The ASO owns and operates the Tour de France and a host of other races and sporting events like the Paris-Nice race. Held every March, Paris-Nice is also nicknamed the "race to the sun" as it starts in grey Paris and finishes on the sun-kissed Côte d'Azur. It is considered one of the most important races leading up to the Tour de France. Here are the latest results.
Peter Sagan of Slovakia won the third stage of Paris-Nice on Wednesday, and German veteran Jens Voigt claimed the overall lead. Sagan was able to follow Nicolas Roche's attack in the last climb and won the 153-kilometre stage ahead of Joaquin Rodriguez. Roche finished third. The 38-year-old Voigt was two seconds back in fourth to overtake the yellow jersey from Lars Boom of the Netherlands, who won the opening time trial.
"Paris-Nice is a big race and after I had a good prologue, I told myself that with a little bit of luck I could sneak into the yellow jersey," Voigt said. "I'm more than happy and now we have to try to hold on to it." Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was sixth, with the same time as Voigt. The 20-year-old Sagan screamed in joy after overpowering a six-man group to claim his first Pro Tour win. "This is an important moment of my career because this is my first victory in a very big race," Sagan said. "But my goal isn't to win this race. I'm here to help our team leader, Roman Kreuziger, who is still in the race for the general classification."
Kreuziger stands fifth overall, 14 seconds off the pace, while Sagan moved up to second, six seconds behind Voigt. Defending champion Luis Leon Sanchez of Spain is third, nine seconds back. Because of snow at the scheduled start in Saint-Junien, the stage was shortened by 53 kilometres. Yann Huguet, Nikolas Maes and former Belgian road champion Jurgen Roelandts broke away after 33 kilometres and led by seven minutes at one stage. The Caisse d'Epargne and Cofidis teams set up a fast tempo in the last 50 kilometres and Maes was the first to be brought back before Huguet and Roelandts gave up six kilometres from the finish. Roche launched his attack in the Cote de la Martinie and was followed by a group of five riders, including Voigt and Contador.
Spyns former clients have seen Contador ascend the Paris podium to win the Tour de France in 2007 and again in 2009. Lance Armstrong considers Contador his greatest competition for the 2010 Tour de France. He has reason to worry. Contador's burst of speed in the last kilometres showed he has recovered from his crash in the first stage. The Spaniard climbed to seventh place, 20 seconds behind. Thursday's showcase stage between Maurs and Mende features a top hill finish that follows a 3.1-kilometre ascent with an average gradient of 10 per cent. The 12th stage of this year's Tour de France will also finish in Mende. "Tomorrow is very tricky and we'll see how the team goes and if it's possible to take (the yellow jersey) all the way to Nice," Voigt said. "The young guns keep pushing and say, 'Hey, old man, go away!' It's not getting easier with the years. But I still train hard, I still have the dedication and I'm still determined to get a few results."
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2010 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2010 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/, http://www.spyns.com/, or call 1.888.825.4720.
