Triple world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) gave Spanish cycling a much needed boost today when he claimed his second Classic of the season in Paris-Tour. Freire's name will close a chapter in the "Sprinters Classic", as today was its final showdown with the finish situated on the storied Avenue de Grammont. The Spaniard emerged in the final meters with his trademark burst of speed, leaving Angelo Furlan (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Gert Steegmans (RadioShack) in his wake.
"Every year I have good results at this race," commented Freire after his win. "I think it was a good chance becasue my condition was okay, so I tried...the team controlled the race and I won.
"This is a spectacular race for me," he continued, "The last two years it came [to the finish] in a break, and I have been [in position for a result] when it was a sprint two times here before and did not win."
On a sunny day in the small village of La Loupe, 190 riders headed out on the 233 kilometer journey to the cathedral city of Tours. This year would mark the last finish on the Avenue de Grammont, a landmark stretch of road that has captured the imagination of the sprinters. Next year a tram line will see a new finale, so the fast men set off looking to make their mark on this historic event. The past two years have seen a small group emerge on the final climbs, with Belgian Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) taking both editions home.
The race revolved around a group of eight that included Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky), Simon Geschke (Skil Shimano), Yuriy Krivtsov (AG2r La Mondiale), Nikolas Maes (Quick Step), Travis Meyer (Garmin-Transitions), Jonas Jörgensen (Saxo Bank) Aleksejs Saramotins (HTC-Columbia), Laurent Pichon (Bretagne-Schuller). The escape was kept to within four minutes, with the peloton reeling back the gap to less than 1 minute 30 seconds by the time they reached the 40 kilometer mark.
It was the team of defending winner Gilbert who picked up the speed on top of an already strong pace that had averaged 48 kph over the first four hours. At the 34 kilometer mark the gap was below a minute, and a handful of kilometers later it was Maes and Geschke out front trying to reach the finish alone. The pair became a quartet with Saramotins and Flecha bridging the gap, leaving 24 kilometers to race and as many seconds in hand.
At the 20 kilometer mark it was Rabobank pushing the pace, with the Quick Step team also pooling towards the front. A group of eight tried to make the junction to the leading four, but the peloton wasn't content to let anything go, as they approached the finishing climbs and narrowing roads.
The race gets down to business
RadioShack's Geoffroy Laquatre put in an attack with 16 kilometers remaining, and pulled along Sébastien Hinalt (AG2r La Mondiale), Jérémy Roy (FDJ) and Florian Vachon. They quickly made the junction to the leading quartet, to make it a disorganized group of eight in the lead, with a slim 20 seconds over the peloton. The lead continued to erode as the teams setup their leaders for the climbs, with Laquatre firing out of the group as his companions were left for dead with 12 kilometers to race.
The Côte de l’Epan saw the peloton fire up the pace behind, with the Frenchman thrashing ahead and holding a 30 second gap with 8 kilometers remaining. A kilometer later he had lost 5 seconds and, in two more, he had less than 20 on the Rabobank-led bunch.
Tossato was the next to go at the 4 kilometer mark on the 7% gradient of the Côte du Petit-Pas-D’Ane, while Laquatre held on to a 20 second advantage. Dutch champion Niki Terpstra (Milram) was next a kilometer later, with the lone leader losing 5 seconds from the tussle behind. Vacansoleil took over the chase, but hesitation behind from the Liquigas-Doimo team saw the leader gain 3 seconds with just 2 kilometers left.
The flamme rouge saw the RadioShack rider first, but the peloton was breathing down his neck, as the sprinters charged down the Avenue de Grammont for the last time. Laquatre put in a bold effort, but it was Danilo Hondo (Lampre-Farnese Vini) that started things off for his sprinter Furlan, with Freire charging out of the melée to stamp out another victory.
2010 Paris-Tours result:
1. Oscar Freire (Rabobank)
2. Angelo Furlan (Lampre-Farnese Vini)
3. Gert Steegmans (RadioShack)
4. Klaas Lodewyck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator)
5. Yukiya Arashiro (Bbox Bouygues Telekom)
6. Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil)
7. Yoann Offredo (FDJ)
8. Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step)
9. Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Columbia)
10. Sébastien Chavanel (FDJ)