Rémy Di Gregorio (Astana) finished off a well-timed move with 13km to go in stage seven of Paris-Nice. The 215 kilometers between Brignoles Biot - Sophia Antipolis were held in very rainy conditions, with several riders crashing. Di Gregorio held off a final push by Xavier Tondo (Movistar), who brought several racers with him on the uphill drag to the finish. But Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) could only manage second place in the end, ahead of Rigoberto Uran (Sky), Andreas Klöden (RadioShack), and Tony Martin (HTC Highroad). The latter defended his overall lead with one day remaining.
Di Gregorio was visibly content after the race and told French TV several times that he was very happy. "I dreamed of lifting my arms in a race as prestigious as this one." His escape almost ended in disaster, though, as the Race to the Sun was marked by heavy rain falls. He took the breakneck descent in the wet conditions like a man possessed and cleared all the sharp turns and hairy sections with bravour. But when he entered the easier parts with the straightaways, which came less than two kilometers from the line and when he had about 15 seconds on the chasers, he lost his concentration.
He slipped on a white cross walk marking made extremely slippery by the wet conditions. His rear wheel slipped to the right and the fact that he was able to correct it and stay upright showed his bike handling skills. "Well, for a win like this you have to take some risks," he said with a smile.
Race leader Martin now is one day away from one of his biggest wins, keeping a 36-second advantage on his German compatriot Klöden. "That was a difficult day," the youngster said after the race according to leparisien.fr. "You had to avoid all the crashes." In the end, Martin did this by sitting right in the pace line of the Movistar team, which was very active towards the end of the race.
The roads were like an ice rink at times. "Even when you went around the corners slowly you could find yourself on the ground," Martin said. "I am content that I made it to the finish in one piece. It is a nice stage in that regard, even if two of my teammates - Kanstantsin Sivtsov and Tejay Van Garderen - crashed." Both were able to continue.
Most of the pace forcing came from the Movistar team, which wanted to get Xavier Tondo closer to the German in the overall. But their efforts were not enough for Martin. "I wasn't attacked too much today," he said. Tondo only made headlines when he crashed five meters before the finish line, ending a day for him in embarrassment.
The only part that Martin didn't like was the start. "There were a lot of attacks in the beginning. But when Kroon and Berthou had gone clear, we were able to breathe a bit. I expect to get attacked tomorrow." But he is determined and confident to hold on to the yellow leader's jersey. "I am in very good condition," he said. This was apparent today, but there is still one thing he dreads in the so-called Race to the Sun. "There will be a bit of doubt on the state of the roads when it rains. It will once again be the task to avoid the crashes."
Breaking away made hard
The peloton did not want to let an early break go, so efforts by Grega Bole, Brent Bookwalter, Andrij Grivko or Damien Gaudin were quashed early on. It was finally, after more than an hour of fast racing, that Laurens Ten Dam went clear, joined by Sébastien Minard. The duo swelled to five riders when Jürgen Roelandts Roelandts, Ivan Santaromita and Bole again came from behind. But their gap was never much more than half a minute and the break was eliminated at the Mont Méaulx (km 63).
Karsten Kroon (BMC) and Eric Berthou (Bretagne-Schuller) then attacked at kilometer 82, getting a maximum lead of around five minutes by kilometer 105. At kilometer 144, Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) and David Lopez Garcia (Movistar) went clear, chasing around three minutes behind the leaders.
Westra distanced Lopez Garcia, but crashed on the wet roads. He was able to continue, but was swallowed by the bunch. Garmin-Cervélo rider Martijn Maaskant was less lucky in his crash and had to abandon.
Movistar was now controlling the pace, reducing the peloton. The leaders Kroon and Berthou had 2'15 when they entered the first of two local laps (35km to go). Kroon went on by himself shortly thereafter. Behind, Heinrich Haussler crashed, but was able to continue the race. Kroon finally sat up after an escape of around 120 kilometers. Di Gregorio countered with 13 kilometers to go and was able to hang on for the victory.