Nicolas Roche had another excellent day in Paris-Nice, riding aggressively towards the end of today's fifth stage to Aix-en-Provence, and sprinting in eighth.
The lumpy, 157 kilometre race saw Roche and his Ag2r La Mondiale put the hammer down in sidewinds and split the peloton. The Irish road race champion is targeting his first top-ten overall finish in a top-level race, and took the chance today to put some other highly-placed riders in trouble.
Thomas Voeckler (BBox Bouygues Telecom) and Xavier Tondo (Cervélo Test Team) were both dropped and Roche moved above them in the general classification. He went from fifteenth to thirteenth overall.
Peter Sagan (Liquigas) jumped clear inside the final two kilometres and held on to win the stage. He finished two seconds ahead of Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) plus the other riders in the chase group.
Despite the energy spent splitting the bunch, Roche led the chase of Sagan and still had enough to nab eighth.
Race leader Alberto Contador (Astana) placed tenth and holds his yellow jersey. Valverde's time bonus for third sees him move to within 20 seconds of Contador's lead.
Roche is now inching closer to a place in the top ten overall. He has improved from 105th overall last Sunday, and is showing his best-ever form at this time of the season.
Overall standings:
1. Alberto Contador (Spain / Astana) 20hrs 41mins 39secs
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne) +20’
3. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic / Liquigas) +25’
4. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne) +26’
5. Samuel Sanchez (Spain / Euskaltel) +29’
6. Jens Voigt (Germany / Saxo Bank) +34’
7. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain / Katusha) +36’
8. Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Liquigas) +42’
9. David Millar (Britain / Garmin) +1:02’
10. Rein Taaramaee (Estonia / Cofidis) +1:06’
Fifth stage result:
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Liquigas) 3hrs 34mins 15secs’
2. Mirco Lorenzetto (Italy / Lampre) +2’
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne)
4. Matthieu Ladagnous (France / Francaise des Jeux)
5. Jens Voigt (Germany / Saxo Bank)
6. Simon Gerrans (Australia / Team Sky)
7. Koldo Fernandez (Spain / Euskaltel)
8. Nicolas Roche (Ireland / AG2R)
9. Matthew Goss (Australia / HTC - Columbia)
10. Alberto Contador (Spain / Astana)
