Xavier Tondo claimed the penultimate stage of the Paris-Nice Race to the Sun with a gutsy ride after a 180-kilometre breakaway today.
Ireland's Nicolas Roche crossed the line in 13th place in the chasing pack and is in 14th place in the overall standings.
The other Irish rider in the race, Daniel Martin, riding for the Garmin-Transitions team, lies in 80th place overall.
Tondo was part of a 23-man escape after 40 kilometres of the 220km stage from Peynier to Tourrettes-sur-Loup and made his winning surge on the final ascent to beat compatriot Alejandro Valverde and the chasing pack - including Roche - by five seconds.
Valverde increased his hopes of overall victory by claiming six seconds worth of bonuses to close the gap on leader Alberto Contador to 14secs ahead of tomorrow's final stage.
Slovakian Peter Sagan, who claimed his second stage victory on Friday, was third.
'It was a really difficult stage today, it went very fast,' Tondo said.
'It's incredible. I made a big mistake yesterday that cost me over two minutes but it allowed me to break away today. It's the best victory of my career.'
Tomorrow's final 119km stage will take the riders over three category one climbs before finishing in Nice.
