Roy the boy on stage five

Francaise des Jeux's Jeremy Roy claimed victory in the fifth stage of the Paris-Nice, a 204 kilometre ride from Annonay to Vallon Pont d'Arc.

The Frenchman was followed across the line by compatriot Thomas Voeckler of BBox-Bouygues Telecom, with Columbia-High Road's Tony Martin of Germany coming home third.

The trio had attacked early in the day and at one point held a lead of more than six minutes, eventually finishing two minutes and 33 seconds clear of the peloton.

"I was last yesterday but I hung on," said Roy, whose previous best result as a professional was second place in a Tour de France stage last year in Montlucon.

"In the first climb I was almost dropped. Then, towards the end, I benefited from the mind games between them (Voeckler and Martin), it's a dream."

There was no change at the top of the overall standings. Quick-Step's Sylvain Chavanel retained the yellow jersey as all the main contenders finished together in the same time.

The sixth stage on Friday is likely to determine the destiny of the race - Astana's Alberto Contador, currently lying in fourth, is expected to attack during the 182.5-km route from St Paul Trois Chateaux to a summit finish at Montagne de Lure.

The final ascent is 13.8 km at an average gradient of 6.6 percent.

Stage five result
1 J Roy (Fra/Francaise des Jeux) 4 hrs 58 mins 47s
2 T Voeckler (Fra/Bbox-Bouygues) same time
3 T Martin (Ger/Columbia) +3s
4 H Haussler (Ger/Cervelo) +2 mins 33s
5 M Fischer (Brz/ Liquigas)
6 R Feillu (Fra/Agritubel)
7 C Lemoine (Fra/Skil-Shimano)
8 J Roelandts (Bel/Silence-Lotto)
9 M Lorenzetto (Ita/Lampre)
10 S Hinault (Fra/AG2R)

Overall standings
1 S Chavanel (Fra/Quick-Step) 18 hrs 32 mins 56s
2 J Manuel Garate (Spn/Rabobank) +6"
3 J Antonio Flecha (Spn/Rabobank) +36"
4 A Contador (Spn/Astana)
5 K Seeldraeyers (Bel/Quick-Step) +37"
6 L Leon Sanchez (Spn/Caisse d'Epargne) +45"
7 D Millar (GB/Garmin) +50"
8 A Colom (Spn/Katyusha) +55"
9 V Karpets (Rus/Katyusha) +57"
10 J Voigt (Ger/Saxo Bank) +1:03"