Michael Albasini wins Paris-Nice stage four as Andrew Talansky retains yellow jersey
Michael Albasini outsprinted of an elite group of riders to claim victory on stage four of Paris-Nice.
Last Updated: 07/03/13 6:53pm
Albasini (Orica-GreenEDGE) joined a 37-strong leading bunch as the peloton broke apart on the last of the day's seven climbs, before powering to the line ahead of Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) in second and Peter Velits (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) in third.
Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) finished sixth to maintain his overall race lead following a pulsating stage.
"I am super happy to start the season with an early, important win," Albasini said. "I am a bit surprised, too.
'Perfect'
"It is even nicer to win on a day when we also won with [Matt] Goss in Tirreno-Adriatico. It is really perfect. It is important to keep the wins going like we did last year."
Stage four took the riders 199.5km from Brioude to Saint Vallier and the attacks started right from the gun.
The first of the seven categorised peaks acted as a perfect springboard, with Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) and Johan Tschopp (IAM Cycling) making the first move, before being joined by a further four riders.
Tschopp was the first over the summit of all of the first five categorised climbs as he claimed the first polka-dot mountain's classification jersey, but as the road then dipped downhill to the finish, the breakaway's gap began to plummet.
Elite group
Voeckler attacked again on the penultimate climb as he looked to remain clear, but his efforts were in vain and he was caught 14km from home.
The peloton immediately began to splinter, however, leaving just 37 men at the front of the race leading on to the day's final climb, the Côte de la Sizeranne.
Several big names - most notably Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) - attempted to make attacks stick, but they were repeatedly hauled back in as the group entered the final kilometre together to set up a bunch sprint.
Iglinskiy was the first to launch his bid for the line, but Albasini soon emerged from the Kazakh's slipstream and surged unchallenged to victory.
Stage four result
1 Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica-GreenEDGE, 4:55.41
2 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana, same time
3 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, st
4 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana, st
5 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st
6 Andrew Talanksy (USA) Garmin-Sharp, st
7 Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
8 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEDGE, st
9 Andreas Kloden (Ger) RadioShack-Leopard, st
10 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Katusha
General classification
1 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp, 19:35.17
/> 2 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana, +3secs
3 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, +4
4 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, same time
5 Gorka Izaguirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, +5
6 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM, +6
7 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, +7
8 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana, +13
9 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
10 Bart Le Clercq (Bel) Lotto-Belisol, +15
