Contador soars into lead

Astana's Alberto Contador attacked on the final climb to take victory in the fourth stage of the Paris-Nice.

Spaniard's late attack earns yellow jersey

Astana's Alberto Contador attacked on the final climb to take victory in the fourth stage of the Paris-Nice. Contador made his move inside the final two kilometres of the 173.5km route from Maurs to Mende and finished 10 seconds ahead of his fellow Spaniards Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel). That was enough for the Tour de France champion to take the race leader's yellow jersey from Saxo Bank's Jens Voigt. Voigt cracked in the closing stages and was 12th on the day, losing 44 seconds. Contador is now 24 seconds ahead of Valverde in the general classification. "It was a difficult day," said Contador, who suffered bruising in a crash on the first day of the race. "I was not sure what the best tactics was but I tried and I made the difference. I am satisfied. "Now, the race is on but there are still three difficult days ahead." The Team Sky challenge was again led by Simon Gerrans, the Australian finishing 18th on the stage to move up to 19th in the overall standings.

Breakaway

A seven-man breakaway went clear early in the day and stayed away from the main pack until just over 11 km from the finish. The septet of Jerome Pineau (Quick Step), Amael Moinard (Cofidis), Mikel Nieve (Esuklatel), Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) Jean-Marc Marino (Saur Sijasun), Albert Timmer (Skil Shimano) and Julien Loubet (AG2R) built their lead to more than four-and-a-half minutes at one point. But their advantage started to dwindle as the final climb approached and they were swallowed back up before the category one La Croix-Neuve/Montée Laurent Jalabert. Stage four result: 1 - Alberto Contador - (ESP) - Astana - ( 4:26:47)
2 - Alejandro Valverde - (ESP) - Caisse d'Epargne - (+10)
3 - Samuel Sánchez - (ESP) - Euskaltel - (+10)
4 - Joaquim Rodríguez - (ESP) - Katyusha - (+18)
5 - Thomas Voeckler - (FRA) - Bbox-Bouygues - (+20)
6 - Damiano Cunego - (ITA) - Lampre - (+21)
7 - Roman Kreuziger - (CZE) - Liquigas - (+21)
8 - Christophe Le Mével - (FRA) - Française des Jeux - (+29)
9 - Luis León Sánchez - (ESP) - Caisse d'Epargne - (+29)
10 - Rein Taaramäe - (EST) - Cofidis - (+31) Overall standings after stage four: 1 - Alberto Contador - (ESP) - Astana - ( 17:07:23)
2 - Alejandro Valverde - (ESP) - Caisse d'Epargne - (+24)
3 - Roman Kreuziger - (CZE) - Liquigas - (+25)
4 - Luis León Sánchez - (ESP) - Caisse d'Epargne - (+28)
5 - Samuel Sánchez - (ESP) - Euskaltel - (+29)
6 - Jens Voigt - (GER) - Saxo Bank - (+34)
7 - Joaquim Rodríguez - (ESP) - Katyusha - (+36)
8 - Peter Sagan - (SVK) - Liquigas - (+54)
9 - David Millar - (SCO) - Garmin - (+1:03)
10 - Rein Taaramäe - (EST) - Cofidis - (+1:06)