Discovery Channel cyclist Yaroslav Popovych won Friday's stage of the Paris-Nice bicycle race by attacking the survivors of a breakaway on the final climb of the day.
The 27-year-old Urkainian, once named the best young rider at the Tour de France, scored the second victory in as many days for Discovery. However, he gained only 14 seconds in the overall standings, which remained pretty much unchanged.
Only two hilly stages remain in the week-long Race to the Sun, which ends Sunday, and Discovery must be considering the chances of two cyclists — Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer — who sit near the top of the standings.
Spanish climber Alberto Contador, who won Thursday's stage by exploding out of a chase group, is in 2nd place overall, just 6 seconds behind Davide Rebellin of Gerolsteiner. Leipheimer, winner of the Tour of California last month, is in 13th place, 50 seconds behind the leader.
It will be interesting to which one takes charge on Saturday's stage that features nine climbs — one a category 1 — on the 120-mile route from Brignoles to Cannes.
Although Discovery has been credited with having a strong team at the race, no one else is going to roll over for them, especially such rivals as Team CSC, which have Luxembourg's Fränk Schleck and US's Bobby Julich and David Zabriskie in the peloton.
See results at CyclingNews.
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