Alberto Contador took the yellow jersey in Stage 1 of Paris-Nice, lost it, won it back, lost it again, and tried valiantly to win it back on the final day but couldn't.
Finishing in first overall of the eight-stage French bicycle race was Luis Leon Sanchez, a rider for Caisse d'Epargne who dug deeply to take the overall lead on Saturday with a 10-mile solo attack.
Although this has to be a disappointment for the Contador, I wouldn't make too much of it. I'm sure he's still the odds-on favorite to lead the Astana pro cycling team in the Tour de France over well-known teammates Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer.
This is an early spring stage race, not the three-week classic in July. It can be argued that Astana didn't have its A-team supporting Contador.
Neither Armstrong nor Leipheimer competed and Andreas Kloden is busy leading the Tirreno-Adriatico bike race in Italy. Yaroslav Popovych is probably the strongest lieutenant that Contador had in the peloton; four teammates didn't finish the race.
That Astana team was caught near the back of the peloton during a stage-deciding attack earlier in the week, and Contador essentially bonked on Saturday difficult stage.
Sanchez praised Contador after the race, according to the report at CyclingNews.
He's “a great rider, but his goal is also the Tour more than Paris-Nice. I'm glad this was my turn and today's my day.”
Top 10
1 Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 1:00 behind
3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 1.09
4 Alberto Contador (Spa)Astana 1.24
5 Antonio Colom (Spa) Team Katusha 1.47
6 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank 1.59
7 Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel) Quick Step 2.29
8 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Skil-Shimano 2.57
9 Yury Trofimov (Rus) BBox Bouygues Telecom 3.37
10 Mevel Christophe Le (Fra) Française Des Jeux 4.00
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25 Christian Vande Velde 19.40
Update: March 16 — Cycling Weekly: Astana team was weak
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