CHABRIS, France, 8 March 2005 — In-form Belgian rider Tom Boonen of the Quick Step team won yesterday’s 186.5 km first stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race for his third stage win of the season.
Brazil’s Luciano Pagliarini came in second ahead of Estonia’s Jaan Kirsipuu and French rider Jimmy Casper, with Dutch rider Erik Dekker of Rabobank taking the leader’s yellow jersey thanks to bonus points in the intermediary sprints. Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong crossed the line in 44th position, 41sec behind Boonen.
Armstrong is now in 70th position overall 1:08sec behind Dekker.
Boonen led a group of twenty riders which formed after a crash at the top of the peleton after 8 kilometers, which slowed down the two previous race winners Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov and Jorg Jaksche of Germany.
Breakaway duo Fabien Sanchez of France and Spaniard Igor Gonzalez Galdeano dominated much of the race in central France building up a lead of almost 7min 45sec before being caught some 12 kilometers from the line.
Cipollini Shows Form Not Age in Lucca Win
Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini will be 38 this month but he showed his younger rivals he can still win races after 16 years as a professional by taking the Giro di Lucca race in Tuscany yesterday. Cipollini beat fellow Italians Paride Grillo and major sprint rival Alessandro Petacchi after a hilly 177km race that served as a warm up for the seven-day Tirreno-Adriatico that begins on Wednesday and next week’s Milan-San Remo.
Petacchi was unbeaten so far this season after winning eight races and was the favorite to win again but a misunderstanding with teammate Marco Velo in the final corner left the door open for Cipollini to sprint to victory in the race near his home.
“I’m very surprised I won but I’m also very happy. People keep telling me I’m too old to win at 38 but I’m enjoying proving them wrong,” Cipollini said.
