Samu climbs to third; fifth on GC

Samu did well today on the fourth stage of Paris-Nice, starting in Maurs and ending atop the Montée Laurent Jalabert in Mende. Contador won solo, of course, but just ten seconds back was Samu, crossing the line in 3rd place right behing Valverde. His strong showing means he's now 5th overall, only 29 seconds down on the unbeatable El Pistolero.

Earlier in the day Mikel showed himself, getting away with six others to form the main break of the day. Mikel and his companions were reeled back in though, getting caught with something like 10 kilometres to go. After that Egoi and Romain went to the front of the pack to set the pace for Samu. Both of them looked strong, and Samu will no doubt be grateful for their help. Romain came in a very respectable 24th himself, just a minute back, while Beñat did okay to claim 28th, a further five seconds down. Iván ended up 3:15 down, Egoi and Gorka 4:18, and Koldo and Mikel 8:33. This lead to Euskaltel placing 2nd in the team rankings of the day. Not bad.

GC results as of the fourth stage:

• 5th, Samuel Sánchez, 0:29
• 24th Romain Sicard, 1:45
• 66th, Gorka Verdugo, 6:18
• 69th, Egoi Martínez, 6:51
• 92nd, Beñat Intxausti, 10:44
• 97th, Koldo Fernández, 11:58
• 133rd, Mikel Nieve, 17:16