Paris-Nice stage 3

Paris-Nice's third stage from Vierzon to Le Lac de Viesseviére earlier today was another uninspiring one from an orange point of view.

The team missed out on the break of the day and thus any chance of animating the race in a meaningful way. To make matters worse, Astarloza, Bilbao and Cazaux hit the deck some 50 kilometres from the line. According to the team's website though, they all escaped serious injury.

There was no beating Valverde on the short but steep incline to the line, the Movistar rider pipping a resurgent Simon Gerrans on the line. There was no Antón, Izagirre or Astarloza to see near the front, and the list of results show the former was the only one even remotely close. Antón crossed the line in a distant 55th place, but was somehow awarded the same time as Valverde, Gerrans and co. The other two weren't quite as lucky though, both being clocked at 12 seconds.

Stage results:

• (1, Alejandro Valverde, Movistar)
• 56, Igor Antón, s.t.
• 63, Mikel Astarloza, 0:12
• 69, Gorka Izagirre, s.t.
• 98, Peio Bilbao, 1:25
• 100, Romain Sicard, s.t.
• 116, Pierre Cazaux, 2:06
• 118, Ricardo García, 2:10
• 161, Adrián Sáez, 6:03

General classification:

• (1, Bradley Wiggins, Sky)
• 39, Mikel Astarloza, 3:21
• 67, Romain Sicard, 4:48
• 81, Ricardo García, 6:12
• 116, Igor Antón, 11:55
• 118, Gorka Izagirre, 11:59
• 138, Peio Bilbao, 13:07
• 147, Pierre Cazaux, 14:11
• 159, Adrián Sáez, 17:54

Young riders classification:

• (1, Tejay Van Garderen, BMC)
• 6, Romain Sicard, 4:37

Teams classification:

• (1, Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
• 17, Euskaltel Euskadi, 9:27