Izagirre shows form on mythical Mont Faron

Ion Izagirre showed budding early-season form on Saturday's Tour of the Med queen-stage to the top of the Mont Faron.

The fourth leg of the French race ended as usual atop the climb overlooking Toulon, and was again likely to be decisive in the fight for overall honours.

Euskaltel got off to a good start by placing Pablo Urtasun in the break, but the French teams naturally weren't keen on letting the race slip away from them just like that and kept the escape artists on a tight leash. In time for the climb it was all back together.

Euskaltel three main men, the aforementioned Izagirre, Mikel Nieve and Romain Sicard, all showed decent climbing legs on the Faron, but none of them were even close to responding to Jean-Christophe Peraud's attack five clicks out.

Peraud went on to claim his first road win in some style, while Maxime Monfort moved into the race lead.

Izagirre crossed the line in a fine 10th place, 44 seconds down, while Nieve and Sicard ended up 33rd and 42nd respectively.

As a result of his strong climbing, the younger Izagirre moved into the lead of the youth classification, and DS Álvaro González de Galdeano only had praise for his protégé post-stage.

"Pablo Urtasun getting into the break was a good move, as it allowed for the rest of the riders to look out for Ion", he told the team's website. "On the last climb, Ion showed he's on strong form and managed to clinch a noteworthy tenth place, as well as climbing up on the podium as the leader of the youth classification. We were very active and animated the racing".

Sunday's final leg takes the riders 192 kilometres from Bandol to Grasse.

Results:

• (1, Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r), 3:33:12)
• 10, Ion Izagirre, 0:44
• 33, Mikel Nieve, 1:31
• 42, Romain Sicard, 2:22
• 66, Jorge Azanza, 3:54
• 78, Rubén Pérez, 4:57
• 92, Pablo Urtasun, 8:49
• 119, Juan José Lobato, 11:55
• 120, Garikoitz Bravo, s.t.

Photo: Euskaltel Euskadi