Tour de France 2009

Graham Watson Paris-Nice photo gallery

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CyclingNews | Paris-Nice Stage 7 photo gallery

Julich one day closer to big win

VeloNews | Posthuma wins at Paris-Nice; Julich in yellow

Joost Posthuma of Rabobank took a big win Saturday, riding away from an 8-rider breakaway on the Col du Tanneron and soloing the last 20 kilometers into Cannes.

American Bobby Julich rode in the peloton, protected by a strong CSC squad, and his lead was never seriously threatened.

Tomorrow may be another day, however, as the race's final stage features a 2nd-category and three 1st-category climbs before finishing in Julich's adopted hometown of Nice.

Alejandro Valverde, sitting third overall:

"You could see Julich was very strong at Mont Faron," said third-placed Valverde. "We're running out of road to make up any time. Sunday's stage presents a favorable course, but the CSC block is also very solid. I see it as difficult."

Julich sounds optimistic:

"I know every single one of the climbs tomorrow, so I am very confident," Julich said.

Graham Watson Stage 5 gallery available

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Julich looks for big win at Paris-Nice

procycling | Julich relishing weekend challenge

Bobby Julich will face off against Alejandro Valverde and Jorg Jaksche this weekend to try and defend his lead at Paris-Nice.

Julich's 3rd place in the 1998 Tour de France was the post-Lemond high-water mark for US Tour participants, but Lance Armstrong's emergence and a series of disappointing results for Julich had him considering retirement two years ago.

Julich hooked up with Bjarne Riis at CSC, and has experienced a rebirth, capped by his bronze medal in the TT at the Athens Olympics.

Before the start of the stage Julich had struck a pact with room-mate Jens Voigt: "I said to Jens, 'If the yellow jersey isn't in our room tonight, we both have to sleep on the floor…' "

Julich had particularly kind words for Valverde:

"It's the first time I've raced against Valverde," said Julich, "but what he did last year particularly is impressive. I'm a fan of his. He has huge class and looks to be the future of Spanish cycling."

Also:

VeloNews | A conversation with Bobby Julich: Looking for more | Part II

One interesting quote from Part II is Julich on David Zabriskie, now with CSC:

The first thing was total disbelief was that Postal Service wouldn't sign David Zabriskie. I was blown away and I had to ask (Riis), are you sure that he's available? Absolutely, 100 percent this is the guy you want because by far he is the top American talent under the age of 25. I saw him race, he's great time trialist, great worker. He is one of the future stars of American cycling.

New helmet rule DQ's Merckx and Van Summeren

procycling | Shorts: Merckx, Jan, Leblanc

The UCI now requires that riders wear helmets at ALL times, even on closing climbs. Previously, riders could ditch the lids at the end of climbing stages once the roads turned up and the speeds cooled down.

Axel Merckx and Johan Van Summeren got stung by the rule after Friday's stage, and are out of Paris-Nice.

Also:

Yahoo! Sport | Merckx loses helmet, and is thrown off Paris-Nice

Merckx:

"I accept the decision. The most bizarre thing is that I always wear my helmet, even when I'm training.

"Today it was the bus driver who told me to take my helmet off at the foot of the climb, and I did it without even thinking about it."

Simoni takes Stage 5, Julich the lead at Paris-Nice

Eurosport | Simoni tames Toulon

Gilberto Simoni rode away from the field 2 kilometers before the finish atop Mont Faron, and won his first race as a member of the Lampré team.

Simoni, whose climbing won him the Giro d'Italia in 2001 and 2003, was followed by Cadel Evans of Australia, and David Moncoutié at the summit.

Julich finished 10th on the day, 40 seconds behind Simoni, and leads Saunier Duval's Constantino Zaballa by 19 seconds, and iBanesto's Alejandro Valverde by 20 seconds.

Stage results

Overall standings

Also:

My favorite picture of Simoni ever, from the 2003 Giro

Reuters.co.uk | Julich takes Paris-Nice lead

Reuters notes that T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov, who won this climb in 2003 on the way to overall victory, was "dropped early in the climb and looks to have lost all hopes of a final victory".

Graham Watson Stage 4 gallery

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Julich CSC's Paris-Nice pick?

procycling | Julich all set as Lance moves on

Procycling tips Bobby Julich as the likely beneficiary of a strong CSC squad through the remainder of Paris-Nice.

He made it into the telling break yesterday and, with three days of climbing to come, is now facing his best shot for a long time at big-time stage race success.

Cancellara takes Stage 4, overall lead at Paris-Nice

Eurosport | Cancellara takes yellow

Swiss heartthrob Fabian Cancellara, who took the prologue and wore the leader's jersey at the 2004 Tour de France, took over the lead at Paris-Nice with a stage win over Estonian sprinter Jaan Kirsipuu.

Cancellara made a crucial break late with Fassa Bortolo teammate Juan Antonio Flecha, CSC's Bobby Julich, 2004 Paris-Nice winner Jorg Jaksche of Liberty Seguros, and Phonak's Nicolas Portal.

Cancellara and Flecha now lead the overall, with Flecha 15 seconds back. Then it's Bobby Julich at 20 seconds, Tom Boonen at 31 seconds, Erik Dekker at 33 seconds. CSC's Arvesen, Voigt, and Gusev are riders 7 through 9. CSC looks set up for a very nice overall.

Tomorrow's stage, to Mont-Faron, finishes with two 2nd-category climbs and a 1st-category up to the finish line.

Stage results

1. Fabian Cancellara, Fassa Bortolo, 2:11:03
2. Jaan Kirsipuu, Credit Agricole, same time
3. Juan Antonio Flecha, Fassa Bortolo, @ 2 secs
4. Bobby Julich, USA, CSC, @ 5 secs
5. Nicolas Jalabert, Phonak, @ 5 secs
6. Jorg Jaksche, Liberty Seguros, @ 5 secs
7. Iker Camano, Euskaltel, @ 8 secs
8. Nicolas Portal, AG2R, @ 10 secs
9. Paolo Bossoni, Fassa Bortolo, @ 22 secs
10. Tom Boonen, QuickStep, @ 32 secs

Overall standings

1. Fabian Cancellara, Fassa Bortolo, 10:09:50
2. Juan Antonio Flecha, Fassa Bortolo, @ 15 secs
3. Bobby Julich, CSC, @ 20 secs
4. Tom Boonen, QuickStep, @ 31 secs
5. Erik Dekker, Rabobank, @ 33 secs
6. Vicente Reynes, iBanesto, @ 35 secs
7. Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC, @ 36 secs
8. Jens Voigt, CSC, @ 37 secs
9. Vladimir Gusev, CSC, @ 40 secs
10. Philippe Gilbert, Francaise Des Jeux, @ 47 secs

Armstrong ditches Paris-Nice

VeloNews | Armstrong abandons Paris-Nice

Lance Armstrong will not start Thursday's stage of Paris-Nice. Discovery director Johan Bruyneel said the six-time Tour de France winner is suffering from a fever and sore throat, exacerbated by the cold that's led to two stages so far being shortened.

At left, a picture of Armstrong struggling on Wednesday's climbs from Graham Watson's daily photo gallery.

Also:

ThePaceline.com (members only) | Lance News