Paris-Nice

The tragic death of Andrei Kivilev at this year’s Paris-Nice is not thefirst time that helmets – specifically, whether pros should be requiredto wear them as a safety measure – have been an issue at the race. As Rupert Guinness noted in his coverage of the 1991 Paris-Nice, publishedin the April 8, 1991, edition of VeloNews, Tony Rominger’s victorythat year was overshadowed by a riders’ strike sparked by the Union CyclisteInternationale’s new requirement that pros wear hard-shell helmet and thesubsequent disqualification of Francis Moreau for removing his on MontFaron, during stage six — a

The mood at Paris-Nice turned sullen Wednesday morning as riders, support staff and fans learned that Cofidis’s Andrei Kivilev had died from injuries caused in his freakish fall during a stage a day earlier. Kivilev fell face first with about 40km left in 182km stage into Saint Etienne and later lapsed into a coma, which doctors sustained with drugs to control his blood pressure. Cofidis team doctors said Kivilev died at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday morning at a hospital in Le Puy-En-Velay, France, after attending physicians doctors lost an all-night battle to control swelling of the 29-year-old’s

Gerolsteiner's Davide Rebellin won the second stage of Paris-Nice, sprinting out of a lead group of six riders that escaped on the slopes of the Category 1 Croix de Chaubouret and held off pursuers on a long descent into Saint Etienne. With time bonuses, Rebellin also took the yellow jesey of overall leader, three seconds ahead of defending champion Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom), who finished second in the stage. The group also included Fassa Bortolo's Dario Frigo who drove the pace on the day's hardest climb and now stands in third place overall at 13 seconds. Stuart

As predicted, the 191km first stage of Paris-Nice finished in a field sprint, perhaps the only opportunity for the sprinters to show their stuff in this mountainous edition of this early season French stage race.VeloNews.com followed the action all the way to the finish line in Paray le Monial. Just click here to bring up our live update window.Check in soon for a complete stage wrap up from European correspondent Andrew Hood, full results and stunning photos from the camera of Graham Watson. 61st Paris-Nice, March 9-16, stages: Prologue, March 9 - Issy les Moulineaux , 4.8km Stage 1, March

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi made it look easy in Monday’s firststage of the 61st Paris-Nice, and he wasn’t even feeling all thathealthy. Fassa Bortolo did nice work driving Petacchi to his third win this seasonwhile Stuart O’Grady (Crédit Agricole) came across third to earn just enoughtime bonuses to grab the overall leader’s jersey away from prologue winnerNico Mattan (Cofidis). “I really have to thank my team because I was not feeling very goodtoday,” said Petacchi, already a winner at Trofeo Luis Puig and of a stageat Tour of Valencia last month in Spain. “Our train did a great

Belgian rider Nico Mattan saw his recent time trial training sessions pay off with victory in the 4.8-kilometre prologue of the Paris-Nice stage race in Parisian suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux on Sunday.Mattan came in two seconds ahead of CSC’s Tyler Hamilton, with French Cofidis rider Philippe Gaumont and Australian national champion Stuart O'Grady, of Credit Agricole, tying for third at 5 seconds."I've been training specially for this prologue," said Mattan. "During the week I've worked a lot on my intensity on a bike with a sloping frame and riding behind a derny (moped)."The 31-year-old

The 61st edition of Paris-Nice opens Sunday with an opening prologue justoutside of Paris and ends, as the name suggests, in Nice along the FrenchRiviera. The “Race to the Sun” is the first major stage race of the seasonand a difficult and challenging course will certainly deliver up an excitingrace. The race returns with its traditional climb up Mont Faron, but the finalein Nice is sure to keep the suspense all the way down to the wire. The160km stage hits the famed Col d’Eze, another Paris-Nice fixture, no lessthan three times on a demanding circuit course before a screaming 16kmdescent to

Four-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong told the French sports daily L’Equipe he’s still not convinced he’ll race in the 2003 road world championships in Hamilton, Canada. Armstrong said the race is too late on the calendar to suit his training program for his run at a record-tying fifth Tour in July. “Even though it will be special to have the world’s in North America, it’s very late. It’s hard to stay in focus after the Tour unless you race in the Vuelta. That’s hard to do,” he said. Armstrong also rounded out what will be his spring racing schedule, which could include Paris-Nice

Deutsche Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokurov rode into Nice to secure his first Paris-Nice triumph Sunday on the seventh and final stage won by Australian national champion Robbie McEwen of Lotto. After 157km of racing around Nice, McEwen held off Belgian sprinter Tom Steels, who finished second, and fellow Australian Baden Cooke to win his second stage of the first major stage race of the season. Vinokurov, a 28-year-old from Kazakhstan who honed his trade in France, took the lead of the "Race to the Sun" on Thursday on the climb to the summit finish at Eze, and took care to maintain his

Defending Paris-Nice champion Dario Frigo (Tacconi) marked his return from a six-month drug ban by winning the sixth stage of the race on the climb to the summit of Eze on Saturday. Frigo, who now rides for the Tacconi team, was sacked by his Fassa Bortolo team after doping products were found in his hotel room during the drug-tainted 2001 Giro d'Italia. However, the most significant event of the day was former three-time winner Laurent Jalabert losing almost a minute to race leader Alexandre Vinokurov. Vinokurov, who rides for the German Telekom team of Jan Ullrich, came in safely behind

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi continued his winning ways when he won the hilly fifth stage of Paris-Nice after holding on to his lead amid a bunch sprint into Cannes on Friday. Deutsche Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokurov of the Telekom team finished just behind but off the podium to keep hold of the leader's yellow and white jersey two days before Sunday's final stage. Vinokurov, a silver medallist at the Sydney Olympic Games, however lost a second to the man who's chasing him down - French veteran Laurent Jalabert (CSC), a two-time winner of the race now five seconds behind the Kazakh.

Deutsche Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokurov took the leader's jersey after sticking with an ambitious bunch that left the peloton almost 90km from the finish of the fourth stage of Paris-Nice in Toulon, France, on Thursday. The Kazakh rider came home alone following a steep climb to the summit of Mont Faron despite a late surge by wily French veteran Laurent Jalabert (CSC). Vinokurov, who takes the race lead from French champion Didier Rous, who trailed in at 1:07, had to work to make sure he did not get left behind on the 175km stage. "My legs felt good and I was able to hang in there when it

France’s national champion Didier Rous took the leader's jersey at Paris-Nice after CSC’s Laurent Jalabert won the third stage, a 147.5km race around Saint Etienne. Rous, standing fourth at the start, came in second on the day to claim the leader's yellow and white jersey after a 4hr battle. Jalabert hit the front coming off a climb down into Croix-de-Chabouret, some 12 km out from the line. On the line the former world number one just edged out fellow escapees Rous and Aitor Osa of Spain. The chasing group fronted by Belgian Peter Van Petegem came in some ten seconds off the

Lotto’s Aussie sprint ace Robbie McEwen won the second stage of Paris-Nice, edging out overall race leader Alessandro Petacchi in a charge to the line in Belleville, France, Tuesday. McEwen finished ahead of Petacchi, who retained the leader's overall jersey, and Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu following a hilly 170km stage from Moulins to Belleville. Andrea Tafi of Italy and Germany's Danilo Hondo finished fourth and fifth. "I'm doing a lot better this year than last when I fell three times and had a really disrupted season,” McEwen said after the finish. “It's my eighth victory of the season but

Fresh off of his three-stage win streak at the Tour of Murcia, Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi grabbed the overall lead at Paris-Nice after winning a field sprint at the end of stage one, a 176km ride from Blois to Saint-Amand-Montrond on Monday. Petacchi took the leader’s jersey from Hungary's Laszlo Bodrogi, who won Sunday's prologue. The 28-year-old took the honors in the 176km stage, a slight climb, after holding off the challenge of Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu and Australian Robbie McEwen. The stage win was Petacchi's fifth of the season following previous successes in the Tour of the

Mapei's Laszlo Bodrogi won the prologue of Paris-Nice in Issy-Les-Moulineaux day, edging out Frenchman Didier Rous by 0.28sec after the 5.32km run. Spaniard Javier Pascual placed third, 4sec adrift with Belgian Nico Mattan, who won the prologue last year, fifth. Last year's winner, Dario Frigo, coming off a six-month doping suspension just in time to compete, kept well in touch and came in only five seconds off the pace. Bodrogi, 25, who has spent several years in France honing his skills, is the first Hungarian to turn professional in the cycling world. He has come to the fore over the

The race is on to find the winner of the cycling seasons first major stage race when the Paris-Nice (March 10-17) kicks off Sunday. Italian Dario Frigo, who would later go on to become embroiled in the nastier aspects of last year’s drug-tainted Giro d’Italia, won Paris-Nice last year coming in ahead of Raimondas Rumsas of Lithuania and Belgian Peter Van Petegem. Frigo was sacked by his Fassa Bartolo team when he was leading the Giro last June while he was discovered to be in possession of a host of banned substances. Like Frigo, the Paris-Nice was almost doomed this year when race

After announcing last Friday that the first major stage race of the 2002 season, Paris-Nice, scheduled March 10-17, would "almost certainly be canceled," race owner Laurent Fignon recommenced negotiations with the Société du Tour de France this week. On Thursday evening in Paris, an agreement was reached between the two parties for Paris-Nice to be sold to ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation), parent company of the Tour society, which will do its utmost to ensure that the race takes place this year. Discussions broke down last week between ASO and Fignon, the two-time Tour de France winner, who

The first major stage race of the 2002 season, Paris-Nice, scheduled March 10-17, will "certainly canceled" according to the event organizer Laurent Fignon, who broke off negotiations on Friday to sell the event to the Tour de France promoters. The discussions started last week between Daniel Baal, director-general of the Société du Tour de France, and Fignon, the two-time Tour de France winner, but came to an end for financial reasons after appearing to start out well Friday morning. A press release issued by the Tour's parent company, ASO (Amaury Sport Organization) stated: "Despite a

Dario Frigo became the first Italian for 55 years to win Paris-Nice on Sunday while countryman Fabrizio Guidi won the seventh and final stage. Guidi gave Mercury the perfect end to a near-perfect week with a clinical finish for their third stage win out of eight in front of the sun worshippers and rollerbladers on Nice's promenade des Anglais. After late attacks from Big Mat's Loic Lamueller and the prologue winner Nico Mattan had been swept up, the peloton swept down the windblown finish straight led by Peter Van Petegem. He repaid Guidi his sterling work through the week by leading him

The Italian Fassa Bortolo team took over Paris-Nice today during the Col d'Eze time trial, with Dario Frigo winning the stage in decisive style to take the lead from Peter Van Petegem of Belgium, with his teammate Raimondas Rumsas moving into second overall. Frigo, who finished second in last year's Tour of Switzerland, and finished ninth in Paris-Nice behind Andreas Kloden, led throughout the 10km uphill test, posting a time 14 seconds faster than Rumsas at the 6km checkpoint, where it was clear that Van Petegem, who was 23 seconds slower, would relinquish the white jersey. The

The heavy back roads of the Var left no impression on the overall classification of Paris-Nice on Friday, which means that no less than 15 riders were poised within one minute of the race leader Peter Van Petegem (Mercury-Viatel) going into Saturday's vital time trial to the Col d'Eze. The stage into Saint Raphael did however provide a welcome respite for the new Belgian team Domo, under pressure since they failed to show at Het Volk two weeks ago. Their Pole Piotr Wadecki spent 115 of the 150 miles in front with Bonjour's Francois Simon and Matteo Tosatto of Fassa Bortolo, disposed of the

Alex Zulle scored his first sprint win since he was an amateur to give new Division I squad Team Coast its first win of the season, a first step toward building its case for a place in the Tour de France. Zulle outsprinted ONCE's Portuguese neo-pro Jose Azevedo with the main bunch close on their heels in Sisteron, after the pair broke away on the final descent with 10km to go. "It's a great win for us, which boosts morale, proves we are serious, and gives us more confidence about the Tour," said Zulle. Close behind in the peloton was race leader Peter Van Petegem, who held onto the leader's

Jans Koerts strengthened Mercury-Viatel’s case for a start in the Tour de France this year by giving the U.S. team its second consecutive stage win Wednesday in the high-speed run down the Rhone Valley to Villeneuve les Avignon. His teammate Peter Van Petegem conserved the leader's white jersey. Koerts received a fine leadout from his teammate Fabrizio Guidi to finish more than a length ahead of Jean-Patrick Nazon and Germany's Danilo Hondo, at the end of a stage run at close to a 30mph average thanks to a strong tailwind. This is Koerts' third win of the season after winning two stages of

Tuesday’s hilly windy stage to Saint Etienne turned the Paris-Nice classification upside down, with Peter Van Petegem outsprinting the gutsy but luckless Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) to give Mercury-Viatel its first taste of the leader's jersey in a major European stage race. Vinokourov was on the attack for the entire stage, early on in a 19-strong group which included Floyd Landis (Mercury-Viatel) and Jonathan Vaughters (Credit Agricole). He split the break together with Laurent Dufaux (Saeco) and escaped on the final climb to hold on until the final meter, when Van Petegem came flying

Crashes took their toll on a rainy Paris-Nice today, with Axel Merckx the principal victim of a 25-rider pile-up two-and-a-half kilometers from the line. Merckx finished the stage, but was taken to the hospital after the race. Earlier, Joseba Beloki, third finisher in the Tour last year, was put out by a broken rib after he collided with another rider while taking nature's call on the move. A reduced lead group fought out the stage finish in Clermont Ferrand, where Stuart O'Grady led out from 250 meters, but was overhauled just before the line by the Belgian Fabian De Waele. He took the