SeniorLimpio: Paris-Nice 2012

I didn’t get around to previewing this race, as I was not in the country and was busy.

However, luckily the country I was in was France and hence I got the chance to view this race live on French TV

. I will not go through stage by stage, I will pick out some key points and good rides. This race this year had a decent parcours,

 with entertaining stages and a good GC battle. Particular stage wins which deserved highlighting are; Thomas De Gendt ‘s win

 into Nice, a spectacular show of strength, Lieuwe Westra’s (he convincing beat some strong riders) win on the Montée Laurent

 Jalabert and Tom Boonen’s win in Orléans (been a good year for him, he’s still got it).

 Indeed, the number of wins from breakaways was good

and lead to exciting viewing.

It was a good Paris-Nice for

Team Sky- A slight obvious point given Bradley Wiggin’s win, however still worth pointing out.

 Both Wiggins and Sky were strong, controlling the race and

Vacansoleil –DCM – several stages wins, 2^nd place for Westra and polka dot jersey for Veuchelen. This team is looking strong

Omega-Pharma-Ouickstep – Apart from the atroius luck Leipheimer had on the penulamte day was a good race for this team.

Stage good stage win for Boonen, good performance from Leipheimer who is looking very strong and solid team performance.

It was a bad Paris-Nice for

Team Eurocar – Home of their “home” races and they didn’t have any success

· RadioShack-Nissan-Trek –Kloden looks weak, A. Schleck’s performance was poor

It was a mixed Paris-Nice for

BMC – Illness caused havoc in the squad ruining Hushovd’s race, however Tejay Van Garderen put in a solid performance

Movistar – This team looked good throughout and Valverde is still near the top, however he still needs work.

There are a number of conclusions that can be drawn for the weeks racing, and which will be interesting to compare to the

 conclusions from Tirreno-Adriatico, which finishes in a couple of days time.

SeniorLimpio