Once again, Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team accomplished its main goal at Paris-Nice for Stage 6, a 178.5km race from Suze La Rousse to Sistero — preserve Levi Leipheimer's general classification placement.
Luis Sanchez (Rabobank) beat out Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan) in a two-up sprint on Friday, as the last two survivors of a seven man breakaway. Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) was third. The race was aggressive early on, as 28 riders broke away from the peloton at kilometer six, with several long climbs coming up. Tom Boonen, Kevin De Weert, Levi Leipheimer and Stijn Vandenergh made the front group. However, Voigt, and one other rider attacked that breakaway with a little more than 135km remaining, and Voigt stayed away for the remainder of the race as other riders bridged to him.
"Once the breakaway was formed, Team Sky kept the tempo, which left the escapees three to four minutes of a gap," Sports Director Brian Holm said. "The riders in the break managed their effort and were able to save energy for the final. We did our part to keep Levi out of trouble."
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team led the chase with 12.2km to go, and they proceeded to work hard at the front until the race finished. Sylvain Chavanel, who started Paris-Nice despite bronchitis, worked hard for his team at the front. The 2011 Paris-Nice winnter Tony Martin was also seen working at the front to help Leipheimer preserve the time difference in the GC.
"The first part of the race was really fast," Leipheimer said. "The wind divided the bunch into several little groups. We were at the front and I can assure you that the speed was really high. Even some GC riders were stuck in the back. Once the little groups came together, Team Sky controlled the race. In the final climb we decided to stay in the front to avoid risks, even in the fast downhill. The team did it perfectly as usual. It's super to ride surrounded by such a team. You feel really protected. "