Stage 5: Althen-des-Paluds - Sisteron 173km
Paris-Nice 5: Barredo wins
Carlos Barredo finished just ahead of the breakaway (AFP/Getty Images)
Spaniard Carlos Barredo of the QuickStep team won Friday's fifth stage of Paris-Nice with Robert Gesink of Rabobank holding on to the leader's yellow jersey.
Barredo split from his four breakaway companions 10km from the finish to beat home Dutch rider Karsten Kroon by four seconds with Italy's Manuele Mori in third. The peloton crossed the line two minutes adrift of the leading pack at the end of the 172.5km run.
The day's ride featured a 24-strong group who broke from the pack after 50km with 16 riders surging clear on the final 18.5km circuit with a two and a half minute cushion on the peloton.
On Moreau's initiative five cyclists then went clear 16km from home before Barrado made his winning move. The 26-year-old Spaniard moved up to sixth in the overall standings behind Dutch rider Gesink.
Saturday's penultimate sixth stage is a 206km run, the longest of the event, between Sisteron to Cannes.
For full results, report and photos, see Cyclingnews.com.
© AFP 2008
STAGE 5 RESULTS
| 1 Carlos Barredo (Spa|Quick Step) | 3:58:01 | |
| 2 Karsten Kroon (Ned|Team CSC) | 0:00:04 | |
| 3 Manuele Mori (Ita|Saunier Duval-Scott) | ||
| 4 Christophe Moreau (Fra|Agritubel) | ||
| 5 Pierre Rolland (Fra|Crédit Agricole) | ||
| 6 Simon Gerrans (Aus|Crédit Agricole) | 0:01:33 | |
| 7 Maxime Monfort (Bel|Cofidis) | ||
| 8 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus|Crédit Agricole) | ||
| 9 Ivan Santaromita (Swi|Liquigas) | ||
| 10 Mathieu Perget (Fra|Caisse d'Epargne) | ||
| General classification after stage 5 | ||
| 1 Robert Gesink (Ned|Rabobank) | 21:10:28 | |
| 2 Davide Rebellin (Ita|Gerolsteiner) | 0:00:32 | |
| 3 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita|Ag2r-La Mondiale) | 0:00:35 | |
| 4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr|Silence-Lotto) | 0:00:42 | |
| 5 Juan Manuel Gárate (Spa|Quick Step) | 0:01:06 | |
| 6 Carlos Barredo (Spa|Quick Step) | 0:01:42 | |
| 7 Luis León Sánchez (Spa|Caisse d'Epargne) | 0:02:06 | |
| 8 Gorka Verdugo (Spa|Euskaltel-Euskadi) | 0:02:11 | |
| 9 Alexander Efimkin (Rus|Quick Step) | 0:02:30 | |
| 10 Clément L'Hottelerie (Fra|Skil-Shimano) | 0:03:25 |
