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Xavier Tondo surprises with 6th place in Paris-Nice prologue

March 07, 2010 - Filed under: TestTeam

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Xavier Tondo (ESP) was the big surprise today in the Paris-Nice Prologue placing sixth in the individual time trial. Lars Boom (NED-Rabobank) won the 8 kilometres prologue with veteran Jens Voigt (GER - Team Saxo Bank) placing second and Levi Leipheimer (US-Team Radio Shack) in third.

"It was a pretty straightforward but nonetheless exciting time trial today with an amazing result from Xavier Tondo," said Philippe Mauduit, sports director. "We knew that he was really motivated for Paris Nice. Yesterday, in fact, he asked to start first for the team because he was a bit nervous about it. Today, he started with full gas and did a perfect race. Tomorrow there will be a big war with the wind, comparable to the races in Flanders. So, we will think of it as a one-day race. We will take a look tomorrow evening and see where Xavier is in the GC. We will protect him, as well as supporting our riders - Dominique Rollin and Heinrich Haussler, to achieve the best overall results."

"I worked very hard last winter on my time trial skills. I am not really a specialist but I know that I can do this very well," said Xavier Tondo. "But still this result is a big surprise, because this is only my second race of the season. I know for sure that my new team and new time trail bike provided me with plenty of motivation. When I saw the course yesterday I realized it was well suited to me. It was not super technical and if you feel the power in your legs then you know that you can do very well. We will see what happens in the coming days. I do not know if I have enough kilometres in my legs to stay at this level for the entire."

Tomorrow the battle for overall victory begins with the 201.5 kilometre first road stage from Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines to Contres.

Montfort-l'Amaury I.T.T. (8 km)

1.Lars Boom (NED) Rabobank 10.56
2.Jens Voigt (GER) Team Saxo Bank 0.03
3.Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radio Shack 0.06
4.Alberto Contador (ESP) Astana 0.06
5.Peter Sagan (SLO) Liquigas 0.10
6.Xavier Tondo (ESP) Cervélo TestTeam 0.10
7.David Millar GBR) Garmin 0.11
8.Samuel Sanchez (ESP) Euskaltel 0.12
9. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Liquigas 0.13
10. Samuel Sanchez (ESP) Euskatel 0.15