Paris-Nice Photos; Stage 3: Vierzon → Le Lac de Vassivière, 194 km
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Bradley Wiggins (Sky) seriously wants to win Paris-Nice; the start in flat Vierzon before the hilltop finish in Lac de Vassivière. He finished 20th today and retains his lead.		share this photo
Other than the cold weather, the first half of the stage was rather enjoyable for the new race leader		share this photo
As expected, a harmless break rolled away on the flats consisting of Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun), Roy Curvers (Project 1t4i) and Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank).		share this photo
Judging by this photo and the previous one, it would seem that Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) did most of the work in the break. With only three riders in the break, many teams had an incentive to chase it down.		share this photo
The winter landscape in Central France with the peloton cruising along keeping the break in check		share this photo
Power sprint finish with the edge to the climbers; Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) holds off the late charge by Simon Gerrans (Greenedge) to win at Lac de Vassiviere. With the 10 bonus seconds for the win Valverde moves into the top 10 on GC (6th) at +20s		share this photo
Close-up: This finish was a repeat of the Queen Stage at the Tour Down Under in January		share this photo
The photo-finish... photo. Time lapse finish photos can be misleading to the casual observer. The overhead on the right shows the true distance between the 2nd and 3rd riders.		share this photo
Too close to call initially. It took the overhead replay to determine who won.		share this photo
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was surprised at how close the finish was and gave a nice complement Simon Gerrans for almost pipping at the line		share this photo
After serving his suspension last year, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) shows no signs of rust in 2012. Today's stage 3 win gives him three (uphill) wins this year.		share this photo
Local boy and perennial Tour de France runner-up, Raymound Poulidor, presents Bradley Wiggins with his second Yellow Jersey this week while Bernard Hinault enjoys his front row seat		share this photo
Paris-Nice Photos; Stage 3: Vierzon → Le Lac de Vassivière, 194 km
« Stage 02 photos	return to: « Paris-Nice 2012 Live Dashboard  |  Paris-Nice photo gallery	Stage 04 photos »