Sanchez wins Paris-Nice despite final Contador attack

Luis Leon Sanchez won the Paris-Nice race despite a bold raid from fellow Spaniard Alberto Contador on the last stage around Nice yesterday.

Another Spaniard, Antonio Colom, of Katusha, was the first to cross the line at the end of the 119-km ride featuring three category-one climbs, when he outsprinted Astana's Contador and Luxembourg's Frank Schleck, of Saxo Bank.

Caisse d'Epargne rider Sanchez, who took the overall lead with victory on Saturday, ended the stage 17 seconds behind, keeping his yellow jersey with a one-minute advantage over Schleck.

France's Sylvain Chavanel, of Quick Step, was third overall, nine seconds further behind with Contador in fourth place 1.24 off the pace.

Astana leader Contador attacked just before the foot of the Col de la Porte, a 7.2-km climb at an average gradient of 7.2 per cent.

He quickly caught a group of fugitives before jumping ahead of the small bunch. They climbed the Col de la Porte at a high pace and opened a gap of 2.30 over Sanchez, who lost several seconds with a puncture on the ascent.

On the descent, the Saxo Bank team set the pace for the peloton and Contador's lead had been reduced to 15 seconds before the ascent of the Col de la Turbie.

Contador, though, used his climbing skills to increase his lead to 52 seconds but he was eventually caught up by Schleck and Colom 9.5 kms from the finish.

Colom, a former team-mate of Contador at Astana, launched the sprint and resisted Contador's fight-back.