Greig Leach

This pair, David de la Cruz (Quickstep) and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) had caught and dropped the flagging Marc Soler (Movistar) and came to the line together for the stage victory. The vastly more experienced Contador had managed to get de la Cruz to lead the duo onto the final straightaway. De la Cruz looked back over his shoulder and must have felt that Contador had nothing left for a sprint. He was right. De la Cruz took the win on the Promenade des Anglais and the ten second time bonus. That left a six second bonus for Contador. Unfortunately for the man who lost the race by four seconds last year, Contador, the Colombian, Sergio Henao (Sky) was able to pull back enough time to end the day holding onto the Maillot Jaune by TWO SECONDS. In the post race interview, Contador seem almost non-plus about the results. Perhaps it is his Spanish nature, or just having won every Grand Tour more than once, and this race twice in the past, he just knows what racing is all about.