Parisien wins in Catalunya

The Volta a Catalunya is turning out to be a fine race for Canadians in the WorldTour, as Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge) has been leading the sprinter and special sprint competitions since the first stage and now François Parisien (Argos-Shimano) has won Friday’s bunch sprint in Lleida. Parisien punched over the line just ahead of Ag2r’s Sammy Dumoulin (France).

After two tough days in the mountains, the peloton returned to a blessedly flat parcours on Stage 5. A two-man escape consisting of Olivier Kaisen (Belgium/Lotto-Belisol) and Tristan Valentin (France/Cofidis) enjoyed their day in front of the cameras, but the group, under the impetus of Sky, Vacansoleil, BMC and Cannondale, reeled them in, making the capture at the 15 km to go mark.

Team Argos-Shimano was at the front of the bunch dicing for position at the 5-km mark and at the line the 2005 Canadian road champion surged ahead to take the win. In 2012, Parisien won the overall classification at Tour of Elk Grove in the U.S., placed fourth at Tre Valli Varesine in Italy and 10th at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec.

Meier retains his two jerseys. Garmin-Sharp’s Irishman Dan Martin keeps a 14 second lead over Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain/Katusha) on general classification going into Saturday’s mountainous penultimate stage.

Stage 5

1) Francois Parisien – Team Argos-Shimano – Canada

2) Samuel Dumoulin – Ag2R La Mondiale – France

3) Stéphane Poulhies – Cofidis, Solutions Credits – France

4) Daniele Ratto – Cannondale Pro Cycling – Italy

5) Danilo Wyss – BMC Racing Team – Switzerland

General Classification after Stage 5

1) Daniel Martin – Garmin-Sharp- Ireland

2) Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver – Katusha – Spain

3) Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas – Movistar Team – Colombia

4) Bradley Wiggins – Sky Procycling- Great Britain

5) Michele Scarponi – Lampre-Merida – Italy