After a disappointing 8th place in the first stage of Paris-Nice, Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) did much better yesterday when he was only beaten by Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) and Elia Viviani (Cannondale). The results was a cause of satisfaction in the Orica-GreenEdge camp.

In Monday's first stage of Paris-Nice, Orica-GreenEdge once again proved that they are one of the world's leading teams when it comes to produce a textbook lead-out. In the end, their amazing work was to no avail as team sprinter Leigh Howard drifted back into 8th.

With Howard ending on the podium in yesterday's hard sprint, the team got its revenge. Sports director Laurenzo Lapage was happy to see the team learning from its mistakes.

“Leigh was satisfied to see improvements in his sprint today from yesterday,” Lapage told. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

The team chases the break

The final sprint was preceded by a very slow stage in which the peloton travelled at an average speed of just around 35 km/h. Race leader Nacer Bouhanni's FDJ team had complete control of the day's breakaway when a crash 47 km before the finish line forced the French champion out of the race. This forced Orica-GreenEdge into action.

“The peloton faced head winds nearly the entire day,” Lapage explained. “It made the race slow and caused difficulty for the breakaway. With Bouhanni out, the dynamic of the race changed. “The sprinters teams were forced to take control earlier than they would have otherwise. We sent (Simon, ed.) Clarke to the front to help set tempo.”

With the help of Tom Stamsnijder (Argos-Shimano) and Tom Boonen (OmegaPharma-QuickStep), Clarke's effort brought back the break. With the risk of crosswinds, it was, however, a hectic final of the race according to Lapage.

“The last circuit was dangerous because of the wind. Position was important, and we had to come to the front earlier today than we did yesterday because of this.”

Bad luck

In setting up its lead-out train, the team was, however, severely hampered by bad luck.

“Michael (Matthews, ed.) had a crash with around 75 kilometres left to race,” Lapage told. “That’s why he wasn’t where we had planned for him to be in the sprint and why he was often seen at the back of the bunch. All is okay with him; he’s only missing some skin.”

“Simon (Gerrans, ed.) punctured with six kilometres to go. His work was done, but he came back to the peloton because you never know what can happen in the next few days.”

Two riders were stronger than Howard

With Matthews and Gerrans out of contention, it was left to Michael Albasini, Baden Cooke and Jens Keukeleire to set up Howard for the sprint. With a hard uphill final into a headwind, the team reduced manpower made it impossible to impose the same sort of dominance as it had done the previous day. In spite of this, they brought Howard into an optimal position, and he finished off the work with a solid sprint.

The work was cause for optimism for Lapage.

“Today’s sprint was much different than yesterday’s. Although we may have looked like we were less organised, I must say the team did a good job again. We definitely missed Michael there at the end, and Simon’s puncture came at a bad moment."

“Leigh was happy with the team’s work. He said that in a sprint like this, the legs do the talking. We have to accept that today there are two riders that were better.” 

Howard will get another chance to improve in today's third stage. With a second category climb just 15,5 km from the finish, a number of sprinters are expected to be left behind before a possible sprint finish. Proving incredible climbing form in Argentina and Mallorca earlier this season, Howard must fancy his chances in those conditions.