Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) upset the form-book by soloing to victory on stage 5 of Paris-Nice. The Kazakhstani rider broke free with just under 20 kilometres still to run to the finish, and held off the baying pack despite the odds being stacked against him.
At one point, Lutsenko had the virtual yellow jersey, and with bonus seconds at the finish it looked like he might take the jersey from the shoulders of Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge). It wasn't to be for Lutsenko and the peloton closed the gap sufficiently to allow Matthews to keep the jersey by just six seconds.
Matthews is unlikely to retain the jersey until the finish, with two tough mountain stages in the final weekend of the race.
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