 
Tour de France champion Alberto Contador put his mark on the 2010 Paris-Nice Thursday, dominating the final climb of the critical fourth stage, a 173.5-kilometer run from Maurs to a mountain-top finish in Mende.
Contador took the stage win ahead of overall rivals Alejandro Valverde and Samuel Sanchez.
The Astana rider repeated his win of the same stage in 2007. This time he attacked on the final, 3.1-km, 10 percent climb, quickly moving away from the favorites, including overnight race leader Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), who finished 44 seconds behind Contador on the stage.
American Levi Leipheimer of RadioShack came in 1:08 behind Contador.
On the overall standings, Contador now leads Valverde by 25 seconds and Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas-Doimo) by 26.
Please check back soon for a full report by Andrew Hood, a gallery by Graham Watson and complete results.
Preliminary stage results:
1. Alberto Contador Astana
2. Alejandro Valverde Caisse D’epargne
3. Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel – Euskadi at 00:10
4. Joaquim Rodriguez Katusha Team at 00:18
5. Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Telecom at 00:20
6. Damiano Cunego Lampre – Farnese at 00:21
7. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas-Doimo at 00:21
8. Christophe Le Mevel Francaise Des Jeux at 00:29
9. Luis-leon Sanchez Caisse D’epargne at 00:29
10. Reine Taaramae Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at 00:31
11. Jérôme Coppel Saur-Sojasun at 00:37
12. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:44
13. Sylvain Chavanel Quick Step Cycling Team at 00:44
14. Jean-christophe Peraud Omega Pharma – Lotto at 00:44
15. Sandy Casar Francaise Des Jeux at 00:44
16. Volodymir Gustov Cervelo Test Team at 00:44
17. Nicolas Roche Ag2r-La Mondiale at 00:48
18. Simon Gerrans Team Sky at 00:53
19. Xavier Tondo Cervelo Test Team at 00:56
Preliminary GC standings:
1. Alberto Contador Astana
2. Alejandro Valverde Caisse D’epargne
3. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas-Doimo at 00:25
4. Luis-leon Sanchez Caisse D’epargne at 00:28
5. Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel – Euskadi at 00:29
6. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:34
7. Joaquim Rodriguez Katusha Team at 00:36
8. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo at 00:54
9. David Millar Garmin – Transitions at 01:03
10. Reine Taaramae Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at 01:06
11. Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Telecom at 01:08
12. Xavier Tondo Cervelo Test Team at 01:14
13. Jean-christophe Peraud Omega Pharma – Lotto at 01:15
14. Jérôme Coppel Saur-Sojasun at 01:16
15. Nicolas Roche Ag2r-La Mondiale at 01:22
16. Levi Leipheimer Team Radioshack at 01:23
17. Sylvain Chavanel Quick Step Cycling Team at 01:27
18. Sandy Casar Francaise Des Jeux at 01:29
19. Simon Gerrans Team Sky at 01:30
20. Christophe Le Mevel Francaise Des Jeux at 01:32 | 
