Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) has won Stage 4 of Paris-Nice. The Spaniard rode away from Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) in the last km to win the mountainous, 169.5-km ride from Maurs to Mende in 4:07:26. Rebellin finished second at 0:02, and David Lopez Garcia (Caisse d?Epargne) took third 0:12 later. Rebellin has taken the overall lead from Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas).

Early in the stage, 17 riders escaped. The peloton rode them down, but Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux) escaped on the descent of the Cote de Quotidiane. Amael Moinard (Cofidis) and Dimitri Muravyev (Astana) joined the Frenchman, and the break of the day had begun.

The trio led by 11:00 at 70 km. Liquigas chased and reduced the lead to about 6:00. Discovery Channel and Bouygues Telecom took over and cut the escapees? advantage to 1:00 at the base of La Croix-Neuve, the day?s Category 1 climb to the finish.

Muravyev was dropped early. Contador attacked in the last km and caught Casar. Rebellin stayed close enough to the Spaniard to take the yellow jersey.

In the overall, Rebellin leads Contador by 0:06 and Tadej Valjavec (Lampre) by 0:23. Stage 5 will be a hilly, 178-km run from Sorgues to Manosque. The standings will probably not change, but an individual or group escape should create excitement. Who will win the day? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!