Chavanel takes stage, Porte holds overall lead

France's Sylvain Chavanel, of the Omega Pharma team, won the sixth and penultimate stage of the Paris-Nice race on Saturday, while Australia's Richie Porte, of Team Sky, held on to the overall lead. Chavanel pipped Belgium's Philippe Gilbert and Jose Joaquin Rojas of Spain in a sprint finish on Nice's famous waterfront Promenade des Anglais. Porte retains a 32-second lead from American Andrew Talansky in the overall standings, with Chavanel third at 42sec, level with Lieuwe Westra of the Netherlands. Sunday's final stage is a 9.6km time-trial up to the Col-d'Eze. Porte had said Friday he was confident of seeing out overall victory on Sunday, although Chavanel, the French time-trial champion, could still have a say. From: AFP