Miserable Paris-Nice Weather Claims Contenders Early

The "Giant of Provence" waits for the field on stage 4 of Paris-Nice

Over only two stages, many of the top contenders for the overall Paris-Nice title have fallen out of the picture for the competition for the overall. Whether from crashes or tactical mistakes, many of the heavy hitters are down and out early in the "Race to the Sun."

Frank Schleck is the closest of the pre race favorites at 2:56 back

Frank Schleck (2:56), Cadel Evans (3:07), Alexandre Botcharov (7:13), Christophe Moreau (7:14), Damiano Cunego (7:18), and Sandy Casar (14:56) all trail leader Geert Steegmans by significant margins. So with the shake up in the classification, who are the new favorites for the overall title?

Millar has worn the climber's polka dots in the Tour de France, and will try to show off his climbing prowess in stage three of Paris-Nice

CSC's Karsten Kroon sits at only 23 seconds off the lead, and should have great support for the remainder of the race. Although he isn't a pure climber, Kroon can get over the steeps and should be in with a chance the rest of the week. David Millar of Slipstream, who made no secret of the fact that he intended to try to win Paris-Nice, is sitting comfortably in 7th place at 30 seconds. Like Kroon, he isn't a first class climber, but may be able to survive the mountain passes with the other remaining contenders. Davide Rebellin, like Millar and Kroon, is a decent but not great climber, and should be able to stay with the CSC and Slipstream riders when the road turns upward. He trails on the GC by 44 seconds, and is riding great early season form.

Kroon, one of the most likable riders in cycling, is in with a chance for the Paris-Nice 2008 title

While the above three riders are all about equal in terms of their climbing ability, there is one name toward the top of the classification that could ride away with the Paris-Nice title starting Thursday on the Mont Ventoux: Yaroslav Popovych. The former Discovery super domestique is on good form, and with his teammate Cadel Evans slipping away from the top of the leader board, "Popo" should have the full support of his team. He'll be tough to unglue on the biggest climbs, and for the remaining contenders, he may be too fast to even follow.

Popovych won his share of races for Discovery, and will hope to bag the Paris-Nice stage race for his new sponsor, Silence-Lotto

Just behind Popovych is the youngster Robert Gesink. Fresh off his second straight best young rider designation in the Tour of California, the lithe climber should have no problem following Popovych on Ventoux, but whether he'll have the stones to attack is another argument entirely. If he does, the young Dutchman could set himself up with the biggest victory of his young career.

Gesink is a monster on steep climbs, and may be the only rider left in the GC hunt that can follow Popovych on the steep ramps of Mont Ventoux

Finally, Alexander Efimkin, the young charge of the Belgian Quick Step team, will be keen to keep the team's momentum going after Geert Steegmans' two wins in the first two stages. At only 26, Efimkin is short on experience, but he'll surely follow wheels and hope for instinct to take over when the time is right. He sits at 55 seconds off the pace. While the pre-race favorites are all but out of overall contention, anything can happen. The eventual winner of the event will still have to make the race and attack the field. Expect the fire works to start tomorrow between the two best climbers remaining in the overall hunt: Gesink and Popovych.