He led over the top and through the intermediate sprint that followed.īehind the Dutchman, Groupama-FDJ attempted to set up Gaudu for the sprint, but Pogačar managed to avoid getting boxed in as he been three days before and sped past the Breton climber to take the four bonus available behind Poels, this little victory edging the Slovenian’s overall lead out to 14 seconds.Ĭoming onto the Col d’Eze, the race’s final climb, UAE’s pace on the front of the peloton quickly snuffed out the hopes of Poels.
On the stage’s fourth ascent, the first-category Col de Peille, Bahrain Victorious climber Wout Poels bridged across to the leader and then continued ahead on his own. More riders came and went at the front over the first half of the stage, with the peloton never much more than a minute in arrears. King of the Mountains leader Jonas Gregaard instigated it with an instant attack as he searched to defend the polka-dot jersey. If I don’t win anything else till the end of the season I can be relaxed because I’ve won here,” he concluded, a sentiment that his rivals are unlikely to take as a sign of the Slovenian easing back on his racing objectives.Īs is typically the case on the short final stage in the hills overlooking Nice, the action was frantic right from the start.
“The level of competition was huge and to be alongside Gaudu and Vingegaard on the podium is really special because they’re great riders. “I really know these roads, I do a lot of training on them, I knew how my legs were and how much I could do on the final climb. “They say attack is the best defence," said Pogačar, whose home in Monaco is just a kilometres from Nice.
This increased his overall lead to 53 seconds over Gaudu, the biggest winning margin seen at Paris-Nice since Richie Porte won the 2013 edition by 55 seconds.
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