Dhe two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) confidently secured overall victory at the 81st edition of the long-distance Paris-Nice race. The Slovenian dominated the demanding eighth and final stage around the port city of Nice (118.4 kilometers), was able to break away on the decisive climb to the Col d’Eze and drove to his third stage win.
“It was always my goal to win Paris-Nice,” said Pogacar at the finish after bowing to the audience: “It was even a dream, so it’s incredible. If I don’t win anything by the end of the season, it will still be a successful season.”
The 24-year-old crossed the finish line on the Promenade des Anglais 33 seconds ahead of Tour Champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). Pogacar’s big adversary from Denmark won the sprint against David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), in the overall classification Vingegaard finished 1:39 minutes behind Pogacar but still behind the French in third place (+0.53).
“The level was very high. Sharing the podium with Gaudu and Vingegaard is very special as they are two excellent drivers,” said Pogacar, who is in impressive early form and has won nine out of 13 races this year.
With 21 kilometers to go, all the top drivers were in a group of 30, then Pogacar pulled away impressively to 45 seconds on the six-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 7.6 percent. “Attack is the best defense,” Pogacar commented.
There was a moment of shock about 60 kilometers before the finish: a car was in the way in a curve, but the drivers were all able to avoid it in time.
As the best German driver, Nils Politt (Bora-hansgrohe) finished 45th overall. Maximilian Schachmann, who won the long-distance race in 2020 and 2021 and was 13th after Friday, had to retire the day before due to a cold.
