Tadej Pogacar (UAE) crowned his work in the final stage of Paris-Nice by soloing away from his competitors in the final. The Slovenian not only takes almost all jerseys, but also the overall victory.
Car on the track in hectic final stage
The last stage in Paris-Nice was as always spectacular. Attacks followed each other in quick succession from the start.
In the end, a group of 16 were given a safe conduct. This includes the Belgians Oliver Naesen and Kobe Goossens.
Jonas Gregaard took the most initiative in the leading group. He came up first 3 times and thus conquered the KOM jersey.
A little commotion at 60 km from the end. A car actually drove in the opposite direction on the course, fortunately the riders were able to avoid it.
Tadej Pogacar had set his sights on the stage victory and let his team take the lead. As a result, the escapees were quickly caught. Only Wout Poels struggled for a while, the Dutchman was caught 25 km from the end.
A limited group started on the Col d’Ese, the last climb of Paris-Nice.
Pogacar bows after a piece of art
It was Simon Yates who opened the debates. He accelerated from the foot and got 4 riders with him. Pogacar, Gaudu, Vingegaard and Jorgensen were at the appointment.
Tadej Pogacar immediately took over from the Briton and drove everyone out of the wheel. At 19 km from the end, the yellow jersey was already solo. “The yellow bird has started flying”, said commentator Renaat Schotte.
Behind his back, David Gaudu made another attempt to make the jump, but he was quickly caught up again.
The four pursuers rode after Pogacar, but they didn’t get a second closer to the unchained Slovenian.
Pogacar arrived solo in Nice and had plenty of time to celebrate his 3rd victory in this Paris-Nice. The Slovenian ended his feat with a deep bow to the camera.
35 seconds later Vingegaard won the sprint for 2nd place, Gaudu finished 3rd.
Thanks to his victory, the Slovenian is also certain of the overall victory in Paris-Nice. The UAE leader ends the week 53 seconds ahead of David Gaudu and 1’39” ahead of Vingegaard.
In addition to the yellow, the glutton of this Paris-Nice also takes home the green and white jersey.
Reactions after stage 8 Paris-Nice:
Tadej Pogacar: “It was always my dream to win Paris-Nice. I am therefore very happy with the overall victory. The opposition was also strong, I am proud to be on the podium next to Gaudu and Vingegaard.”
“It is often said that the attack is the best defence. I know the course like the back of my hand and I also felt very good. So I knew exactly where to attack.”
David Gaudu: “It was the last stage, so I had to try to win the general classification. Unfortunately I didn’t have the legs to attack.”
“The balance after Paris-Nice is more than positive. I passed a milestone, I improved physically and also showed my mental strength. If someone had told me at the beginning of this week that I would be 2nd, I definitely signed up for that.”
“I’ve made progress again. Every year I get better and I manage to put in better performances. The team was also fantastic all week. We did everything we had to do, including in the team time trial, and we have brought a podium from Paris-Nice. Those are things that we don’t succeed every year.”
Jonas Vingegaard: “If I had the legs I would have tried to attack on the last climb. But Pogacar was too strong. When he attacked, everyone knew it would be impossible to beat him. Or so I thought. Still I am happy with my 2nd place today. I’m also happy with the way I’ve been riding this week. Now I can work on my form for the Tour de France and hopefully I can be better there. There’s still work to be done, I I’m not at my best level here”.
Pogacar goes off alone: ”The yellow bird has started flying”
