Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) stamped his authority on Paris-Nice on the summit finish today, going head-to-head with his big rival Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma), and comprehensively beating him. It was the first meeting off the two top starts of the sport this year as they wind their way towards the biggest showdown of the year, Tour de France in July.
Not only was Pogačar by far the best - winning the stage and seizing the yellow jersey - but Vingegaard looked like he was struggling quite badly. He faltered close to the top of the climb having first lit it up with an attack just 4.3km from the finish.
When the Dan accelerated, Pogačar went after him and the duo rode away from the remains of the peloton, which was down to a large select group at the time. However, the two leaders then stalled up front and were caught by the group.
Advertisement
Just as they were back in the fold, it was David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) who had a go with 3.6km remaining. He pulled clear solo and less than 1km later Pogačar went after him and easily caught him. While Vingegaard tried to respond, he was simply unable to match the two leaders.
And while Vingegaard was joined by Gino Mäder, he was unable to stay with the (Bahrain-Victorious) rider. Indeed, Vingegaard continued to struggle all the way to the line and was caught by both Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën Team) and Kévin Vauquelin (Team Arkéa Samsic).
Related News
In the end, Pogačar easily beat Gaudu in the final sprint to the line atop the cat 1 La Loge des Gardes ascent, putting one second into him on the line. Mäder was 3rd at 34 seconds followed by Paret-Peintre at 42 seconds. Then one second later came Vauquelin and Vingegaard; placing 5th and 6th at 43 seconds.
The Irish Bora-hansgrohe duo of Ryan Mullen and Sam Bennett finished in 139th and 149th respectively, both in a group at 22:22. Tomorrow's stage - some 212.4km to Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - could end in a reduced bunch sprint.
There is a cat 3 climb - 4.6km averaging 4.8 per cent gradient - is crested some 32km from the finish. Whether some of the sprinters could make it over that climb will depend on how aggressively it - and the earlier climbs of the stage - are raced.
Overall, Pogačar leads by 10 seconds from Gaudu with Vingegaard 3rd at 44 seconds. Simon Yates (UAE Team Emirates) is 4th overall at 56 seconds after finishing in 9th place today, some 51 seconds down on Pogačar.
