Primoz Roglic has turned the queen stage in Paris-Nice to his will. The Slovenian from Jumbo-Visma reacted to everything that moved on the tough Col de Turini and finished it off powerfully in the sprint in an elite group. He thus strengthens his leadership position. Tomorrow the final stage to Nice awaits.
Stage 7 of Paris-Nice in a nutshell:
- Winner of the day: Primoz Roglic showed confidence this morning and completely exceeded expectations on the tough Col de Turini (15km at 7.2%). The Slovenian skilfully played his fellow favorites and finished powerfully in the sprint. A first overall victory in the Course to the Sun is now very close.
- Assignments: The line of the past few days was continued undisturbed today, with again handfuls of withdrawals. We have lost count for a while, but one thing is certain: tomorrow a mini platoon will arrive in Nice.
- Morning: The traditional final stage to Nice seems at most a formality for this dominant Roglic. Or will the Slovenian still encounter himself on the difficult roads towards the Côte d’Azur?
De Gendt cannot cash in early flight, Roglic gives yellow jersey extra shine
After the warm-up work during the working week, the heavy work in Paris-Nice was only planned for the weekend. Saturday’s queen stage presented the “first real col of the cycling season” with the tough Col de Turini, according to our commentators earlier this week.
A large group including Thomas De Gendt and David Gaudu tried from afar, but the classification men were hungry and did not want to miss out on the stage victory. Almost everything came together at the foot of the final climb, the muscle roll between the favorites could begin.
Adam Yates was the first to light the fire, but a yellow Primoz Roglic soon dismantled the danger. Not much later, the Slovenian could no longer contain himself and rattled the tree himself.
Martínez was the only one to follow, an unruly Quintana and Simon Yates also joined in. Under the rag, the three companions already knew what time it was when Roglic slumped. He cashed in on his dominance with a perfectly timed sprint.
Roglic: “Tomorrow will be the decisive day”
“It was a tough day,” Roglic said afterwards. “From the start it was driven hard. But I had good legs today. I was able to follow the other favorites and finish it in the sprint.”
“It’s nice to win on a local climb. My 61st victory already? It’s not out of the blue. A lot of sacrifices and training were preceded. If you can finish it then it’s a great feeling.”
“Tomorrow will be the decisive day,” he continued. “The weather will not be good and the course will be very demanding. I know the new climb of the Col d’Èze, it will hurt with that very steep kilometer.”
Vansevenant (15th): “The climb was 3 km too long, suddenly it was over”
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Vansevenant can take a shot at the white jersey today.
