– Paris-Nice stage 7: Report, results, photos
Good morning from a very normal country. I address you impartially and apolitically, and I am indeed treated very well.
It’s the last Paris-Nice weekend time – when has it ever let us down? Sunday’s thriller in the hills outside of Nice will have the final say, but above all it’s a mountainous stage that finishes at the top of the Col de la Cuyol. Here we will look at each pedal stroke.
Here is the scene at the beginning. No, I don’t really like the fact that we are already in Nice, the day before the end of Paris-Nice, but I have seen many, many worse views from the catwalks.
Riders are steadily signing up and will depart at 10:40 local time. They then have a long neutral zone to negotiate, so the actual leg should start at 11 a.m., a little over half an hour.
Here’s what’s in the store today. The Côte de Tourette du Chateau has received ASO Paris-Nice’s liberal approach to climb ratings, but the final ascent of the Col de la Cuyol looks like the completion of a Category 1 summit. Same average slope as the Loge des Gardes somewhat days ago, but twice as long. Then we saw some drama, it promises more.
Before we start, it’s time to catch up on yesterday. Strong winds forced stage 6 to be canceled entirely, so there was no stage winner and no change to the overall standings.
We are on the move. The riders leave Nice, but it will be a little more time before this stage actually starts.
Total score reminder
Were off!
The scene has been launched and I’m betting that we will see a lot of interest in today’s breakout.
Some non-beginners
Two-time Paris-Nice winner Max Schachmann is not technically starting, even if Bora-Hansgrohe announced his retirement due to illness after stage 5 and before stage 6 did not take place. Teammate Sam Bennett is also heading home, as is Lotto-Dstny’s Arnaud De Ly – there’s not much left for the sprinters now. In addition, at least three Israel-Premier Tech riders left: Taj Jones, Gay Sagiv and Tom Van Asbroek (Israel Premier-Tech) did not start.
As expected, this is a great start – over 50 km/h so far.
It’s always been of interest to breakaways, but when you take an entire stage out of the race – a stage designed specifically for breakaway artists – then the appetite just gets bigger.
There are no attacks yet.
There is also a tailwind.
Lilian Calmejan (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) attacked with Javi Romo (Movistar) and Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe)
We are at this early stage and some riders are already resetting.
The trio have company. Larry Warbass (Ag2R-Citroen), Florian Seneschal (Soudal Quick Step), Brent Van Moer (Lotto Dstny) and Hugo Hole (Israel-Premier Tech) cross the bridge.
We have a counterattack but the margin is low at the moment and it’s far from settled.
Arnaud Demar is in this stance. What did he think?
One of the interesting plots of this Paris-Nice was the relationship between the French sprinter and his FDJ teammate David Gaudu after the pair fell out publicly earlier this year – well, after David Gaudou scolded Demar to his mates during a game. video games on an internet streaming platform (I guess I’m right).
Either way, Demar edged Gouda by an extra second in the intermediate sprint the other day, not only providing the perfect platform, but cleverly shutting the door on Tadej Pogacar to maximize profits. Goudou said it was “cool” – is everything okay now?
Here’s the full story on the aftermath if you’re interested.
David Gaudou apologizes after lashing out at Arnaud Demar in a leaked online chat
Demar joins the front along with Dorian Hodon (Ag2R) and Søren Krag Andersen (Alpesin Dekeninck).
Kelland O’Brien (Jeiko Alula), Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) and Pascal Inchhorn (Lotto Dstny) are on the road now and are between a break and a bunch.
It was 30km of fast discovery and we are now on the lower slopes of the Côte de Tourette du Chateau, the first of our two Category 1 climbs today.
Those three are now moving forward, so we have 13 in the lead as we move up.
This climb is 17.6 km long, but the slope, interrupted by several flatter sections, averages only 4.6%.
We have another counterattack. They are Lucas Hamilton (Jeiko Alula) and Remy Cavagna (Soudal Quick Step).
Now they are joined by Demar, who has lost the lead and will most likely slide further. That’s probably what he was doing – giving himself some room to slide.
The peloton is one minute behind the race leader.
Here window sills jump out of the crowd
Race leader today in typically high spirits
Cavagna and Hamilton are approaching the break.
Behind Michael Mathews (Jeiko Alula), Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar), Harrison Sweeney (Lotto Dstny), Daan Hul (Trek Segafredo), Kobe Goossens (Intermarché), David De la Cruz (Astana Qazaqstan) are slightly ahead of the peloton.
Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) left Paris-Nice in the green jersey. More to follow.
Ruben Fernandez (Cofidis), who crashed earlier, is also pulling out, as is Soren Warenskiöld (Uno-X), who has crashed a couple of times this week.
Cavagna and Hamilton are already opposite, and the next group is also approaching.
Trek-Segafredo confirms that Pedersen was ill with “cold symptoms”. The Stage 2 winner was dropped today on the first no-category climb.
Borah also confirmed that Bennett was ill, as were the three abandoned Israelis. We are far from last year’s scale, but something seems to be happening.
The last person you meet – Muhlberger, Sweeney, Hoole, Goossens, De la Cruz – comes across. Matthews was there originally, but is no longer there. Jayco-AlUla claims the peloton didn’t let him go.
The newly extended breakaway is approaching the top of the first lift.
The gap widens to the two-minute mark as the groups approach the summit, although the road continues uphill for about 15 km.
This is how the mountain points were distributed on the Côte de Tourette-du-Château.
1. Unicorn 10 points
2. Cabot 5 points
3. Calmejan 3 points
4. Romo 2 points
5. From the cross 1 p.
In terms of mountain classification, Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) has a pretty solid polka dot lead – not mathematically undeniable, but solid enough to not worry about a breakout today.
A slightly simplified summary after a frenzied start
We have a gap of 19 riders with a margin of just over two minutes from the peloton.
Pogacar’s players from the UAE control the peloton and don’t give that lead much space. They recorded a gap below the two-minute mark.
The racers overcame a long resistance after the climb, and now we are going down for a while.
The best rider in this break is Cavagna, who started the day 24th overall at 3:20 from Pogacar.
The Frenchman, best known as a time trialist, is trying to reinvent himself as a week-long GC racer, but this is an experiment in its infancy.
The gap widens slightly, to 2:30.
Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) pulled out of the breakaway and retired on this downhill. We will have an injury update when we can.
Tarling is a 19-year-old neo-professional who skipped the U23 ranks to go pro with one of the biggest teams, and he ended up at the very bottom – most riders don’t race juniors for one season and Paris. -Okay next. He had also competed in the UAE Tour – another WorldTour race – prior to that and started his season in Bessezh where he had already raced 18 days.
Here Tarling was at the head of the breakaway on the previous climb.
There are 50 km left and the breakaway is racing along with a 2:45 lead.
The fight for the position is already beginning. The pace in the peloton has picked up as we continue down this gentle descent.
We have an intermediate sprint ahead of us, but this is not significant, given that additional seconds will be lost due to the breakaway.
The Intersprint is still at the top of the hill and is quite steep.
Mechanics for Romain Bardet (DSM). This is not a good time as the pin continues to move up this kicker quickly.
Barde is sixth overall. Let me remind you of the total score.
With the help of two teammates, Barde returns to the rear of the group as the road continues uphill.
Ineos Grenadiers took the lead in the peloton.
De la Cruz picked up extra seconds in the intermediate sprint, but he was 3:32 behind at the start of the day. He was followed by Goossens and his teammate Romo.
These riders decided to continue and left with Sweeney as the road goes downhill again.
Four of them are 15 seconds ahead of their former breakaway comrades.
Meanwhile, 40 km before the finish line, the gap from the group was reduced to just over two minutes.
Ineos destroy this descent.
The bunch is falling apart!
An accident occurs on the narrowest bridge leading into the corner. This helps divide the peloton into 40 riders.
There are 34 km left and some riders are catching up with the peloton.
Ineos burned some matches here. Omar Fraile looks ragged, followed by Sivakov and Martinez.
The UAE still has decent numbers.
The lead has rebounded from that previous split, but now they’re only 1:44 ahead with no real chance of making it onto the stage…
Source: sports.yahoo.com
