Paris-Nice 2016 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE]

March 13, 2016

Paris-Nice 2016 – Stage 7 – Nice – Nice : 141 km

The 74th edition of Paris-Nice, running from March 6-13, is the second WorldTour event of the year after January’s Tour Down Under and many top riders – Classics and Grand Tour specialists alike – will be laying down foundations for coming weeks and months. Recent winners Alberto Contador and Richie Porte, with two wins each to their name, spearhead the GC challengers for 2016 while Astana’s Luis Leon Sanchez is the third former winner on the start line. Romain Bardet, Tom Dumoulin and Simon Yates represent the new generation of GC riders while Lampre-Merida’s Louis Meintjes is another rider capable of finishing on the podium.

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) came back from the brink on the Col d’Eze to fight back and take overall victory at Paris-Nice by just four seconds over Alberto Contador (Tinkoff). Contador looked to have Thomas on the ropes after an attack on the final ascent but had to settle for second best after a breathless chase from Thomas on the descent.

Contador had to settle for second best on the stage also, with Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) beating him in the sprint in Nice. Richie Porte (BMC), who got away with Contador, took third on the day and in the overall classification. Thomas came close to winning Paris-Nice two years ago but crashed out while in yellow on the penultimate day. It is Thomas’ second general classification victory this season after winning the Volta ao Algarve last month.

Contador was visibly emotional on the podium, after giving it everything and with this likely to be his final Paris-Nice. The Spaniard had promised to have a go on the final day to try and make back the 15-second deficit to Thomas, and he did just that. He made his first move on the Cote de Peille, but Thomas remained calm, and it was all back together by the foot of the Col d’Eze.

As they began climbing for the final time in the race, Rafal Majka went to the front for Tinkoff. Doing what he had done the day before, the Polish rider put on the afterburners and began shedding riders from the main group. Thomas was not so relaxed when Majka’s efforts saw him, and Contador move clear at the front. Majka soon peeled off but Porte joined up with Contador, and it was a race for time to make it into Nice.

Picking up Wellens, who had been in the day’s break, along the way, the trio had as much as 35 seconds on the climb. Thomas had clearly expected an aggressive challenge from Contador on the final stage and had geared up appropriately. He utilised his set-up to bring that gap back down to just five seconds on the line.

“When he went on [the Cote de] Peille, at first, I stuck with the team. I felt good; I felt strong. But when he went halfway up the Col d’Eze my legs just gave way. It was horrible,” Thomas said after the stage. “I thought that it was all over, and then I got dropped from the other group, and I thought I was going to struggle to stay on the podium. Sergio stayed with me. I had a 54 chainring on for the descent, in case I had to chase and I certainly needed that in the end. It was just full gas and to finally catch back in the last few k. It was really good.

“It’s incredible; it’s hard to believe. Contador, man, he’s one of the best stage racers ever. Richie, he won nearly every stage race he did last year so to beat those two I can’t believe it. I obviously came here wanting to do the best I could and win but to actually do it is the biggest win for sure of my whole career and I’m over the moon.”

Despite the presence of Thomas looming on the Promenade des Anglais, Contador continued to drive to the finish line. However, he didn’t have the legs to outsprint Wellens, who would take the biggest win of his young career.

“I was a little bit unhappy yesterday and today I really tried to give it my best,” said Wellens. “It was a good opportunity for me to go with Contador and we were full gas all the way to the line. This is a great victory, a very great victory.”

How it happened

It was all still to play for going into the final stage of Paris-Nice and with only 134 kilometres to play with it was always going to be an active day. A total of six climbs were on the menu and several riders, including Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), decided that it wasn’t for them.

The action kicked off right from the start with a large group of 18 riders breaking free in the first five kilometres. Importantly for Contador, one of the riders who made it into the breakaway group was his teammate Robert Kiserlovski. The break wasn’t a done deal and there was some chopping and changing with another Tinkoff rider, Yuri Trofimov joining the leading group along with Matt Brammeier (Dimension Data), Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) and Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo). Brammeier’s day in the break wouldn’t last long, however, and he would soon be dropped.

Aside from a few movements in the break group, there was an element of calm in the main bunch. It wasn’t until the Cote de Peille that all hell broke loose when Contador finally struck out. He quickly built an advantage, joining up with his two teammates in the break and blowing the race apart. At one point, Contador had well over a minute on the Thomas group but he wasn’t able to hold that advantage once they’d made it over the top of the climb.

With an in-form Sergio Henao and Nicolas Roche for help, Thomas’ group began to bring back Contador. It was gruppo compacto for the Col d’Eze with just a few remnants of the original break dangling at the head of the race. With just a few cards left to play, Contador put Majka to the fore and the 26-year-old delivered a leg-sapping pace.

He may not have been in the fight for the top spots in overall classification anymore, but Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) was keen to show that his race was not done and dusted. The Frenchman launched a few speculative moves up the road at 20 kilometres to go, only to be chased down by Contador. He may not have got away but his attacks showed early signs of Thomas struggling. Majka took to the head of proceedings again and this time, he appeared to break Thomas.

Majka and Contador slowly moved clear, with the Polish rider pulling off when the two had a clear advantage. Contador wasn’t alone for long, with Porte bridging across and the two raced away from an ailing Thomas. The pair caught up with Wellens and held a gap of over 30 seconds by the top.

Thomas was not ready to give up though and raced every kilometre to the finish line. He did just enough to hold onto his race lead in what was a thrilling finale to the week.

Results :
1 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 3:16:09
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team
3 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
4 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:00:05
5 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge
6 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
7 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida
8 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team
9 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team
11 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
12 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha
13 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:10
14 David De La Cruz (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:00
15 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:01:18
16 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
17 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
18 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
19 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
20 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:26
22 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
23 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
24 Gorka Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team
25 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale Pro Cycling
26 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team
27 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
28 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge
29 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Lampre – Merida
30 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha
31 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
32 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff Team
33 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
34 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Lampre – Merida
35 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:01:34
36 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ 0:02:54
37 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:03:34
38 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
39 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:47
40 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:03:58
41 Oliver Naesen (Bel) IAM Cycling
42 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
43 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:29
44 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
45 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
46 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
47 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:10:57
48 Leonardo Duque (Col) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:11:44
49 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
50 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
51 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
52 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
53 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ
54 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
55 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
56 Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team
57 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Orica-GreenEdge
58 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin
59 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
60 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
61 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff Team
62 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team
63 Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
64 Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ
65 Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
66 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
67 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
68 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
69 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team
70 José Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team
71 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
72 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
73 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
74 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky
75 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha
76 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
77 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
78 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky
79 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team
80 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
81 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ
82 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
83 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida
84 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:13:36
85 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge
86 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
87 Julien Loubet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
88 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
89 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
90 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie
91 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:16:41
92 Mario Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida
93 Vicente Reynes (Spa) IAM Cycling
94 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
95 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
96 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie
97 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
98 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
99 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin
100 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre – Merida
101 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie
102 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
103 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
104 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
105 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
106 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ
107 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step
108 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
109 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
110 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
111 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
112 Steven Tronet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
113 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
114 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge
115 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
116 Matti Breschel (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling
117 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
118 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
119 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling
120 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:23:16
121 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:23:35
122 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
123 Daniel Diaz (Arg) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
124 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:23:50
125 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:24:27
126 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
127 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-GreenEdge
128 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling
129 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
130 Matt Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data
131 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
DNS Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
DNS Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNS Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – Merida
DNS Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
DNF Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Jerome Cousin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team
DNF Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha
DNF Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha

Final General Classification :
1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 27:26:40
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team 0:00:04
3 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:12
4 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:00:20
5 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:37
6 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:44
7 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge
8 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:00:51
9 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:00
10 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:01:07
11 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:09
12 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:01:53
13 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:33
14 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:21
15 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:03:53
16 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:04:03
17 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:04:07
18 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:04:26
19 Gorka Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:00
20 David De La Cruz (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:05:12
21 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff Team 0:07:38
22 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Lampre – Merida 0:09:43
23 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:09:56
24 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie 0:10:38
25 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:11:23
26 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:11:28
27 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:07
28 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:13:18
29 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:13:30
30 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:13:35
31 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 0:14:26
32 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie 0:16:14
33 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:16:58
34 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky 0:18:19
35 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:18:29
36 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:20:35
37 José Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:21:01
38 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:23:16
39 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:23:33
40 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:23:43
41 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:24:21
42 Oliver Naesen (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:24:50
43 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff Team 0:25:15
44 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:25:33
45 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:25:46
46 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:26:32
47 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:27:01
48 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 0:27:19
49 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Tinkoff Team 0:27:23
50 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie 0:27:35
51 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge 0:28:16
52 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 0:28:51
53 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:30:38
54 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:30:47
55 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:32:19
56 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:34:06
57 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:35:08
58 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team 0:35:33
59 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:36:02
60 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:36:53
61 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:37:02
62 Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:37:28
63 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:37:45
64 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:38:17
65 Vicente Reynes (Spa) IAM Cycling 0:38:36
66 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:38:44
67 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie 0:39:45
68 Leonardo Duque (Col) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:40:09
69 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:40:22
70 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky 0:40:30
71 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:40:45
72 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:42:09
73 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:42:40
74 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie 0:43:20
75 Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team 0:43:24
76 Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:44:08
77 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:44:09
78 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:45:21
79 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Lampre – Merida 0:46:33
80 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:47:00
81 Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ 0:48:43
82 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:48:58
83 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ 0:49:27
84 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:50:55
85 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:52:09
86 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:52:23
87 Julien Loubet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:53:38
88 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:53:43
89 Matti Breschel (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:53:46
90 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:54:08
91 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:54:19
92 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:56:09
93 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie 0:58:06
94 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ 0:58:22
95 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:58:40
96 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:59:27
97 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ 0:59:35
98 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 1:00:08
99 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team 1:00:22
100 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:00:41
101 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Orica-GreenEdge 1:01:06
102 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge 1:01:07
103 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ 1:01:57
104 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre – Merida 1:02:08
105 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:02:45
106 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 1:03:30
107 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 1:04:09
108 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:05:20
109 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:07:22
110 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 1:08:35
111 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ 1:10:05
112 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge 1:11:38
113 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 1:11:47
114 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:13:03
115 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie 1:13:50
116 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
117 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie 1:14:24
118 Mario Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 1:16:01
119 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 1:16:08
120 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo 1:16:14
121 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal 1:17:25
122 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:19:31
123 Steven Tronet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 1:19:34
124 Daniel Diaz (Arg) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:23:04
125 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 1:26:36
126 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data 1:27:07
127 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling 1:30:27
128 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 1:32:24
129 Matt Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data 1:32:33
130 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-GreenEdge 1:36:23
131 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 1:38:46