Paris-Nice 2019 – Stage 8 [FULL STAGE]

March 17, 2019

Paris-Nice 2019 – Stage 8 – Nice – Nice : 110 km

The format of Paris-Nice has often been tweaked over the years, but the fundamental characteristics of the event remain in place. The eight-day trek from the hinterland of Paris to the Côte d’Azur is replete with hidden pitfalls and always prone to the vagaries of March weather. Vigilance is a quality required by any potential winner. The summit finish atop the Col de Turini on the penultimate stage and the 25km time trial around Barbentane on stage 5 appear to be the pivotal days in this year’s race, and will certainly bring definition to the general classification, but the brutal truth is that Paris-Nice can be lost on any given day.

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) secured overall victory at Paris-Nice after a tense final stage which saw his yellow jersey come under attack by Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

Ion Izagirre (Astana) took the stage win in Nice, attacking on the final climb of the day to leave behind the remains of the elite break group led by Quintana. The Spaniard quickly built a stage-winning gap, staying upright on the descent to secure the win, 19 seconds ahead of Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale) and Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb).

Quintana, meanwhile, attacked 50km out, echoing similar moves against Team Sky by Alberto Contador in 2016 and 2017. But like the legendary Spaniard, Quintana would fall short. He was the virtual leader at several points, but ended up only taking four seconds on Bernal at the finish.

The Movistar man attacked on the Côte de Peille to link up with the remnants of a strong breakaway group, including three teammates. Despite their best efforts, he was alone for the final 30 kilometres, while Bernal enjoyed the work of several teammates further back.

In the end, his efforts weren’t enough to overhaul his fellow Colombian at the top of the overall classification, but the battle ended up as the latest in a long line of dramatic final stages at Paris-Nice.

For Bernal, it’s his second WorldTour stage race win after the Tour of California last year. It’s the first win of the season for the 22-year-old, who is set to be a team leader at the Giro d’Italia.

“I can’t believe that I just won Paris-Nice. It’s incredible for me. I’m really happy. I just can’t believe it yet,” Bernal told the Team Sky website after the race. “When some GC riders started to attack I knew I could follow them, but also I know that I have a really good, strong team, and my team can control these races.

“So it wasn’t too difficult to be calm because I really believe in my team. They did a really, really good job. We knew it was the last day so they pulled really hard.

“Nairo was really strong but I had a really good team – Kwiatkowski, Sosa, Tao [Geoghegan Hart]. When Quintana attacked I thought if I followed then after I may be alone. I preferred to wait a little bit, stay calm.”

How it happened

Once again, a very large break got away early on, and for another day Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) was out there looking to hoover up some mountain classification points in order to seal the polka-dot jersey.

Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) was the main GC threat in the group, lying eighth 2:52 down on Bernal. Stage 7 winner Daniel Martínez was also there, while other notable names in the break included Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Lilian Calmejane (Direct Énergie)
Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott), Héctor Carretero, Marc Soler, Winner Anacona (all Movistar), Izagirre, Luis León Sánchez, Miguel Ángel Lopez (all Astana), Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) and Martínez’s EF Education First teammate Tejay van Garderen.

The break swelled over the first two climbs of the day, up to a total of 37 men. Meanwhile, De Gendt added another 12 points to his total on the Côtes de Levens and Chateauneuf.

Trentin was out front on the second climb and was soon joined by van Garderen, who himself was the lone leader as the short 110km stage reached the final 50 kilometres. It was at that point that the action really started as Quintana went on the attack on the Côte de Peille.

The Colombian lay 46 seconds down on race leader Bernal at the start of the day, so a long-range attack over the final three climbs of the stage was pretty much a necessity if he was to have any hope of overhauling his compatriot.

Quintana linked up with his Movistar teammates and was swiftly in the virtual race lead as they caught van Garderen. A minute down the road, Sky were put to work in aid of Bernal. They would have 40km to salvage the race.

Over the top of the Peille, the lead group was an elite collection of riders, including the Astana trio, the EF duo, Yates, Pozzovivo, Naesen, Kelderman and Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe). Quintana only had Soler for company, while 50 seconds back, Bernal had five Sky men at his disposal.

What ensued was a mini team time trial, though Quintana was forced to work at the front alone for the final 30km, with little co-operation from his companions. The gap swung from 35-55 seconds during this time, with yet another nail-biting Paris-Nice finish looking to be on the cards.

The final climb of the Col de Quatre Chemins saw Izagirre go on the attack, leaving van Garderen behind and going it alone in search of the stage victory. Despite an attempt from Yates towards the top of the climb, nobody came close to the Spaniard, who had the win in hand so long as he stayed upright on the descent.

Further back, the work from Team Sky saw Bernal close in on Quintana enough so that, on the descent into Nice, the destination of the yellow jersey was more or less set.

Bernal and teammate Michał Kwiatkowski were part of a small group that crossed the line just four seconds behind Quintana, confirming the makeup of the final podium and another Team Sky victory at Paris-Nice – their sixth in eight years.

Results :
1 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 2:41:10
2 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:18
3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
4 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
5 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
8 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:20
9 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First
10 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:22
11 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:26
12 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
13 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
14 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
15 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
16 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
17 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
18 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
19 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky
20 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:17
21 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:01:23
22 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:41
23 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:01:43
24 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:45
25 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:55
26 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:57
27 Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Sky 0:02:41
28 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:05
29 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
30 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
31 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
32 Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:04:40
33 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:00
34 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
35 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
36 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
37 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
38 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
39 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
40 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
41 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
42 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
43 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team
44 Amael Moinard (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
45 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:07:32
46 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:38
47 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
48 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
49 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
50 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) CCC Team 0:09:15
51 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
52 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:10:30
53 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates
54 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
55 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Sky
56 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:11:01
57 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:12:02
58 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Direct Energie
59 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
60 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
61 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
62 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
63 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
64 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
65 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
66 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
67 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
68 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
69 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
70 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
71 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First
72 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
73 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:14:12
74 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team
75 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:14:46
76 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:16:40
77 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
78 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
79 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
80 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
81 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
82 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
83 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
84 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
85 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
86 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
87 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
88 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
89 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
90 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
91 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
92 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
93 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
94 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
95 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First
96 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
97 Patrick Müller (Swi) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
98 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
99 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
100 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
101 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
102 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
103 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
104 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
105 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Direct Energie
106 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
107 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
108 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
109 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
110 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
111 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates
112 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
113 André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic
114 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Direct Energie
115 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb
116 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
117 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:18:39
118 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:21:58
DNF Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
DNF Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNS Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNS Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNS Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First
DNF Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNS Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
DNF Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM

Final General Classification :
1 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 29:17:02
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:39
3 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:01:03
4 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:21
5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:45
6 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:20
7 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:02
8 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:06
9 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:03:12
10 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:07
11 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
12 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:10
13 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:36
14 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:05:57
15 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:19
16 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie 0:07:28
17 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:07:37
18 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First 0:09:27
19 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 0:12:31
20 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:14:23
21 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:14:52
22 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:56
23 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:15:20
24 Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:19:32
25 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:22:30
26 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:22:42
27 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:22:59
28 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:23:44
29 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team 0:24:38
30 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:25:41
31 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:26:12
32 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:26:23
33 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:27:34
34 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:29:13
35 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:29:52
36 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:29:57
37 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:30:21
38 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:30:24
39 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:30:34
40 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:31:56
41 Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Sky 0:31:57
42 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 0:34:24
43 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team 0:35:02
44 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) CCC Team 0:35:29
45 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:36:20
46 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:36:47
47 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:36:56
48 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:37:22
49 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:37:54
50 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:38:55
51 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:39:00
52 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:41:50
53 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:43:12
54 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo 0:43:54
55 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:45:53
56 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:47:36
57 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:48:04
58 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:48:15
59 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:49:19
60 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
61 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:50:12
62 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:51:15
63 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Direct Energie 0:52:08
64 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:52:57
65 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:54:24
66 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:54:49
67 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:56:00
68 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:56:15
69 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:57:03
70 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:57:27
71 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:59:00
72 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:59:19
73 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Direct Energie 0:59:23
74 Amael Moinard (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:59:40
75 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 0:59:57
76 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 1:01:24
77 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 1:01:39
78 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:01:41
79 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:02:26
80 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 1:02:30
81 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Sky 1:03:13
82 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 1:04:22
83 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 1:04:29
84 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:06:01
85 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 1:07:01
86 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 1:07:06
87 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma 1:07:34
88 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 1:08:17
89 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 1:08:43
90 Patrick Müller (Swi) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 1:09:07
91 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First 1:09:09
92 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:09:29
93 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin 1:09:38
94 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team 1:09:45
95 André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic 1:09:58
96 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 1:10:02
97 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 1:10:33
98 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb 1:10:46
99 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 1:11:18
100 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:11:55
101 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie 1:13:47
102 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 1:14:38
103 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:14:49
104 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 1:14:53
105 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Direct Energie 1:15:27
106 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:16:52
107 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 1:17:16
108 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 1:19:12
109 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First 1:20:01
110 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:21:16
111 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:22:56
112 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:25:59
113 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates 1:27:06
114 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team 1:29:19
115 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 1:29:34
116 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 1:31:19
117 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:37:17
118 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 1:37:27