Paris-Nice 2022 – Stage 8 [FULL STAGE]

March 13, 2022

Paris-Nice 2022 – Stage 8 – Nice – Nice : 115,6 km

Before the globalisation of the cycling calendar, Paris-Nice marked the beginning of a new cycling season and the start of a long. As it usually falls in early March, the race also marks a symbolic shift from winter to spring. This seasonal transition is what characterises the week-long stage race and why many nickname it ‘The Race to the Sun’. Since its first edition in 1933, Paris-Nice has been regarded as one of the most prestigious stage races on the annual cycling calendar. In fact, outside of the Tour it’s probably the biggest multi-day race in France and one of the events that home riders spend their whole careers trying to win. The format and flavour of the race has chopped and changed over its 89-year history, but for the most part it has followed a tried and tested formula of seven road stages and one – often decisive – individual time trial. Wind-battered stages through France’s central hinterland characterise the first half of the race and give the Classics specialists and hardy rouleurs a chance to shine. The mountains then start to rear their heads as the race skirts Provence and heads ever closer to the finish in Nice. It’s then on the final stage, in the capital of the French Riviera, where the race routinely draws to a dramatic close.

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) survived a real scare from Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) to seal overall victory at Paris-Nice.

Yates won the stage after an explosive attack up the Col d’Eze, and for a while looked like he might take the overall lead too as he built a lead approaching half a minute, while Roglic laboured behind.

But with help from Wout van Aert, who once again rode extraordinarily to pace his teammate up the Col d’Eze and to the finish, Roglic managed to limit his loss to just nine seconds plus bonus seconds.

Yates made his move on out of a select group containing Roglic, Van Aert and Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) on the steepest slopes of Col d’Eze after Quintana had tried and failed to go clear himself with a series of accelerations.

His gap quickly grew to over twenty seconds, about half of what he needed to dethrone Roglic as the overall winner.

Roglic was briefly left with just Quintana for company after Van Aert was distanced following Yates’ attack, but the Belgian clawed his way back up again once the gradient levelled out a little, and for the rest of the climb it was Roglic who struggled to keep Van Aert’s wheel.

By the top of the climb, the gap had been held at around 20 seconds, and Van Aert and Roglic worked together to bring it down further.

It looked as though they might even bring Yates back before the finish and contest for the stage win, but Yates managed to hold them off on an uphill drag to the finish.

Despite missing out on the overall victory, Yates was still happy to win the stage, giving a delighted celebration at the line.

“I just wanted the stage today. I think the GC was already too far away anyway. For me to take that much time back today would have been a really big ask, so I’m just really happy with the stage win.

When Roglic was dropped, memories of similar collapses in French races, most notably on this same stage at last year’s Paris-Nice, were brought back, something Roglic wryly reflected on.

“I don’t go without a bit of drama,” were his first words at the finish.

“It was super-hard, but I have to admit, but easier than last year, and I am more happy! Big thanks to my whole team, especially Wout [Van Aert] at the end. He’s half-human, half-motor. Wout can do everything.

“I was definitely not feeling strong enough,” he laughed when asked about being dropped on the Col d’Eze. “It was too steep, I didn’t have power. I was really suffering and fighting over the climb to limit the losses. Luckily I knew that Wout had a super day, he was really a big, big help go with me all the way to the finish.

Dani Martinez (Arkea-Samsic) held on to his third place on GC to complete the final podium after he finished in a chasing group that also featured Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), who was dropped by Roglic and Van Aert on the Col d’Eze.

Much earlier in the day, it had been Martinez who began the GC fight with an attack on de Peille, 50km from the finish.

His move saw himself, Roglic, Van Aert, Simon Yates and Quintana move away from the rest of the field, but he was unfortunately jettisoned from that group following an unfortunate mechanical on the descent towards the foot of Col d’Eze.

How it unfolded
The final stage of Paris-Nice tends to be a hectic affair, and this year’s finale stuck to the usual formula of constant up and downs over a short total distance, climaxing with an ascent and descent of the famous Col d’Eze.

Contrary to the race’s ‘Race to the Sun’ nickname, it was also a cold, rainy day in the south of France.

There were five climbs in total crammed into just 116km, each of them ranked either category two or one, starting with the Cote de Levens.

David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and David de la Cruz (Astana Qazaqstan) were among seven non-starters today, further reducing a field that had already been decimated throughout the week mostly by illness.

Despite several attempts no breakaway formed on the first climb, nor on the next, the Côte de Chateauneuf.

A fierce pace by Jumbo-Visma up the third climb, Côte de Berre-les-Alpes, did instead see the peloton drastically reduced. Alexsandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), who was seventh on GC, was among those caught out as he sought the medical car.

Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) was also having problems and had to have a bike change as the race approached the day’s penultimate climb, Cote de Peille, which was the last we saw of him.

Ineos Grenadiers took over at the front on the climb with Omar Fraile, and Steven Kruijswijk and Rohan Dennis were dropped, leaving Roglic with just Wout van Aert for assistance.

Not wanting to leave it too late, Dani Martinez decided to take the race to Roglic on this climb with 50km still to ride, launching two stinging attacks. Crucially for Roglic, Van Aert was able to follow the move, and along with Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco), these riders rode away from the rest.

Wanting to discourage more attacks, Van Aert set a strong pace with Roglic and the other three behind him and was successful in deterring them for the rest of the climb.

By the top, the five riders remained together, with a large chasing group 50 seconds back featuring Martinez’s teammate Adam Yates and Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious).

Simon Yates and Martinez did at least manage to make minor inroads when they took three and two seconds respectively at an intermediate sprint 34km from the finish, during the descent towards the foot of the Col d’Eze.

But this minor meant virtually nothing to Martinez just moments later, when he was held up by a mechanical. Subsequently caught in no man’s land between the leaders and the chasers, he eventually dropped back into the latter just prior to the start of the climb.

Ineos Grenadiers set a fast pace once Martinez was reabsorbed, and the Colombian attacked on the climb to go clear with Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates). But the leading quartet were too far ahead, and this trio were later absorbed by a large group of favourites, distant from the action that was happening up ahead on the Col d’Eze.

Results :
1 Simon Yates (GBr) BikeExchange-Jayco 2:52:59
2 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:09
3 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma
4 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:44
5 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
6 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
7 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
8 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
9 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
10 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Cofidis
11 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
12 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
13 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
14 Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic
15 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM 0:01:47
16 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:19
17 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates
18 Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:56
19 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:13
20 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:34
21 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
22 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
23 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
24 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
25 Hugo Houle (Can) Israel-Premier Tech
26 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:06:36
27 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
28 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
29 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:09:06
30 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:09:21
31 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies
32 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:10:34
33 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
34 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
35 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers 0:12:17
36 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:12:55
37 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
38 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:13:21
39 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
40 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies
41 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
42 Owain Doull (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost
43 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
44 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix
45 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
46 Connor Swift (GBr) Arkea-Samsic
47 Matis Louvel (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:17:11
48 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team 0:17:43
49 Victor Koretzky (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
50 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
51 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
52 Tobias Bayer (Aut) Alpecin-Fenix
53 Senne Leysen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
54 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team DSM
55 Nico Denz (Ger) Team DSM
56 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
57 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
58 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
59 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Ryan Mullen (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Rohan Dennis (Aus) Jumbo-Visma
DNF Christophe Laporte (Fra) Jumbo-Visma
DNF Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) Jumbo-Visma
DNF Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
DNS David de la Cruz (Spa) Astana Qazaqstan Team
DNF Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
DNS David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates
DNS Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
DNF Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
DNF Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
DNS Lucas Hamilton (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
DNS Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange-Jayco
DNF Nicholas Schultz (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
DNF Campbell Stewart (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco
DNS Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
DNS Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
DNF Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Movistar Team
DNF Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNS Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
DNF Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Simon Carr (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost
DNF Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) TotalEnergies
DNF Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-KTM

Final General Classification :
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 29:19:15
2 Simon Yates (GBr) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:00:29
3 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:02:37
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:03:29
5 Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:03:43
6 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:03:51
7 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Cofidis 0:04:52
8 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:43
9 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 0:05:48
10 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:06:32
11 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM 0:08:13
12 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:10:05
13 Hugo Houle (Can) Israel-Premier Tech 0:11:42
14 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:12:12
15 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious 0:12:18
16 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:14:37
17 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM 0:15:53
18 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:02
19 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:19:18
20 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:22:51
21 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:25:17
22 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:25:52
23 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:26:28
24 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:27:32
25 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers 0:29:51
26 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:30:06
27 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:31:20
28 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:31:39
29 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:33:44
30 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious 0:33:52
31 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:35:48
32 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 0:37:29
33 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix 0:38:05
34 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:43:35
35 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:43:40
36 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:45:05
37 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:45:57
38 Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) UAE Team Emirates 0:47:33
39 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:48:02
40 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:50:52
41 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team DSM 0:51:48
42 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers 0:52:07
43 Connor Swift (GBr) Arkea-Samsic 0:55:47
44 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:58:11
45 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:58:40
46 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team 0:59:01
47 Owain Doull (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost 1:04:08
48 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:04:36
49 Victor Koretzky (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 1:05:30
50 Tobias Bayer (Aut) Alpecin-Fenix 1:08:42
51 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:08:58
52 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team 1:09:04
53 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost 1:16:52
54 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 1:19:15
55 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:19:40
56 Matis Louvel (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 1:31:52
57 Senne Leysen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 1:34:47
58 Nico Denz (Ger) Team DSM 1:35:34
59 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers 1:41:22