For his first participation in Paris-Nice, Tadej Pogacar won the Race to the Sun on Sunday on the Promenade des Anglais, offering himself the luxury of winning the last stage, thanks to a decisive attack in the Col d’Eze. David Gaudu takes a promising second place finish.
Mission accomplished for Tadej Pogacar, who adds Paris-Nice to his already incredible track record at only 24 years old! The Slovenian, who was twelve seconds ahead of David Gaudu when he set off for the last stage, around Nice, made it a point of honor to triumph on the Promenade des Anglais, winning both the stage and the general classification. As you might expect, it was in the ascent of the Col d’Eze, whose summit was located fifteen kilometers from the finish, that everything was decided.
While Simon Yates (4th overall) had launched hostilities by attacking at the foot of the pass, Tadej Pogacar answered him and no one could follow. Even if he did not completely drop his rivals, the Slovenian quickly took a lead of around thirty seconds to pass the pass in the lead, and then make no mistakes in the final descent towards Nice. Tadej Pogacar (who had already taken four bonus seconds in Eze during the stage), won in the end with 33 seconds over a group of leaders made up of Jonas Vingegaard, David Gaudu, Simon Yates and Matteo Jorgenson. He signs the 55th victory of his career, and already his ninth of the season! Watch out for him on Milan-San Remo next Saturday!
Gaudu, first French podium for 21 years
There are very few changes in the general classification at the end of this stage (which in particular saw Jonas Gregaard show off to get the points from the mountain and Wout Poels escape for about thirty kilometers, before the start of the Pass of Eze). David Gaudu finished in a very good second place, a first for a Frenchman since… 2002! At the time, Sandy Casar finished second behind Alexandre Vinokourov, and ahead of Laurent Jalabert (who remains the last French winner of the Race to the Sun, in 1997).
The Groupama-FDJ rider took a date three and a half months from the Tour de France, showing himself to be more solid than Jonas Vingegaard, who finished 46 seconds behind the Frenchman. I can not wait for summer ! In total, three French people finished in the Top 10, with Romain Bardet in seventh place and Pavel Sivakov in ninth. Pierre Latour, in difficulty in the descents, lost his tenth place, to finish four rows further down
WORLD TOUR / PARIS-NICE (FRANCE)
Classification of the 8th stage (Nice – Nice, 118.4km) – Sunday March 12, 2023
1- Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Emirates) in 2h51′′0
2- Jonas Vingegaard (DAN/Jumbo-Visma) à 33″
3- David Gaudu (FRA/Groupama-FDJ) à 33″
4- Simon Yates (GBR/Jayco AlUla) at 33′′
5- Matteo Jorgenson (USA/Movistar) at 33″
6- Neilson Powless (USA/EF Education-EasyPost) at 43″
7- Pavel Sivakov (FRA / Ineos Grenadiers) at 43″
8- Romain Bardet (FRA/DSM) at 43″
9- Jack Haig (AUS/Bahrain Victorious) à 43″
10- Gino Mäder (SUI/Bahrain-Victorious) at 43″
…
Final general classification
1- Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Emirates) in 24h01’3
2- David Gaudu (FRA/Groupama-FDJ) à 53″
3- Jonas Vingegaard (DAN/Jumbo-Visma) at 1’39
4. Simon Yates (GBR/Jayco AlUla) 2:14
5- Gino Mäder (SUI / Bahrain-Victorious) at 4’34
6- Neilson Powless (USA/EF Education-EasyPost) at 4’55
7- Romain Bardet (FRA/DSM) at 4’57
8- Matteo Jorgenson (USA/Movistar) at 4’57
9- Pavel Sivakov (FRA / Ineos Grenadiers) at 5’43
10- Jack Haig (AUS/Bahrain Victorious) at 4’56
…
