So far as WorldTour races go, the ultimate levels of Paris-Good ranks as maybe essentially the most dramatic day on the racing calendar. 12 months after 12 months, the race in and across the Cote d’Azur metropolis offers stress, drama, turnarounds, and heartbreak, and it was no completely different on Sunday.
Latest editions have seen Richie Porte (in 2015), Marc Soler (2018), and Max Schachmann (2021) seize the race lead on the ultimate day, whereas Alberto Contador fell seconds wanting doing so in 2016 and 2017.
In 2019 and 2020 Nairo Quintana and Tiesj Benoot launched final-stage assaults, additionally lacking out on the yellow jersey. This time round, Simon Yates may inform the identical ‘shut however no cigar’ story, repeating his 2018 second place to Soler, albeit in numerous circumstances.
Having ceded the race to Primož Roglič on Saturday, the BikeExchange-Jayco chief went on the offensive on the ultimate climb of the race, the Col d’Eze. At one level on the climb, he was nearly 30 seconds up and yellow appeared an actual chance, earlier than Roglič’s teammate Wout van Aert got here to the rescue and helped shut it again to 9 seconds on the line.
Talking after the stage, Yates mentioned that his thoughts was focussed purely on profitable the stage in the present day, which he did after 19 kilometres of solo using, including to his three earlier stage victories on the race.
“I simply needed the stage in the present day,” he mentioned afterwards. “I believe the GC was already too distant anyway.For me to take that a lot time again in the present day it might’ve been a very large ask. So yeah, I am simply pleased with the stage win.
“Firstly of the climb it was [Nairo] Quintana who was making the tempo, he was actually setting a powerful tempo and I used to be solely actually occupied with the stage win. I am not going to win a dash once more Van Aert or Roglič, so I needed to strive one thing, and I wasn’t feeling nice both.
“I wasn’t assured to make a bonus, however in case you do not strive you by no means know, so I attempted, there was no actual tactic.”
The race had exploded earlier on the earlier climb of the day after Ineos Grenadiers, specifically Omar Fraile, pushed the tempo on the entrance up the Côte de Peille. That climb had, in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 seen Contador, Soler and Quintana assault for the general win, however this 12 months the first-category climb served because the appetiser for the Eze.
Solely Yates, Roglič, Van Aert, Quintana and Ineos Grenadiers’ Dani Martínez, who was unfortunate to puncture on the descent, had been not noted entrance by the highest. Yates tried his luck early on the Eze, but it surely wasn’t to be in Good. He mentioned later that yellow was in his thoughts, even when he hadn’t got down to goal the highest spot on GC.
“It is all the time at the back of your thoughts,” he mentioned. “However I all the time knew on the downhill I might lose a while simply because I am not a really large man and with the 2 guys working behind it was all the time going to be a troublesome activity.
“It was very troublesome, however I’ve had some expertise right here previously within the rain, so I used to be ready for it. I used to be nonetheless ready for it as I came to visit the road with my gloves nonetheless on and all the pieces.
“Now I’ve had two second locations general,” he famous. “Possibly at some point I will come again and attempt to win once more. However I am pleased with what I’ve achieved this week.”
