A gutsy ride propels the Belgian to second overall and helps him take home two jerseys.
Remco Evenepoel came at the start of Paris-Nice with the goal of scoring a victory and finishing on the podium, and after eight stages, he achieved more than he had hoped for last Sunday, when the 82nd edition got underway from Les Mureaux.
The final stage, taking place around the beautiful city of Nice – which will host also the final day of the Tour de France – was a short one, but comprised six climbs that made it a relentless affair since the start: Côte de Levens, Côte de Châteauneuf, Côte de Berre-les-Alpes, Côte de Peille, Col d’Èze and Col des Quatre-Chemins. It was on the fourth of these ascents that Remco single-handedly blew up the race the moment decided to make his move as soon as the road went up. A few minutes later, he attacked again, and after the others came back, he threw in another brutal acceleration to which only two other riders could respond.
Together with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe), the Belgian Champion quickly gaped the yellow jersey and opened what soon became an insurmountable margin. Even after dispatching most of the general classification men, Remco continued to be the main engine of the newly-formed group, pulling relentlessly on both the descent and the climbs, and moving into second place on the virtual classification of the “Race to the Sun”.
Later, on the Col de Quatre-Chemins, the 24-year-old set a searing tempo that distanced Vlasov on the stinging double-digit gradients of this first-category climb, and didn’t stop from setting the pace also on the wet descent leading to the Promenade des Anglais. On the finishing straight, Evenepoel kicked out 150 meters from the line and scored his first pro victory on French soil, which elevated him to second in the overall ranking.
“When we arrived with that small group on Peille, I just said to myself I will try a couple of all-out attacks and see what would happen. I think I put a lot of fatigue in the legs of the other riders, but I too suffered a bit as we went over the top of the climb. Despite this and the tricky roads, I kept throwing in everything I had today and I’m delighted with this victory, as the stage in Nice is a beautiful one to win”, said Remco, whose success in Nice landed him the points and mountains jerseys.
“We continued to increase our gap, and when I realised that the GC wasn’t reachable anymore, I changed my strategy and focused on my sprint. I am happy with this win and with being in the top three after a hard week of racing. The level here was really high, so I should be satisfied with this result”, added Evenepoel, who became the youngest Belgian rider in 26 years to finish on the podium of Paris-Nice. “We also made some mistakes here, but at the same time we learned from these and we will make sure of not repeating them in the future. I had a strong team around me and I’m confident ahead of my next race with the Soudal Quick-Step boys, the Basque Country.”
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