Paris-Nice

The sun was again replaced by clouds and heavy rain which together with the low temperatures combined for a dantesque day of racing at Paris-Nice. It was a stage of two halves, as for the first couple of hours it looked to be an uneventful one, only for things to change on the second classified climb of the day, Côte des Baux-de-Provence, where a furious tempo pushed at the front not far from the top wreaked havoc and split the field, with some help from the crosswinds.

With the race in pieces and the rain that continued to batter the riders, it became difficult for the ones behind – among whom there were also green jersey Tim Merlier and Ilan Van Wilder – to organise a chase. By the moment they got reinforcements from behind and began pulling, the gap to the leaders was already sitting around the one-minute mark, making it virtually impossible for them to come back. Our team had at the front Max Schachmann, who remained tucked in in this small peloton that continued to ride full gas and waited for the final kilometer to roll the dice.

A two-time winner of Paris-Nice, the German accelerated on the wet roads of Berre l’Étang as they came out of a roundabout and opened a small gap, but the others were quick to react and caught him not far from the finish, where Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) took the win, while Max concluded ninth. The group of Ilan came home almost two minutes later, but despite this setback, Soudal Quick-Step’s Belgian remained in 11th place on the overall standings of Paris-Nice going into Saturday’s stage, which schedules the second summit finish of this edition.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images