Tadej Pogacar has impressively won the French stage race Paris-Nice. The Slovenian of UAE Team Emirates booked his third stage victory in the final stage after an attack on the Col d’Èze.

Pogacar

Pogacar, who had started the final stage as leader, reached the finish in Nice with a lead of more than half a minute on the Dane Jonas Vingegaard. Frenchman David Gaudu was third. Pogacar had also already won the fourth and seventh stage. It was the first time he took part in Paris-Nice. In the standings, Gaudu finished in second place, ahead of Vingegaard, last year’s Tour winner. For Pogacar (24), the route was familiar territory. He lives in Monaco and trains a lot in the mountains above Nice. “I know it well here and they always say: attack is the best defense.”

Last two years

For the past two years, Pogacar has won Tirreno-Adriatico in the spring. “I am always good at this time of year. It’s a dream to win here. Especially with the men standing here next to me on stage. Gaudu and Vingegaard are top riders.” They are also likely to be two of his biggest competitors in the Tour de France next summer.

Vingegaard

Vingegaard hoped in advance that Pogacar would still have a lesser day. “In that case I would have tried on the final climb,” said the Dane on the website of his Jumbo-Visma team. “However, he was very strong and I didn’t have the content to go with him. I’m happy with how I raced. Second place was the highest possible today and I can now get to work to improve towards the upcoming races. There is still some work to be done.”

Roglic won final stage

Primoz Roglic won the Tirreno-Adriatico this year. The final stage, with start and finish in San Benedetto del Tronto, did not result in any changes in the top of the standings as expected. The stage ended in a bunch sprint that was won by Jasper Philipsen. The Belgian van Alpecin-Deceuninck kept the Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen and the Italian Alberto Dainese just behind him.

Roglic made his comeback in Italy after a fall in the Tour of Spain and subsequent shoulder surgery. His participation was somewhat unexpected, but the 33-year-old Slovenian showed to be fully recovered. Roglic impressed from start to finish and won three stages in a row from Thursday.