Cycling: Not again! Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) failed again at Paris-Nice. The Spaniard's offensive driving style was not rewarded. In terms of both the stage win and the overall standings, it was only enough for second place in the end. The day's win went to his compatriot David de la Cruz (Quick-Step Floors) and the overall win to Sergio Henao (Sky). In the end, Contador was only two seconds behind. Last year he missed the title by four seconds.
Calmejane secures the mountain jersey
Today the Paris-Nice long-distance journey was to end with an extremely exciting section of 115,5 kilometers. Between the start and finish in Nice, the Col d'Eze was on the program. The stage was short but crisp. 24 riders broke away directly on the first climb. Among them was the wearer of the mountain jersey, Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie). The Frenchman secured the first three climbs and thus finally the mountain jersey. But the group was never left far away. Above all, the Trek-Segafredo team around Alberto Contador kept the pace extremely high. On the ascent to the Côte de Peille, the first fugitives were gradually collected. One of those who suffered was Simon Yates (Orica-Scott). The Briton was already struggling at the beginning of the stage. So not a good day for the Yates brothers after today Adam Yates on 5th stage from Tirreno-Adriatico had to get off.
Again Alberto Contador loses the second game in Nice
Then came the attack: Contador was already out of the saddle on the climb to the Côte de Peille. Henao immediately went to his rear wheel, but had to give up on Contador's second attack. The Spaniard caught up with a few riders who were left behind in the leading group, while Henao tried to catch up as a soloist on the downhill. Eventually, some riders came up from behind again, but Henao still had to face the chase almost alone. The gap to Contador grew to over a minute. While there were repeated attacks from behind, Contador secured second place in the sprint classification. Thanks to these bonus seconds, he virtually pushed past Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors). Marc Soler (Movistar) attacked on the last climb, but Contador and De la Cruz were able to reconnect. The work got stuck on Contador because Solar was exhausted and De la Cruz, as Martin's teammate, naturally didn't want to help Contador. Arriving at the finish, De la Cruz triumphed ahead of Contador, who was able to secure a further six seconds of time bonus with second place. The clock was ticking. The spectators waited anxiously for Sergio Henao. And the Colombian ultimately saved himself with a two-second cushion at the finish. He was in the of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) group led finished 21 seconds after the day's winner. As in the previous year, Contador only fails by a few seconds.
Paris-Nice Stage #8: The day's result
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | David De La Cruz | Spain | Quick Step Floors | 2:48:53 |
2. | Alberto counter | Spain | Trek-Segafredo | st |
3. | Marc Soler | Spain | Movistar | + 0: 05 |
4. | Sonny Colbrelli | Italy | Bahrain-Merida | + 0: 21 |
12. | Sergio Henao | Colombia | Sky | st |
Paris-Nice Stage #8: The overall standings
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Sergio Henao | Colombia | Sky | 29:50:29 |
2. | Alberto counter | Spain | Trek-Segafredo | + 0: 02 |
3. | Daniel Martin | Ireland | Quick Step Floors | + 0: 30 |
4. | Gorka Izagirre | Spain | Movistar | + 1: 00 |
5. | Julian Alaphilippe | France | Quick Step Floors | + 1: 22 |
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