traditional tour
Radstar Pogacar wins Paris-Nice
Tadej Pogacar has won the long-distance Paris-Nice cycle race. photo
© David Pintens/Belga/dpa
Radstar Tadej Pogacar is in remarkable early form. The Slovenian also wins the general classification of Paris-Nice. One of its big competitors isn’t quite there yet.
Tadej Pogacar won the traditional Paris-Nice tour for the first time and clearly won the duel with his great adversary and Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard.
The Slovenian cycling star also triumphed on the eighth and final stage over 118.4 kilometers around Nice and secured overall victory with a show of force. Second overall was David Gaudu from France ahead of Vingegaard from Denmark.
“I’ve never driven Paris-Nice before. It was always a dream to win the race. Attack is the best defense. I know the roads here very well from training, so I knew when to attack,” said Pogacar, who previously won the two mountain finishes at La Loge des Gardes and on the Col de la Couillole. Overall, the Slovenian has nine wins this season.
Vingegaard focuses on the tour
For Vingegaard, however, there is still work to be done 16 weeks before the start of the tour in Bilbao. “I still have to improve this season. This race wasn’t my absolute main goal. There’s still time to achieve it. We’re not on the Tour here yet. I don’t doubt myself,” said the Dane. His Jumbo Visma sports director Grischa Niermann also remained calm: “Jonas has never been as strong in spring as he is now. Tadej is always top, almost unbeatable in one-week tours. We have to accept that he was better now.”
However, the German Bora-hansgrohe team did not play a major role. The two-time overall winner Maximilian Schachmann did not start on Saturday due to illness.