Yates goes for yellow
March 10 th 2018 - 15:16
Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) emerged as the undisputed leader of Paris-Nice when he attacked twice in the final climb to La Colmiane to win the 175-km 7th stage and take the reins of the general classification. Perfectly led out by team-mate Roman Kreuziger, who toughened the pace in the last five kilometers of the stage from Nice, the Briton went with Spaniard Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) before dropping him with 1.4 km to go. Belgium's Dylan Teuns (BMC) was second in the stage ahead of Izagirre. The GC is a particularly tight one before the last stage around Nice as Ion Izagirre lies 11 seconds adrift, his brother Gorka third a further second back and Belgian Tim Wellens fourth another second behind.
Eight in the lead
The real start was given in the rain to 128 riders at 10:05. Ian Boswell (Katusha), Dmitry Gruzdev (Astana), Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille Provence) did not start. Rory Sutherland (UAE), Tony Gallopin (AG2R), Alessandro de Marchi (BMC), Nicolas Roche (BMC), Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Amael Moinard (Fortuneo) and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) parted with the main pack in the 2nd category Cote de Gattieres (km 10). At the top, Thomas De Gendt collected seven points to take his KOM tally to 36 points and take the polka-dot jersey away from Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie).
De Gendt collects KOM points
The gap remained stable at around two minutes until the 1st category Cote de la Sainte-Baume, which De Gendt reached in top spot in the fog with a 2:35 lead over the pack to strengthen his polka-dot garment. Among several riders to give up in the ascent was UAE team leader Dan Martin, third last year, who called it quits. In the descent, Herrada was dropped by the front group. De Gendt's total went up to 53 at the top of Col Saint Raphael (km 108) as the peloton was 2:30 adrift and to 60 points on Cote de Villars-du-Var (km 134) as the pack trailed 1:10 behind.
Crashes
In the descent of Col Saint-Raphael, the peloton split, trapping title-holder Sergio Henao (Sky) as well as 5th placed Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) in a second group. The pack regrouped in the descent of Cote Villars-du-Var in which Pantano and De Marchi crashed heavily. The Italian fell in to the roadside ravine but both finally made it back on their bikes. The incident left Gallopin, Moinard and Roche in the front, with a 1:25 lead over the peloton. At the bottom of the La Colmiane, the edge of the trio was down to 30 seconds and France's Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) and Robert Gesink (Lotto-Jumbo) was among the first dropped.
Chaves falters
With 15 left in the stage, Amael Moinatd and Nicolas Roche faltered, leaving Tony Gallopin on his own. Colombia's Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) was quickly dropped while white jersey holder Marc Soler (Movistar) was also seen struggling at the back of the pack. With 13 km to go, Tony Gallopin was reined in by a peloton led by Bahrain-Merida's Antonio Nibali and Astana's Omar Fraile. Sanchez's Astana team-mates set a gentle pace to protect the yellow jersey until 6 km from the finish, when Roman Kreuziger (Mitchelton-Scott) raised the tempo, downing yellow jersey holder Sanchez.
Yates goes
Four kilometers from the line, Simon Yates moved swiftly, taking Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) with him. The two built a maximum lead of 18 seconds as their rivals lost ground one after the other. Second-placed at the start, Alaphilippe cracked completely with 2 km to go. Simon Yates rose on his pedals with 1.4 km left to drop Izagirre and power his way towards the stage victory and the yellow jersey. Behind him, Dylan Teuns secured second place just ahead of the Izagirre brothers.