#Aleksandr #Vlasov #wins #shortened #mountain #stage #ParisNice #Remco #Evenepoel
Saturday March 9, 2024 at 3:17 PM
The seventh stage of Paris-Nice was won by Aleksandr Vlasov. The Russian rode away from the group of favorites on the final climb to La Madone d’Utelle and held on in the final kilometers. Remco Evenepoel sprinted to second place, ahead of Primoz Roglic. Brandon McNulty suffered in the final, but narrowly retained his leader’s jersey. Matteo Jorgenson is within four seconds of him.
The classification riders would not be able to hide in the penultimate stage of Paris-Nice. The Col Saint-Martin and the original final climb to Auron had been removed from the course due to the weather conditions there, but a finish at La Madone d’Utelle (15.3 km at 7.3%) had been replaced. Would Brandon McNulty be able to defend his leader’s jersey on this climb?
Two frontrunners
In the run-up to La Madone d’Utelle, a leading group of two emerged. Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Johan Jacobs (Movistar) did not let the bad weather stop them and took the attack early. Martijn Tusveld (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) was also initially in the group, but then fell back into a second group with his teammate Gijs Leemreize, Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies) and Brent Van Moer (Lotto Dstny). The four swam briefly between the peloton and the leading group, after which they were swallowed up one by one by the pack.
Tusveld and Leemreize in pursuit – photo: Cor Vos
In the suit, Soudal Quick-Step took the initiative. Remco Evenepoel’s troops ensured that Thomas and Jacobs remained within shooting range. Meanwhile, Harold Tejada suffered a flat tire. It took a lot of time to get a new wheel, which meant that the number nine in the rankings faced a long chase. Ultimately, Astana Qazaqstan’s rider managed to reconnect.
Intermediate sprint on La Madone d’Utelle
Just under forty kilometers from the end, Jacobs left his fellow escapee Thomas behind. The Swiss continued to push hard on his own and still had a thirty second lead at the foot of La Madone d’Utelle. In the meantime, we saw a shot from Evenepoel and his team in a descent. Part of the peloton was surprised, but the favorites for the day’s victory were all alert. After Jacobs was caught at the start of the climb, we could prepare for a battle between the classification men for the victory.
INEOS Grenadiers initially set the pace uphill, but Soudal quickly took over Quick-Step again. It was Louis Vervaeke who took care of the first part of the climb. Just under nine kilometers from the finish, INEOS Grenadiers suddenly appeared again, in the person of Vervaeke’s fellow countryman Laurens De Plus. The Belgian had Egan Bernal on his trail. The Colombian was the first to reach the intermediate sprint halfway up the climb and thus took six bonus seconds. Van Wilder came second (four seconds), Evenepoel third (two seconds).
Battle of the intermediate sprint – photo: Cor Vos
Evenepoel attacks, Vlasov drives away
After the intermediate sprint, Van Wilder took the lead. Then we had to wait for Evenepoel’s attack, which came 4.3 kilometers from the finish. Matteo Jorgenson and classification leader Brandon McNulty immediately jumped to his wheel, meaning the Belgian champion was unable to open a gap. It was a bit quiet afterwards. Aleksandr Vlasov took full advantage of this and blasted away. Behind him, Kelderman rode to the head of the chasing group, which consisted of about ten riders. The Dutchman rode for Jorgenson, number two in the rankings.
Two kilometers before the finish, Evenepoel accelerated. Only Buitrago, Jorgenson and Roglic were able to follow, and later Skjelmose also crossed. McNulty had to pass, but did not lose too much ground. In the end he narrowly managed to save his leader’s jersey. The American crossed the line in seventh place, 27 seconds behind day winner Vlasov. The Russian had managed to hold out against a group with Jorgenson, Roglic, Skjelmose and Evenepoel. The latter sprinted to second place, ahead of Roglic.
McNulty retains lead
McNulty now has a four-second lead over Jorgenson in the standings. Skjelmose is the new number three, 35 seconds behind the leader. Meanwhile, Evenepoel moved up to fourth place, one second behind the Dane.
