Richie Porte wrapped up his second Paris-Nice title in the space of three years by winning the final time trial up the Col d’Eze. Porte went into the day 36 seconds down on Tony Gallopin, but blew him and the rest of the field away on the 9.5km climb, clocking a time of 20 minutes and 23 seconds which proved 13 seconds faster than the second-placed Simon Spilak.

That result saw Porte take the yellow jersey with a 30-second cushion over Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx – Quick-Step), who ended the race less than a second ahead of Spilak (Katusha) and Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida). Geraint Thomas meanwhile, finished fifth overall after stopping the clock with the seventh-fastest time of the day.

Porte’s triumph was Team Sky’s third in a row on the famous climb, and after stepping down from the podium, he said to the Team Sky website:

“Credit to Tony [Gallopin]. I was a little bit nervous going into the day. Geraint and I threw time away yesterday – we were in a fantastic position, and for both of us to crash like we did wasn’t ideal. To win today though, is a fantastic feeling.

"36 seconds is a lot, but I was reasonably confident this morning. Credits to Tony but I hoped he would be tired from his performance yesterday.  I ride this climb so many times in training. I think I probably rode it faster in training than I did today. I'm a little bit sorry for Geraint who really deserved to be on the podium.

“It means a lot to me to be a two-time winner of an iconic race like Paris-Nice, and this one feels even sweeter than the last one because it was so hard. They threw everything at us yesterday, and to win on the top of the Col d’Eze this year, like I did in 2013, is incredible.

"We threw time away yesterday, when we were in a fantastic position, to both crash like this.  There was too much tyre pressure, it was not ideal. It was like riding on ice. For me to win this way is just a fantastic feeling.  

“We have a fantastic team at Team Sky with Wout Poels winning at Tirreno-Adriatico yesterday and Chris Froome set to come back in. It’s good because we had a roller coaster season last year and we’re definitely back now.

"I'm really in the best form of my life right now. This is massive to win for the second time a race you'd been watching and to do it twice. I had a hellish season last year but I'm back. It's great for my confidence ahead of the Giro, I know I'll have a great team to support me. I'm doing Catalunya, Trentino than the Giro. "