Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas stormed to a 1-2 finish on the queen stage at Paris-Nice after a spectacular display of teamwork from Team Sky. The team-mates rode clear of their rivals in the final kilometre on the Croix de Chaubouret, taking the top two positions on the stage and moving themselves to within touching distance of the yellow jersey.
The team laid the foundations for victory by committing numbers to the front on the first-category ascent, thinning out the peloton before Thomas kicked off the major attacks. The Welshman accelerated with 3km to go after hard riding from Lars Petter Nordhaug and Nicolas Roche had put many of the race’s contenders into difficulty.
Thomas’s move drew reactions from the group, allowing Porte to follow the wheels before attacking himself at the flamme rouge. With Thomas locked onto his wheel the pair drove clear, punching the air together at the line, eight seconds ahead of nearest rival Michal Kwiatkowski.
The result meant the Pole (Etixx – Quick-Step) narrowly reclaimed the yellow jersey by a single second over Porte, with Thomas a further two seconds back courtesy of time bonifications.
“That was a great performance from the team,” said a delighted Porte after the stage to the Sky website. “We took it on from the bottom of that last climb – it wasn’t easy on there, so to finish first and second is fantastic.
“ Two years ago I won this race on a mountain stage. We’ve got two more hard days coming up now and then a time trial on the Col d’Eze. I love that climb and I’d love to have a good ride there. I think I can, but as I said, there’s two very hard stages coming before it. I’m in a good position though, and having such a strong team here will definitely help.
“With Geraint and I up there on the general classification now, it’s good to have two cards to play. The dream is to hold the yellow jersey on Sunday evening. I love this race and I’d love to win it again. It would be good to take the yellow jersey back on the last day. We'll see how it goes. It’s not over until it’s over, and we’ll have to see how the next three days go.”
30.03: The Bueng Si Fai |
30.03: Gran Premio Miguel Indurain |
30.03: Volta Limburg Classic |
31.03: Ronde van Vlaanderen |
31.03: Ronde van Vlaanderen |
29.03 - 01.04: Ster van Zuid Limburg |
01.04: Gran Premio del Perdono |
01.04: Ronde de Mouscron |
01.04: Giro del Belvedere |
02.04: G.P. Palio del Recioto |
Luke CRIDLAND 37 years | today |
Andreas BEIKIRCH 54 years | today |
Nathalie BATES 44 years | today |
Kazutoshi KARIYA 23 years | today |
Ioan DOBRIN 22 years | today |
© CyclingQuotes.com