After losing Geraint Thomas to a crash, Team Sky had to go on the offensive in yesterday's final stage of Paris-Nice. The team leaves the race empty-handed but are convinced that Thomas can return to win the race in the future.

Xabier Zandio and David Lopez both took a chance with final-stage attacks as Paris-Nice came to a close.

Team Sky’s Spanish pairing produced moves which bookended a rapid finale to the ‘Race to the Sun’ but neither were able to distance a strong and motivated group of favourites.

Zandio initially made up part of a 17-man breakaway and repeatedly attacked as his advantage eroded. Lopez waited until late and accelerated on the famous Col d’Eze, 17 kilometres out, but was again reeled in by the peloton as the battle for stage and overall victory took over.

Despite a nervous run-in Carlos Betancur (AG2R-La Mondiale) prevailed to take a 14-second race win. The Colombian held off world champion Rui Costa despite the Lampre-Merida rider getting caught in a hard crash on the finishing straight.

Sprint victory for Arthur Vichot was enough to elevate the FDJ rider up to third overall courtesy of bonus seconds. Lopez rolled in in 12th place after successfully avoiding the late carnage.

The event was also significant as it marked the final stage race in the riding career of Gabriel Rasch. The Norwegian (who came home 122nd) will now turn his attention to the upcoming one-day Classics before becoming a Sports Director with the team.

After a heart-breaking crash out of second place on Saturday Geraint Thomas was a non-starter on the final stage as the Welshman looked to recuperate ahead of the upcoming Milan-San Remo. With Edvald Boasson Hagen also not on the line in Nice due to fatigue Team Sky were reduced in number but not in spirit.

After the race Sports Director Nicolas Portal was philosophical about the team losing its leader but firmly believes Paris-Nice is a race Thomas can win.

“During the race we fight for every second but you always know that a bit of bad luck, a puncture at the wrong moment or a touch of wheels and it can all be over," he said. "That is the sport. It was a real shame to see G crash and everything we had worked for was lost.

“On the positive side, we saw just what G can do. And I told him that this is just the start of his story with Paris-Nice. Over the next few years we have no doubt he can win this race.

"Xabi was really strong in the break today. The plan had actually been to get David away up the road but he had some bad luck. We knew after the intermediate sprint there was a climb and that is where the break would go. But just before that David got a puncture. So Xabi went up the road and he turned out to be incredibly strong.

“When it came back we saw David have a good go on the Col d’Eze but it was very difficult to get away. It’s been a tough week for the team but we will look to bounce back very soon.”