Tony Gallopin who finished 8th overall in Paris-Nice, helped Gerain Thomas (Sky) during the last stage. He descended the Col d'Eze with the yellow jersey after he had been distanced near the top of the last climb. Because of his help, the Welshman crossed the finish line only 5 seconds behind Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), the most dangerous rival for the general classification.

His teammate Tim Wellens won the last stage in Nice. "I knew Tim was still off the front with Contador and Porte, so the goal was to get back on [to the chase group] with Geraint," Gallopin told Eurosport. "On top of that, Geraint is someone I like. We get on well, we talk about rugby. We send each other messages when France are playing Wales in rugby, so I preferred for him to win the general classification, though I still don't know what the result was."

Gallopin explained why he decided to lead the yellow jersey group. "We each had a common interest in getting back up to the leaders, so it just happened naturally. After I managed to get back on during the descent, it was the perfect situation, with Tim up ahead and me behind for the sprint."

"My legs were going well but I just wanted to ride at my rhythm because I know my level and I knew the fierce accelerations weren’t going to suit me so I just stayed at my tempo, guided by my watts. I think I was 30 seconds down at one point but I managed to get back. The Col d'Éze went better for me compared to last year", the French rider concluded.