Carlos Betancourt, third in the Flèche Wallonne and fifth in the Giro d’Italia last year, claimed his first prestigious victory this week, becoming the first Colombian winner of Paris-Nice.
In the final standings, the 24-year-old Colombian beat the world champion, Portuguese rider Rui Costa, by 14 seconds. Costa had fallen, apparently without severe injury, 300 meters from the finish of the last stage but was classified with the same time as his main rivals.
The last stage of Paris-Nice was approached with high tension by the AG2R La Mondiale team, with the objective of protecting their leader from the assaults of Rui Costa, his closest rival at 14 seconds.
As expected, there were numerous moves and a tough selection in the climb leading to the Col d’Eze. But neither Nibali, Costa, nor Rojas managed to destabilize Carlos Betancur and his team.
Although the world champion was unable to battle in the final due to a crash, Costa still finished the race in 2nd place, while the final podium was completed by Arthur Vichot.
The French champion, who secured a spectacular victory on the Promenade des Anglais, took 3rd place from Rojas by just one second.
In the honor roll, John Degenkolb narrowly defended his green jersey, and Pim Ligthart finished with the polka dot jersey.
