The penultimate stage of this Paris-Nice was an opportunity for the favorites to test themselves at the summit of the Madone d’Utelle. In this little game, it was Aleksandr Vlasov who surprised everyone.
The 7th stage of this Paris-Nice 2024 was shortened by nearly 70 km today due to the expected snowfall in Auron. The riders therefore explained themselves on a “sprint” stage of 104 km starting from the Promenade des Anglais. While the first 90 kilometers were not the most interesting, the final climb to the Madone d’Utelle (15.3 km at an average of 5.7%) was an opportunity for the main favorites to reveal themselves.
While Soudal Quick-Step controlled the first part of the ascent, the objective was to unbalance the Americans Brandon Mcnulty and Matteo Jorgenson, the overall leader and second, respectively. Just over four kilometers from the summit, it was Remco Evenepoel who launched the first attack. An attack quickly snuffed out by the leaders of the general classification. Following that, it was Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA – Hansgrohe) who took the opportunity to break away from the yellow jersey group. Primoz Roglic’s teammate quickly created a gap of about twenty seconds. Enough to secure victory today.
Two kilometers from the finish, Evenepoel attacked again. He managed to break the yellow jersey wearer Brandon Mcnulty. In the end, the yellow jersey saved his leader position by four seconds against Matteo Jorgenson. The American conceded about twenty seconds to the Belgian Remco Evenepoel (36′).
Nothing is decided yet in this Paris-Nice, which will likely be determined by a handful of seconds tomorrow on the Promenade des Anglais!
