The eighth stage of the Paris-Nice, contested in the hinterland of Nice, was won solo by Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange – Jayco), who managed to make the difference on the Col d’Èze.
In difficulty, the leader of the general classification, Primoz Roglic, held strong and won the overall classification thanks to the tremendous work of his teammate Wout Van Aert.
The race took time to unfold. As every year, we witnessed a race of elimination from the back. The weather was unpredictable, with temperatures not exceeding 10 degrees, periodic showers, and wet roads. The peloton remained grouped until the Côte de Peille, where the Ineos Grenadiers decided to shake up the Jumbo-Visma team, who had been controlling the race so far.
The lead group quickly widened the gap to 1 minute over the rest of the group. During the descent, Daniel Felipe Martinez suffered a puncture, losing his chance at the Paris-Nice stage even before the start of the Col d’Eze, the deciding factor of this eighth stage.
In the Col d’Eze, Nairo Quintana accelerated twice, but it was the third acceleration by Simon Yates that proved decisive. Neither Primoz Roglic nor Nairo Quintana could follow the British rider’s attack. At the summit, he held a 25-second lead over the duo of Primoz Roglic and Wout Van Aert, who had left Nairo Quintana behind. The descent favored the Dutch duo, who reduced the gap to ten seconds behind Simon Yates under the impetus of Wout Van Aert.
But Simon Yates’ panache was rewarded, and he claimed the victory solo on the Promenade des Anglais. Wout Van Aert took second place, nine seconds ahead of Roglic, who ultimately retained enough of a lead to win the Race to the Sun, taking revenge from the 2021 edition.
