Cycling: Slovenian Tadej Pogacar wins Paris-Nice in his first participation

Europe 1 with AFP 3:56 p.m., March 12, 2023

Tadej Pogacar, irresistible winner of the last stage on Sunday on the Promenade des Anglais, won Paris-Nice in his first participation in front of the Frenchman David Gaudu who managed to insert himself in the duel at the top between the Slovenian and the Dane Jonas Vingegaard .

Yellow jersey on the back, the Slovenian from UAE flew up the Col d'Eze, the last ascent of this 81st edition, to win his third stage victory solo with 33 seconds ahead of Vingegaard and Gaudu .

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"It has always been my goal to win Paris-Nice", says Pogacar

In the general classification, he finished 53 seconds ahead of Gaudu and 1 min 38 sec ahead of Vingegaard who had dethroned him in the Tour de France last year.

"I had never participated in this race before. It has always been my goal to win Paris-Nice, it was even a dream, so it's incredible", he commented after crossing the finishing line. arrived while curtsying to the audience.

"The level was very high. So sharing the podium with Gaudu and Vingegaard is very special, they are two excellent riders. If I don't win anything until the end of the season, it will still be successful", a- he added.

Irresistible since the start of the season, "Pogi" now has nine successes in thirteen days of racing in 2023, including two general classifications with also a victory in the Tour of Andalusia.

Twelve seconds ahead of Gaudu on the morning of the 8th and final stage, he asserted his domination by standing on the pedals in the steepest part of the Col d'Eze, the Vinaigriers path, four kilometers from the summit. and about twenty arrival terminals.

A rapidly widening gap

Nobody managed to follow him and he quickly widened a gap of almost a minute in this short (118 km) and nervous last stage, full of hills and without a meter of flat, run under a summer sun.

Behind, we found the same protagonists as since the beginning of the week with Gaudu and Vingegaard, accompanied by the American Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and the Briton Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) in the hunting group.

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But even with four, they only managed to make up for part of their delay in the long descent towards Nice and the arrival on the Promenade des Anglais where Vingegaard settled the small group in a sprint.

"Attack is the best defence. I know these roads by heart, I often train here, I knew the climbs, I knew what I had to do to get to the top alone," concluded Pogacar who resides at Monaco.