DPA
· 12.03.2023
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has won the traditional Tour de Nice for the first time and won the duel with his great rival and Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) clearly decided in its favour.
The Slovenian cycling star also triumphed on the eighth and final stage over 118.4 kilometres around Nice and secured overall victory with a demonstration of power. Second overall was the Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) ahead of the Dane Vingegaard.
"I've never ridden Paris-Nice before. It was always a dream to win the race. Attack is the best defence. I know the roads here very well from training and so I knew when to attack," said Pogacar, who previously won the two mountain finishes in La Loge des Gardes and on the Col de la Couillole. The Slovenian now has a total of nine wins this season.
For Vingegaard, however, there is still work to do 16 weeks before the start of the Tour in Bilbao. "I still have to improve this season. This race was not my absolute main goal. There is still time to achieve this. We're not at the Tour yet. I don't doubt myself," said the Dane. His Jumbo-Visma sports director Grischa Niermann also remained calm: "Jonas has never been as strong in the spring as he is now. Tadej is always top, almost unbeatable in one-week tours. We have to accept that he was better now."
The German Bora-Hansgrohe team did not play a major role, however. Two-time overall winner Maximilian Schachmann did not start on Saturday due to illness.
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