Alberto Contador continued his Paris-Nice campaign with a strong ride in the first road stage, finishing with the peloton after a reduced bunch sprint in Vendôme. Performing well on a wintery stage that took in two categorised climbs and gravel sectors, the Tinkoff leader remains in a strong position to fight for the GC in the later mountain stages.
The first stage of the 51st Paris-Nice race took place over a 198km course that covered exposed and windswept roads, with a 23km finishing circuit with two gravel sectors. After a day’s racing that started with challenging and changeable weather conditions that could have made racing hazardous, Contador was pleased with his performance. “It’s been a very complicated and very tense day, right from the outset. It was snowing at the start, then it seemed as if the weather would change but started snowing again. There were constant temperature changes as well as a lot of wind, however we stayed focused.”
Sport Director, Sean Yates, was pleased with the team’s performance. “Today was good, and the guys rode well all day to stay out of trouble before what was a hectic final. The race split with about 50km to go in the crosswinds, forming a select group of about 50. Alberto Contador and Rafal Majka were there with all the guys apart from Sergio Paulinho who got caught out. All the GC guys were there as well.”
The day’s gravel sections created the potential for punctures and crashes, and with steep climbs punctuating the gravel, and coming so close to the stage’s finish, the potential for lost time was great, and Rafal Majka, who started the race strongly in yesterday’s prologue, was hit by a puncture on the first gravel section of the finishing circuit.
“When we hit the first sector on the finishing lap Rafal punctured and managed to get a wheel from neutral service before dropping back to the chasing peloton which came back up to Alberto’s front group for the last lap. Luck was important today as anything could happen on the off-road sectors – our goal was to not to lose any time and to rally around Alberto and we did that well.”
Throughout the stage, the Tinkoff leader stayed close to the front, protected by his team mates, but showed fighting spirit in contesting the intermediate sprint 13km from the finish. With the aim of picking up time on the later uphill stages, as the tempo rose in preparation for a bunch sprint, Alberto managed to stay out of trouble.
“From here it was hell for leather to the finish.” Yates continued. “Alberto was good today and the motivation was there which is good to see. Lots of guys went out the back but everyone was up there for us apart for Sergio and also Michael Valgren who punctured on a dirt sector.
After a stage raced in tough conditions, Contador had a huge amount of praise for his team mates. “The squad was incredible today, providing support at all times. Getting into the finals sections was tense and the breeze made it more complicated. We were well positioned, we didn’t encounter any problems or mechanicals, we stayed out of trouble and I’m satisfied with the way it played out. It’s on days like this that you can lose the Paris-Nice. You might not win it but you can definitely lose it. So, overall, it was a positive day, we finished safely and we ticked one stage off.”
With another day’s racing complete, Yates turned his attention to the team’s approach for tomorrow’s stage. “Tomorrow should be a fairly straight forward stage for the sprinters, and we will again focus on not losing any time with an eye on Wednesday’s uphill finish.”
