David De La Cruz wrapped up a great week for Quick-Step Floors at Paris-Nice with victory on the final stage. The Spaniard nailed the win on a day in which Dan Martin sealed a top 3 finish, while Julian Alaphilippe took green and white

The final day of the French event, a short but intense one around Nice, included five classified climbs: Côte de Levens, Côte de Châteauneuf, Col de Calaïson, Côte de Peille and Col d’Èze. Early on the day, De La Cruz made it into the break, which formed before the first ascent and contained no less than 24 riders. Together, they opened a 3:10-gap over the peloton, who decided to ramp up the chase before the penultimate climb of stage 8.

On Côte de Peille, with 52 kilometres to go, Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) attacked and the race exploded. The peloton fragmented and soon the Spaniard had half a minute over the group which included Julian Alaphilippe, Dan Martin and Paris-Nice leader Sergio Henao (Team Sky). Not long after, Contador caught the front group of David De La Cruz and by the bottom of Col d’Èze, the lead was extended to almost a minute.

© Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team/ Tim De Waele
© Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team/ Tim De Waele

Col d’Èze, the legendary climb at the top of which Eddy Merckx won in 1969, shredded the front group to pieces, and with two kilometres remaining to the top, only De La Cruz, Marc Soler and Contador were still up the road. Soler was the first to attack and get a gap, but De La Cruz dug deep on the descent and almost dropped the two-time winner of Paris-Nice, before reeling in the Movistar rider.

Inside the last 2,500 meters, as the gap to the yellow jersey group was shrinking, Contador had another go, piling on the pressure and putting some distance between him and his countrymen, but De La Cruz didn’t give up and came back, before outsprinting the seven-time Grand Tour winner on Quai des États-Unis, for his maiden victory of the year.

“It’s a really nice victory,” said De La Cruz, the first Spaniard in five years to take a stage win at Paris-Nice. “The plan was to go in the break, and once Alberto bridged over, I knew there was a strong chance this move will stick. It wasn’t until the final three kilometers, when I realized we still had a healthy gap on the chasers, that I began thinking of taking the victory. It was a tough day out there, I suffered a lot, but kept my composure on the descent and now I’m very happy. It’s one of the best days of my career.”

©Tim De Waele
©Tim De Waele

The first chasers arrived less than 30 seconds behind David De La Cruz, and Julian Alaphilippe sprinted to fifth place; that result was enough for him to secure the green jersey, which he won in addition to taking the white one, for best young rider of the race, which he wore from the opening stage.

“You can’t imagine how happy I am! It was another tough day from kilometre zero, but we had a good strategy, sending David in the front, while Dan and myself stayed with the GC contenders, keeping an eye on what was happening. David deserved to win, he did a great job for the team throughout the week, and I’m very happy for him. It’s been a fantastic race for Quick-Step Floors and I am very proud of what we have achieved”, said Alaphilippe.

 © Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team/ Tim De Waele
© Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team/ Tim De Waele

Dan Martin meanwhile finished in the top 3, half a minute down on the Paris-Nice winner, confirming his good form in this first part of the season.

“I couldn’t follow Alberto when he attacked, so from that moment on it was a case of dropping Sergio, which I did on Col d’Èze, but the others chased me back immediately. When I realized the GC victory was out of the question, I said in the radio that David should go and seeing him win this stage is really great. I am extremely happy for him, he gave everything this week for us and deserves to be there”, explained Martin at the finish.

“Third in the general classification at such a big as Paris-Nice is an important result in my career, solid proof of how much I have developed since joining Quick-Step Floors, especially as I didn’t arrived here in the best condition. Finally, I am also satisfied and super glad to see the entire squad on the podium at the end of this race, as this fantastic team spirit is what brought us at the top”, concluded the 30-year-old Irishman after Quick-Step Floors won the team classification at Paris-Nice for the second time.

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