The stage was marked by an early breakaway in which Jumbo-Visma was Pascal Eenkhoorn and Mike Teunissen. On the penultimate climb, Eenkhoorn and Teunissen were eventually dropped by the leading group. With a lead of more than six minutes the leading group started the Turini and eventually battled for the stage win. The group of favourites remained together for a long time. Bennett rode a strong stage and was one of the last riders to let Bernal and Quintana go.

Dylan Groenewegen didn’t start anymore this morning. The double stage winner, who also wore the yellow jersey for four days, is going to prepare for the coming races.

“The goal was to go for a top ten result with George. We succeeded in that”, Nico Verhoeven said. “He is now seventh overall. That’s good. We had two riders with Mike and Pascal in the large leading group. The rest was still around George until the final climb. All in all it was a good day for us.”

Paris-Nice ends tomorrow with a short, but tough stage in Nice. “Tomorrow we will try to keep George in the front of course. It is a short stage in which I expect fireworks from the start. The climbing will be shorter and more demanding than today’s. I don’t expect much changes in the GC. Although you never know for sure”, Verhoeven concluded.