The riders were served a grueling stage today, with the first altitude metres shortly after the start. Numerous attacks characterised the race’s early stages, though it took a while before the day’s breakaway took shape. On the first of five climbs, ten riders managed to get away. The Team Jumbo-Visma riders controlled the race all day and allowed the breakaway riders to battle for the day’s victory.

On the Col de la Mûre, the last categorised climb of the day, Christophe Laporte rode to support his leaders. Not much later, Van Aert decided to save his energy for the coming weeks. Subsequently, Rohan Dennis put himself at the head of the group to decrease the breakaway’s lead. After Dennis capitulated, Roglic was able to go at it alone, and after the finish, the Slovenian was awarded the yellow jersey.

“It was not easy today”, Roglic acknowledged. “Luckily my legs were good enough to ride with the best. Today was a tough day, but the team has done an excellent job. I am very grateful to them. Riding alone for a while was not ideal, but my teammates protected me very well all day. There’s a lot of climbing to come in the next few days.”

Van Aert finished more than 24 minutes behind the winner. “When the pace went up, I decided to switch to another chainring and finished the stage calmly. It was a difficult stage to control today. I didn’t waste much energy, but that doesn’t mean it was an easy day. I will have to work as a domestique for Primoz during the weekend. In the first four stages, I could ride for my own chances; now I will have to settle for a supporting role. My personal goals for Paris-Nice have been achieved. Everything now has to be about winning the GC with Primoz.”