Aurélien Paret-Peintre drops out from Paris-Nice top 10 due to puncture: "I was not far from returning to the second group on the Côte de Peille, but it was too late

Aurélien Paret-Peintre was on a good way to finish the Paris-Nice in overall top 10 after seven stages. But in the final stage to Nice, the 28-year-old Frenchman fell all the way to 14th overall. Speaking to Eurosport, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider explained what happened.

"Everyone knew that the descent of the Côte de Châteauneuf was very technical. Everyone also knows that it turns left to dive into the descent, but apparently some riders didn't know that even though it's been ten years since we first raced there. I got hit at the start of the descent and it caused my rear wheel to puncture. At that point in the race, I knew it was practically over," he confides.

"Dorian helped me a lot, I was not far from returning to the second group on the Côte de Peille, but it was too late. As for my friends, I tried to hang on, to go all the way, but it was complicated because from Châteauneuf, I knew it was over. I'm a little disappointed because I think I had the top 10 overall in my legs. I felt good during the last two mountain stages, so it bodes well for the future," Paret-Peintre concludes.