“I just didn’t have the legs today to go with them to the finish line” - Aleksandr Vlasov steps up for BORA-hansgrohe as Primož Roglič falters on the final stage of Paris-Nice

As Primož Roglič suffered in the cold and wet conditions, his teammate Aleksandr Vlasov rose to the occasion, as he finished third on the final stage of Paris-Nice to move himself up to fifth overall in the general classification.

Having already taken a stage victory on the mountaintop finish to La Madone d’Utelle on the penultimate stage of the race, Vlasov was clearly in good form going into the stage and displayed his ability to compete with the top GC contenders in the hills around Nice.

After Remco Evenepoel attacked on the Côte de Peille, it seemed as though it was only Matteo Jorgenson who was able to go with him, but Vlasov managed to bridge over to them as they left the overall leader Brandon McNulty behind.

Having just about managed to hang on to Evenepoel’s wheel over the top of the Col d’Èze, where he was already looking in difficulty, it was the steep slopes of the Côte des Quatre Chemins that would be the end of Vlasov’s hopes of the stage win, as he was dropped from the group just 1.4km from the top of the climb.

The BORA-hansgrohe rider was able to hold off the chasing group behind though, as he finished 50 seconds behind Evenepoel and Jorgenson, but gained time on all of the other GC contenders to jump ahead of some of them in the overall standings.

At the finish, Vlasov seemed content in his efforts for the day, as he said in an interview with his team that “I managed to make it to the front of the race with Evenepoel and Jorgensen and we built up quite a good lead, but I just didn’t have the legs today to go with them to the finish line. It was a tough day in the saddle for sure”.

Reflecting on his week of racing, Vlasov said “we came here with Primož as our GC leader and we really did our best together with him this past week, although we weren’t able to quite achieve the top result we wanted to. However, I’m pleased with my form here, having taken a stage win and given it another good go again today”.