“I’m very happy that I could finally participate again” - Pascal Ackermann takes his best result of the season so far at Paris-Nice

Having transferred from UAE Team Emirates to Israel - Premier Tech over the winter, Pascal Ackermann took his best result so far this season on stage 5 of Paris-Nice, as he finished in third place behind Olav Kooij and Mads Pedersen.

The German sprinter took the wheel of Pedersen in the finale and looked like he was going to be able to come around the Danish rider. However, he hit the wind too soon and was unable to get on terms, as Kooij then came flying around both of them to take the stage win.

Reflecting on his sprint after the stage in an interview with Eurosport, Ackermann said “in the run-up to the sprint I was able to grab Mads’ wheel. Unfortunately I didn’t have the legs to pass him, I went a bit too early and should have waited a bit longer. But it was my first sprint of this season, I’m very happy that I could finally participate again. Hopefully this will be possible more often in the coming weeks”.

This was the first time that Ackermann had really looked competitive in a sprint in 2024, as he had looked off the pace earlier in the season at the UAE Tour, where took a 14th place finish on the opening stage as his best result. Things did begin to look up for him at the beginning of the week, as he finished in ninth place on stage 2, but was still out of contention when it came to contesting the victory.

With no remaining opportunities for Ackermann at Paris-Nice, the former Giro d’Italia stage winner will now be looking ahead to the Flemish Classics this Spring, with his next race set to be the Danilith Nokere Koerse.