"It is incredible to have so many strong men" - Jonas Vingegaard in pole position for yellow jersey at Paris-Nice

Jumbo-Visma were the big favourites to win the team time-trial at Paris-Nice, and they succeeded in their mission. Jonas Vingegaard has closed his gap on Tadej Pogacar and is now the best placed stage-racer in the overall classification.

“It is incredible to have so many strong men. We are very happy with this victory and I want to thank the team," the Dane told reporters after confirmation of the win, a tight one as EF Education-EasyPost brought the heat until very close to the finish. "We don't train on it that often, of course, but towards this race we did it a few times. We did well today. We were very fast and it went smoothly.”

With the support of the likes of Tobias Foss, Rohan Dennis and Edoardo Affini, Vingegaard and the Dutch team rolled to the finish to take the lead. It was an important stage win, mostly as the overall classification plays out. He was 12 seconds behind Tadej Pogacar at the start of the day and he ends it 11 ahead as the peloton head towards the first mountainous stage.

“We are in good shape, but we had hoped to take an even bigger lead. But in the end we are very happy with the outcome. We are now going into the mountains and then we will see who is the strongest," Vingegaard concluded. Magnus Cort Nielsen took the yellow jersey on his shoulders but he is not expected to keep it in tomorrow's finale to La Loge des Gardes.