"Only one guy could follow and that was Matteo Jorgenson so I think he deserves to win" - Remco Evenepoel takes the stage but can't quite secure overall victory at Paris-Nice

Taking his first victory on French soil, Remco Evenepoel was the winner of a dramatic final stage at Paris-Nice 2024. Sadly for the Belgian, it wasn't quite enough to take overall race victory.

"Only one guy could follow and that was Matteo Jorgenson so I think he deserves to win," reflects the Soudal - Quick-Step leader, who finished second on the final podium, behind Jorgenson in his post-stage interview. "Aleksandr Vlasov jumped across but I think he spent some energy on the move. So I think, Matteo is a deserved winner of this race."

"I think I can be more than happy with this ending to the week," Evenepoel continues. "We wanted to put the pace on ourselves early but the bunch already split with a nasty at the start of the descent and then Lidl-Trek smashed it. I was always in a good position though so I have to say that I did very well in that aspect all week."

"I went for a couple all-out attacks and I think I put a bit of fatigue in the legs of everybody with that," he smiles. "But that's how you win a race, by going all-in and suffering so I think I did what I wanted today. I just went as fast as I could. In the last few kilometres I still had something left and yeah, it's a very beautiful stage to win so I'm very happy."

With a busy year coming up, Evenepoel also doesn't think he's quite at his best just yet. "I need altitude," he concludes. "I can still improve but obviously I'm not bad if I can come second and win a stage."