Simon Yates had "no real tactic" in Paris-Nice winning move

Simon Yates has been a leading figure for several years in the peloton when it comes to climbing however he's struggled to find consistency. Occasionally though, as was the case this week, the Briton shows his best level and put on an impressive set of performances that culminated on a brilliant stage win in the streets of Nice.

“I just wanted the stage win today, I think the GC was already too far away anyway. For me to take that much time back today would have been a really big ask, so I’m just really happy with the stage win," Yates said after the finish. Although stating he was not going after the overall classification win, Yates seemed to be the only rider in range of taking it from Primoz Roglic, and at some point in the Col d'Èze after distancing the Slovenian it seemed as if the yellow jersey was a possibility.

"At the start of the climb it was Quintana who was making the pace, he was really setting a strong tempo and I was only really thinking about the stage win. I’m not going to win a sprint again Van Aert or Roglic, so I had to try something and I wasn’t feeling great either," he added.

Yates went on to add he was not expecting to find himself isolated in front in the final ascent: "I wasn’t confident to make an advantage, but if you don’t try you never know, so I tried, there was no real tactic." After following the small leading group upon Daniel Martínez' attack at the Côte de Peille, Yates had the best legs when the riders had to repeat the effort at the Col d'Èze.

He added: "It’s always in the back of your mind (winning the overall), but I always knew on the downhill I would lose some time just because I’m not a very big guy and with the two guys working behind it was always going to be a difficult task. It was very difficult (with the weather conditions), but I’ve had some experience here in the past with the rain, so I was prepared for it. I was still prepared for it when I came across the line with my gloves on and everything! I was definitely warm today."

Now I’ve had two second places overall, maybe one day I’ll come back and try and win again, but I’m happy with what I’ve done this week," he concluded.