Surprise Paris-Nice King of the Mountains winner dug deep for victory: "I completely crumbled because I had already given everything I had in me"

Paris-Nice has come to a close after a thrilling week of racing, with Matteo Jorgenson securing the yellow jersey. However, one of the biggest surprises of the race came in the mountains classification, where Thomas Gachignard emerged as the unexpected winner of the polka-dot jersey.

The 24-year-old Frenchman from Niort admitted that he had nearly lost faith in keeping the jersey before the final stage in a press release.

"This morning I almost didn’t believe anymore, even though I wanted to do everything I could to try and keep that polka-dot jersey. My idea was to break away and I tried really hard to do that at the beginning of the stage. Then once we reached the first summit, I completely crumbled because I had already given everything I had in me."

His exhaustion was so complete that he had no expectation of stepping onto the podium at the end of the day.

"At the end of the stage, I was ready to go and get changed on the bus, but I was told that I had to go to the podium because I was keeping the polka-dot jersey. I asked three or four times if it was true because I couldn't believe it, it's improbable."

For Gachignard and his team, this victory was a well-earned reward for their hard work throughout the race, "It's a satisfaction for the team, we need it, and I also see it as a reward for all the effort I put in."