Tadej Pogacar ready to defend Paris-Nice yellow jersey: "It almost feels like a home race"

The final day of Paris-Nice is always a dangerous one. Tadej Pogacar will know that, as he resides in the area and knows the climbs quite well. He has the task of defending UAE Team Emirates' lead in the race.

“The most important thing is to keep the jersey, but if the opportunity arises to win the stage… That would be really great," Pogacar said ahead of the final stage of the Race to the Sun. "I train here a lot, especially on the climbs that we are presented with today. It almost feels like a home race.”

The day features several categorized climbs, culminating in the Côte de Peille and the Col d´'Èze, as is the case every year. The steep gradients and technical descents will provide road for his rivals to attack. David Gaudu and Jonas Vingegaard start the day 12 and 58 seconds back on Pogacar. Although the Slovenian has proved to be dominant so far this race, he has not managed to effectively take meaningful time on Gaudu in the key climbs.

“It will be another hot day and from the start it is already full steam ahead. I expect riders to attack early on. A lot can happen today, but have faith. We have a very strong team, also to exercise control," he concluded.