"There was no room" - Tadej Pogacar admits mistake at Paris-Nice intermediate sprint

Tadej Pogacar had today a calm day in the peloton. However, his Paris-Nice stint sees no rest days, as despite having the lead he sprinted for bonus seconds. He admits a mistake however.

“It was finally sunny and there was no stress. It was a beautiful day. That's pretty much my training lap when I'm home. It's a very nice stage, but I don't know the roads of the next two days," he told reporters after concluding his first day in the yellow jersey during the 'Race to the Sun'.

The breakaway was never threatening and the pace was calm throughout the day. The race leader took the opportunity to fight for some more bonus seconds on the day then. “There was some tension towards the climb. We saw that many riders wanted to go for it. It was free seconds, but I made a mistake," he described.

He was caught in a trap from Groupama - FDJ, as David Gaudu took the maximum bonus, whilst Pogacar was stuck behind Arnaud Démare and only took two - as the French sprinter took 4. "I wanted to pass it on the right (past Démare, ed.), but there was no room. Only two seconds today, unfortunately," Pogacar told.

Tomorrow will be the first real test for the yellow jersey, in what will be a treacherous day. “It's a classic ride. Anything can happen, there are many surprises possible there," he details.

"The seventh stage is more predictable. It's just allocating your effort towards the top. But I like the final stage the most. It will be very interesting," he concluded.