A closer look at the UCI World Tour promotion and relegation contest for the men.
If you’re in a hurry, or to save you a click, XDS-Astana have jumped up the rankings and halved the gap to Cofidis in their quest to remain in World Tour but Dutch team Picnic-PostNL ought to be as worried as the French team.
Plus while Lotto look set to qualify for the World Tour on points we have to ask if they have the budget next year to sustain this because if not then they’re in a predicament.
A lively week. Matteo Jorgenson was active from start to finish, winning bonus seconds on the opening Sunday, winning the team time trial mid-week and then dropping everyone on the Col d’Eze a week later. This was an accumulation of winning moments but riding away while in yellow was a definitive display.
The final day in Nice, often a lively stage. The yellow jersey looks wedged on Matteo Jorgenson’s broad shoulders so we’ll see who can win the stage.
The finish is later than usual.
An uphill dash to Auron as bad weather prompts a course change to avoid the climb and especially the descent of the Col St. Martin from La Colmiane.
If you’ve been tuning in during the week, today’s finish is earlier than usual.
A probable sprint finish but because today is the last chance for a stage win for everyone who can’t win in the mountains there’s a self-fulfilling chance for the breakaway. Plus the Mistral is blowing.
The team time trial stage and the day Matteo Jorgenson has labelled the “key stage”. It will define plenty for the coming days.
Also the race goes to Nevers, the birthplace of white cycling shoes.
A likely sprint finish in Bellegarde. This is code for “tune in for the final 10 minutes” and that’s problematic but as we’ll see below, Paris-Nice has tried other ways to liven up sprint stages.
