Paris-Nice: Who lost time on the crucial summit finish of the Col de Turini on stage 7

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) may have taken a significant step to overall victory with his emphatic stage win on the Col de Turini at Paris-Nice, but behind the Slovenian there was a general reshuffle of GC riders on the all-important summit finish.

Stage 7, as expected came down to the final 14.9km. With an average gradient of 7.3 percent and pitches that stretched into double figures, this was always the battleground on which the stage would be won.

Early pressure came in the form of Ineos Grenadiers and Arkéa-Samsic as both teams looked to isolate Roglič. The yellow jersey’s teammate, Rohan Dennis, put up a notable stand on the early slopes as he protected his team leader but when Adam Yates attacked with 7.1km to go Roglič was forced to respond.

By that point, Americans Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) had already been put on the defensive and both riders would eventually lose time.

The biggest casualty of the day though was Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies). The Frenchman started the day in third overall but he was dropped with 7.7km to go and never saw the front of the race again.

Following Yates’ attack, only Roglič, Daniel Martínez and Nairo Quintana remained in immediate contention but Simon Yates battled back to create a powerful quintet. Martínez struck for home with 6.4km to go but his move only accelerated Adam Yates’ departure from the back of the lead group.

Roglič chased Martinez but with 2.7km to go, he, Quintana, Simon Yates and Martínez continued to match each other.

Quintana wobbled and looked to be losing ground before coming back inside the final kilometer, before João Almeida came from a chasing group to finish a creditable fifth.

Roglič took the stage, his first win of the season, with Martínez finishing second, Simon Yates third and Quintana in fifth.

McNulty came back to finish sixth on the stage at 25 seconds, while Jorgenson conceded 7:30. That result saw the Movistar rider drop down to 20th on GC and lose the white jersey to Almeida.

At the top of the standings, Roglič lead Simon Yates by 47 seconds, with Martínez moving up a place to third. The Colombian is one minute down on yellow, with Adam Yates a further 50 seconds in arrears.

Quintana’s exploits moved him up four places to fifth, while Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) jumped from eighth to sixth.

Latour dropped from third to eighth, and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) fell from fifth to seventh after losing over a minute on the stage.

As well as moving into the white jersey, Almeida rescued his top-ten hopes by moving up eight places to tenth. McNulty sits 18th with one stage remaining.

And @JooAlmeida98 🤍 is now tenth on GC and will wear the white jersey for the best young rider. #ParisNice#UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/tjXe6spdFI

— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) March 12, 2022