Paris -Nice Stage 3 – Davide Cimolai

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Davide Cimolai wins stage 3 of Paris Nice while Michal Kwiatkowski holds onto Yellow

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Paris -Nice Stage 3 – Davide Cimolai

ASO PRESS RELEASE  | Photos:  ASO/G.Demouveau
Davide Cimolai surged in the final stretch to steal the show from more renowned sprinters in the 192.5-km 5th stage of Paris-Nice in Rasteau. The 25-year-old Italian perfectly timed his effort to beat France’s Bryan Coquard (EUC) on the line while stage 3 winner Michael Mathews (OGE) completed the podium to strengthen his points classification green jersey.

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The yellow jersey remained on the back of Poland’s Michal Kwiatkoswki, whose Etixx Quick Step team-mates perfectly controlled the race all day. A long break involving polka-dot jersey holder Thomas De Gendt was quashed under the red flame, setting the stage for another bunch sprint and an unheralded winner, who had not previously won a World Tour race.

Take five
Bryan Nauleau (EUC) was the first man out on the Col de la Republique. After several attempts, polka-dot jersey Thomas De Gendt (LTS) went to collect the ten points on offer at the top, taking with him Romain Sicard(EUC) and Andrew Talansky (TCG), two riders eager to avenge a disappointing showing on stage 4. The three reached the top in that order, followed by Egor Silin (KAT) and Pawel Poljanski (TCS), who caught up with them in the descent. The five received the peloton’s go-ahead and their lead stabilised quickly to never exceed 3:40 (km 125) over a pack led by Michal Kwiatkowski’s Etixx-Quick Step team-mates.

Thanks to tailwind, the speed was much higher than in previous days and De Gendt kept collecting points on the day’s hills as Cofidis joined Etixx Quick Step in the chase. Despite the sprinters teams effort, the five maintained their lead, which reached 2:20 at the second intermediate sprint in Cornas, won by Poljanski. Trek Factory joined forces with Cofidis at the front, later helped by Team Sky and the gap had gone under the minute with 15 kms to go.

In the last climb, Cote de Buisson (Km 184), again led by De Gendt, Sicard and Poljanski were unable to stay in the leading group. Talansky also lost ground with three kilometres to go, leaving De Gendt and Silin to battle it out in front. The polka-dot jersey holder went on his own under the red flame, hoping to hold the peloton at bay but he was reeled in 500 metres from the line as Coquard boldly tried to force ahead. The Frenchman moved a little too early and could not find an extra gear when Cimolai upstaged him.

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“It was very fast today and nervous,” the yellow jersey Kwiatkowski said. “We passed 190 kilometres in four hours in 15 minutes, so that is proof it was a fast stage. But I am really happy with how the team rode for me today. They rode all day in the front, controlling the gap between the breakaway and the peloton, and then they made sure I could safely arrive at the finish”.

“I kept the Yellow, which was the goal, and I have to thank my teammates for their good work. Tomorrow is already a difficult parcours and they predicted bad weather. So it’s going to be tough. But, we are ready to defend the jersey and we will keep on fighting. We will see what we can do with the good team spirit that we have here. We will see where I will be in the GC after tomorrow’s stage. I will just try my best with whatever situation there is in the final tomorrow, and then we will see what I can do in the mountain TT on Sunday.”

1. Davide Cimolai, Lampre-Merida 4:12:09
2. Bryan Coquard, Team Europcar
3. Michael Matthews, Orica GreenEdge
4. Nacer Bouhanni, Cofidis, Solutions Credits
5. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Movistar Team
6. Alexander Kristoff, Team Katusha
7. Matti Breschel, Tinkoff-Saxo
8. Daniel Mclay, Bretagne-Séché Environnement
9. Samuel Dumoulin, AG2R La Mondiale
10. Sylvain Chavanel, IAM Cycling

11. Ben Swift, Team Sky
12. Michal Kwiatkowski, Etixx – Quick-Step
27. Richie Porte, Team Sky
103. Luke Rowe, Team Sky
125. Jack Bauer, Cannondale-Garmin Pro 0:01:45
134 Bradley Wiggins,Team Sky 0:04:39

OVERALL
1. Michal Kwiatkowski, Etixx – Quick-Step 23:56:20
2. Richie Porte, Team Sky 0:00:01
3. Geraint Thomas, Team Sky 0:00:03
4. Tejay Van Garderen, BMC Racing Team 0:00:27
5. Jakob Fuglsang, Astana Pro Team 0:00:32
6. Tony Gallopin, Lotto Soudal 0:00:38

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