A nailbiter in Paris-Nice

Trek-Segafredo goes all-in for Mads Pedersen in Stage 6 but are thwarted by a late solo attack

Mads Pedersen came within meters of capturing his second stage win in Paris-Nice but ran out of real estate to come over Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and settled for runner-up.

Burgaudeau attacked over the final climb of the longest stage in this year’s race and built a lead of 20 seconds before the bunch pulled him back to 12 seconds in the last kilometers. The chasing bunch had him in sight. It was going to be close.

A downhill gave Burgaudeau a brief respite. Over the twists and turns in the last 500 meters, he still led. Behind, Mads launched and was coming fast. But so was the white line. It was still anyone’s guess who would win.

In the end, Burgaudeau caught the finish line just as he was consumed by a group of riders. Mads, second, Wout third. Oh so close for the Team, but the French rider had pulled it off.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Stage 6 had Mads name all over it, and Trek-Segafredo took responsibility from kilometer zero. The team used Otto Vergaerde early to help control the day’s breakaway. With that contained, a large obstacle still remained: the 11-kilometer-long Col de l’Espigoulier.

But the team had a plan for that too. Julien Bernard pulled the entire climb, setting a hard but manageable pace for the Team’s trio of classics specialists. The steepest grades were at the bottom, and then it leveled out to 3-4% gradients. In the last few kilometers, Mads, Jasper and Alex were close to the front and crested together in the lead. Check that one off the list.

Jasper and Alex then negated the next attack on the descent. So far, all had played out to the Team’s pre-race plan.

On the final climb with seven kilometers remaining, Trek-Segafredo eased off the accelerator. Immediately attacks flew.

When Mathieu Burgaudeau jumped off the front the bunch let him go. He is a rider who does not raise red flags, which possibly played to his advantage. In the last few kilometers, the road descended, allowing Burgaudeau to catch his breath, turning the tables in his favor. In the end, the bunch timed it wrong and Burgaudeau took the spoils.

After a day of impressive teamwork, it was heart-wrenching to not take another victory.

The hard questions came. Were mistakes made by your team, asked the journalists?

“There were no mistakes from our side,” answered Mads, who had nothing but praise for his teammates. “In the end, this guy was impressive. That’s how it is. That’s racing. I think we can be proud of the teamwork today.”