Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) took control of Paris-Nice with just one stage remaining after claiming victory Saturday at La Colmiane. Yates soloed away from late breakaway companion Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) to put himself 11 seconds clear of the Spaniard in the overall classification.
It was a grey and murky day that saw many members of the peloton climb off as the race made its way 175km from the start in Nice. An eight-rider breakaway animated the early going when Rory Sutherland (UAE), Tony Gallopin (AG2R), Alessandro de Marchi (BMC), Nicolas Roche (BMC), Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Amael Moinard (Fortuneo) and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) all slipped away from the bunch.
Gallopin, Roche and Moinard were the last survivors, but they, too, were brought back into the fold with 13km to go, setting up the barrage of attacks on the final category 1 climb, where Yates made his race-winning solo move.