Simon Yates wins Paris-Nice time trial

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Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) might have been 18:28 down on Paris-Nice race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) at the start of the stage 5 individual time trial, but he rode as if he was defending the yellow jersey to win the stage with a commanding performance.

His GC hopes shot by losing time in the crosswind stages, Yates started midway through the 149-rider roster, and powered through the 25.5km test, climbing into the hot seat with a time of 30:26 that held through to the end. Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) would be the only rider to come within 10 seconds of the mark, finishing seven seconds down.

Race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) felt the threat from his young teammate Egan Bernal, who had put six seconds into Kwiatkowski at the first check, but the Pole paced himself perfectly to gain back some time to extend his lead in the race.

Kwiatkowski finished third on the stage, 11 seconds behind Yates and, more importantly, four seconds ahead of Bernal, who continued his fantastic week with a top-10 on the day. Kwiatkowski now holds a 19-second lead over Bernal, who moved ahead of Astana's Luis Leon Sanchez. The Spaniard is now third at 28 seconds, the only other rider within one minute of Kwiatkowski.

How it unfolded

It was a clear day in Barbentane in the south of France for the first individual time trial in Paris-Nice. After days of fighting winds, mild weather finally prevailed, with only a light breeze and fine temperatures for the 149 remaining riders.

Tom Scully (EF Education First) set the fast early time, as 20th man down the ramp, his time of 30:53 survived through the first hour of racing.

Starting mid-pack thanks to his poor position in the overall classification, Yates was clearly out for a day of hard training, pushing himself through to the line and unseating Scully by a whopping 27 seconds.

As the later starters began to filter through, Yates' time began to come increasingly under threat, with Katusha-Alpecin's Nils Politt coming within seven seconds of taking the lead.

Although the conditions did not appear to change much from the earlier starters, several overall contenders came through the intermediate check in trouble. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) was already 1:13 down after 15.5km. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) crossed at 1:05 from Scully.

One rider who was not in trouble was Egan Bernal. The Team Sky rider already impressed in the vicious crosswind stage and continued to show his promise at the intermediate check, coming in just 30 seconds down on Scully's top time and then passing his two-minute man Matteo Trentin.

Meanwhile at the finish line, the top 10 was stuck with Yates on top ahead of Politt, and three EF Education First riders next all at 15 seconds - Lawson Craddock, Dani Martinez and Tejay van Garderen.

Thanks to the uphill finish to the course, Bardet managed to make up some time, coming through 1:15 behind Yates, while Quintana clawed back some time to come across 53 seconds down.

Bernal powered up the final ascent looking far less taxed than most, cruising through the line in third, just shy of 15 seconds down on Yates and the top of the heap in the GC.

Behind, Sanchez was losing important time and sliding down the GC, but he held on to finish 10th on the stage at 30 seconds.

The maillot jaune, shining in the spring sun, cruised up the final ascent grinning because he knew he had further extended his race lead with his teammate next in line. Kwiatkowski's final time of 30:37 was good for third and padded his GC lead to 19 seconds over Bernal.

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