Paris-Nice: Martinez wins on the Col de Turini

Daniel Martínez (EF Education First) won stage 7 of Paris-Nice, triumphing atop the Col de Turini ahead of his compatriot Miguel Ángel Lopez (Astana). Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) finished third, just edging out Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) after a ding-dong battle on the summit finish.

The four were the strongest men from a 38-man breakaway, with the quartet forming after Yates and Lopez went on the early slopes of the climb. At various points, Edet, Lopez, Yates and Martínez were alone out front, with the Astana man looking at one point like he’d be on the way to a solo win before a regrouping three kilometres out.

Bang under the flamme rouge it was Martínez who laid it all on the line one final time. Lopez went with him, while Yates didn’t have enough to make it across initially. The Brit looked to be making his way up to the Colombians 500 metres from the line before they reinjected some pace.

On the run-in to the line, a clearly confident Martínez led the way. He led-out the sprint too, and the expected punch-back from Lopez never came, leaving the 22-year-old Education First man to take his first stage win in pink.

Almost four minutes later, the Colombian triumphs continued as Egan Bernal (Team Sky) took over the race lead after his teammate, the yellow jersey holder Michał Kwiatkowski faltered in the final two kilometres.

Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-Quick Step) looked in prime position to take the lead until the Turini bit back, with the Belgian losing too much time in the closing kilometres to make his virtual race lead a reality. Bernal now enjoys a 45-second lead over the Belgian (46 seconds to Quintana in third) ahead of the final 110km stage around Nice on Sunday.

How it happened

With climbing from the get-go on this, the penultimate stage, it was Lotto Soudal who took the reins early on, working so that their mountain classification leader Thomas De Gendt could scoop up some early points.

On the second climb of the day, the Côte de Gourdon, the break of the day established itself. A handful of riders turned into 39 as a number of strong climbers – De Gendt among them – chanced their arm.

Simon Yates, Mikel Nieve (both Mitchelton-Scott), Miguel Ángel Lopez, Magnus Cort (both Astana), Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Mathias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale), Sergio Henao (UAE Team Emirates), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Daniel Martinez (EF Education First) and Alessandro De Marchi (CCC Team) were among the more notable names to make the break of the day.

Double stage winner Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) was an early casualty, abandoning the race while wearing the green jersey. Meanwhile, up the road, De Gendt led De Marchi over the line on the second and third climbs of the day, adding 21 points to his total in the first 70km of racing.

With the best-placed man on GC out front being Gilbert at 2:01 down, it looked a safe bet that the break wouldn’t carry any threats to the yellow jersey. The Belgian did nab three bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint though, putting him within 1:58 of race leader Kwiatkowski.

The middle of the stage was marked by further abandons, as Frank crashed out of the break, and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) climbed off suffering with stomach problems. On the third climb of the day, De Gendt once again beat De Marchi to take another four points, a result that would be repeated on the penultimate climb.

A foray off the front for the duo proved to be brief, with the lead group reabsorbing them for the ride to the final two climbs of the day. Gilbert was still the virtual leader, as the break enjoyed a six-minute lead with 30km to race.

Mitchelton-Scott set their plan into action on the Côte de Pelasque, putting Nieve to work as they sought a Yates stage win. Further back, Movistar sent Winner Anacona on the offensive, laying the groundwork for a Quintana attack later.

On the Col de Turini, Gilbert hung in with the remains of the break, taking two seconds at the final intermediate sprint as the group retained their six-minute lead heading into the final 10km.

Yates and Lopez were the first to launch their attacks, prompting an explosion in the break 9km from the line. Edet and Martínez joined them, with the four men quickly building a 20-second gap over the remainder of the break.

Co-operation among the leaders was light, to say the least, with the previously yo-yo-ing Edet taking advantage to put in a dig. Lopez quickly caught and passed the Frenchman, however, before leaving him behind with 5.5km to race.

Heading into the final 3km, Gilbert was struggling, while up front the four were back together again, though still attacking and looking at each other constantly. Kwiatkowski fell into trouble in the final two kilometres, leaving Bernal to battle Quintana on the ride to the line.

Their pace was enough to guarantee yellow for the young Colombian, with the duo crossing the line under a minute behind Gilbert, who had looked all set to inherit the jersey just a few kilometres earlier.

Up the road, Martínez had delivered the race-winning attack under the flamme rouge, leading Lopez into the closing metres before easily out-sprinting his compatriot. Further back, Yates was edged out by a resurgent Edet for third place.

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