Team Sky have had a very difficult week to say the least, but they were delivered a welcome reminder of the talent that they had on the road in the shape of Wout Poels, who dominated the Paris-Nice time trial to move within touching distance of the yellow jersey, which stays on the shoulders of Astana’s Luis Leon Sanchez, who leads the field by 15 seconds.
Movistar have a long history with Paris-Nice, and the will hope that Marc Soler stays fit and healthy as the young Spaniard put in a deeply impressive performance to take second on the stage and put himself into third overall, sharing third with Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe, the pair of them 26 seconds back on Sanchez after the Frenchman was a fine third on the day.
Sky have worked their way into a strong overall position, with last year’s winner Sergio Henao finishing joint ninth and putting himself on the toes of the leaders with mountainous terrain to come over this weekend. The Colombian managed to get into the hot seat for a brief period, having topped the time of Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) by just hundredths of a second.
David De La Cruz posted another strong effort against the clock – he set one of the best initial splits, posting a time of 13:17, some 15 seconds faster than the previous best by 15 seconds, set by Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang. Soon after, Poels would smash that time by 19 seconds, on his way to setting the day’s winning benchmark of 25:33. All the top 10 riders were on course, including Luis Leon Sanchez, who set off just as Lillian Calmejane, who stopped the clock on 26:15 for the fourth fastest time, giving him a chance of making a bid for the Top 10 over the weekend.
Soon after, Soler would pass his minute man and take second with 25:44, whilst Ion Izaguirre (Bahrain-Merida) posted the third fastest time with 26:00, only to be soon pushed down by Bora’s Felix Grossschartner who set 25:53.
Meanwhile puncheurs Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) and Tony Gallopin (AG2R) had contrasting days, with Wells setting 26:02 to take fifth and put himself just 41 seconds off Sanchez, whilst Gallopin was 1:04 down and slid away from the top 10 in the standings.
It was a good day also for Mitchelton-Scott, with Esteban Chaves posting a strong effort given his previous struggles against the clock, and he is tied 48 seconds down along with Yates and Henao in the overall standings.
Whilst some thrived, others struggled against the clock. Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) struggled and conceded 1:21 on the stage, leaving him 22nd overall, 1:36 behind Sanchez. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) was 40th on the day and is now 1:56 down on Sanchez, whilst neither Romain Kreuziger (Mitchelton-Scott) Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) – both already well adrift in the overall standings – were able to make much headway here.
Top 10 – Stage
1 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 0:25:33
2 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:11
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:16
4 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:20
5 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:27
6 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:27
7 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28
8 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:29
9 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:33
10 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:33
Top 10 – GC
1 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 13:47:57
2 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 0:00:15
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:26
4 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:26
5 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:34
6 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:35
7 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:42
8 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:42
9 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:48
10 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:48