A disastrous day of crashes costs Primoz Roglič Paris-Nice title on final stage
Max Schachmann first to defend title since 2003
Primož Roglič, having won three stages of Paris-Nice, couldn’t keep his race lead on Sunday’s calamitous last stage, and Max Schachmann, 52-seconds behind the Slovenian overnight, repeated as champion. Roglič suffered a crash early in the 92.7-km stage and then had another crash and mechanical in the final 15 km of the race.
? De retour dans le peloton, ??@rogla porte quelques stigmates de sa chute.
? Back in the peloton, ??@rogla bears some scars from his fall. #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/geZ4ht5lVz
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 14, 2021
After the first crash, which dislocated Roglič’s shoulder, his Jumbo-Visma squad brought him back to the peloton, but after the second wreck, Bora-Hansgrohe and Astana-Premier Tech, teams of Schachmann and third and fourth place Alexandr Vlasov and Ion Izagirre respectively, laboured to make sure Roglič didn’t return.
??@rogla est seul en chasse. En tête du peloton, @BORAhansgrohe roule très fort et ??@MaxSchachmann est leader virtuel !
??@rogla is alone in the chase. At the front of the pack, @BORAhansgrohe make a very fast pace and ??@MaxSchachmann is the virtual leader! #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/NhbXou7RiT
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 14, 2021
Incredibly, Roglič almost came to grief again in the final 5 km while following Tim De Clercq on a descent.
In the leading group, Schachmann had to worry about Vlasov 19-seconds behind and Izagirre 23-seconds in arrears. However, the Astana-Premier Tech men couldn’t get a gap on the German. In Levens, Magnus Cort of EF Education-Nippo took his team’s second stage victory of the race.
The Slovenian finished so far back he didn’t even make the top-14 of the final GC. Roglič, his kit in tatters, managed to compose himself enough to congratulate Schachmann. “I don’t know if I can be happy,” Schachmann said in a post-race interview. Jumbo-Visma’s soigneur held up Roglič’s green points on the stage instead of the two-time Vuelta a España winner taking part in the ceremony.
o.O #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/sK86QjjBHZ
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) March 14, 2021
2021 Paris-Nice Stage 8
1) Magnus Cort (Denmark/EF Education-Nippo) 2:16:58
2) Christophe Laporte (France/Cofidis) s.t.
3) Pierre Latour (France/Total Direct Energie) s.t.
56) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) +3:08
2021 Paris-Nice Final GC
1) Max Schachmann (Germany/Bora-Hansgrohe) 28:49:51
2) Alexandr Vlasov (Russia/Astana-Premier Tech) +0:19
3) Jon Izagirre (Spain/Astana-Premier Tech) +0:23
15) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) +2:16
