Final KM: Paris-Nice Stage 6, Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 3

Two surprising stage victories provide double the delight in France and Italy

Paris-Nice Stage 6: Sisteron to Vence, 198km

Rudy Molard‘s recon rides of the finish gave him the advantage in a fiercely fought finale. The Frenchman picked the perfect moment to attack and was strong enough to hold off the chasing pack to give Groupama-FDJ their second victory in the race. Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) and Quickstepper Julian Alaphilippe, both aggressive in the closing kilometres, rounded out the podium. A fantastic display of teamwork by the Astana squad kept Luis Leon Sanchez in the maillot jeune even when riding on a teammate’s bike. Sky’s Wout Poels suffered an awful crash which took him out of the race so Alaphilippe moves into second at +22secs with Marc Soler (Movistar) third at +26secs.

Video…

When you can’t quite believe it… Rudy’s 2nd professional victory and stage win number four for the French at this race.

👌
Rudy Molard, 28 ans, vit le tournant de sa carrière.
Coureur adorable, une crème.
Quel bonheur !#ParisNice pic.twitter.com/P0PWxsebTG

— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) March 9, 2018

Broken collarbone for Wout Poels. I’m relieved it wasn’t worse after his high speed crash #GetWellWout

UPDATE: @WoutPoels is hoping to be back on the bike soon after sustaining a broken collarbone in a crash at #ParisNice. Hear from Wout👇

📝 > https://t.co/8gzq4l5Ff0 pic.twitter.com/KKgAN9QpiV

— Team Sky (@TeamSky) March 9, 2018

Kissing the floor is never a good idea especially during a race! Thanks for all the kind messages. Unfortunately broken collarbone, hopefully soon back on the bike again! #whereiswout #broken #smilingisforfree

— Wout Poels (@WoutPoels) March 10, 2018

Team of the day. Can they do it all over again on the Queen stage?

What a teamwork!👏 @LLEONSANCHEZ still in the GC lead, great work by @jakob_fuglsang in today’s final! #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/1YmeV8gVWq

— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) March 9, 2018

A funny thing happened on the way to the break…

The peloton took the wrong route at 10km and some riders who were at the back found themselves in the break by accident

Some of you may be wondering why @dylan_teuns was in the #ParisNice stage 6 breakaway. It's a funny story. Read it and Dylan's reaction after the brutal climb 👉 https://t.co/o7XbB7URsf
📷 @ChrisAuldPhoto pic.twitter.com/ZIHguUOqal

— BMC Racing Team (@BMCProTeam) March 9, 2018

"I said on the team radio: 'I think I'm in the breakaway'.." 😂😂 Amazing to read all stories from today's surreal start to the stage in #ParisNice. https://t.co/nGgDg4gjql

— Mikkel Condé v2.0 (@mrconde) March 9, 2018

“It was the first time in my career that I got in a front group by accident” – Thomas de Gendt

#ParisNice A second place for @Tim_Wellens and an unexpected day in the breakaway for @DeGendtThomas!
📝Read our race report with quotes from Tim and Thomas on our website: https://t.co/pgUrAlauwF pic.twitter.com/qRa0HYkwRP

— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) March 9, 2018

Full race report at Cycling News

Race Website Race Twitter #ParisNice

Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 3: Follonica to Trevi, 234km

A leg-breaker of a finish saw LottoNL-Jumbo’s Primoz Roglic power away from a select group to sail solo over the line with a jaunty victory flourish. Second place Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) chased hard but couldn’t quite close the gap and Tiesj Benoot continued his flying form with third. Geraint Thomas (Sky) finished 4th and that was enough to give him the overall lead on count back from BMC’s Greg van Avermaet with Chris Froome third at +3secs.

Video…

Jaunty joy after being held up behind the crash on stage 2 and losing 1:42mins…

🇮🇹 #TirrenoAdriatico @rogla stands up with a splendid victory in Tirreno-Adriatico
📝: https://t.co/o14Fb0xjHd pic.twitter.com/X8w4OkK7k5

— LottoNLJumbo Cycling (@LottoJumbo_road) March 9, 2018

Geraint has the leader’s jersey. Does Kwiato have his eyes on it though?

Hectic finale, awaited for almost 240 km. @Team Sky rose to the challenge and G has the jersey 👏💪🔱 @TirrenAdriatico @TeamSky #Kwiato #allezKwiato pic.twitter.com/W33SNdtG34

— Michał Kwiatkowski (@kwiato) March 9, 2018

#GetWellSimon

#TirrenoAdriatico We can confirm that @simongeschke fractured his left collarbone in today's crash. We'll have more information later on his condition and expected recovery times. Wishing you all the best Simon.

— Team Sunweb (@TeamSunweb) March 9, 2018

Thanks for all your messages. I’m sort of fine and “only” broke my collarbone. Hope to have a successful surgery and be back racing soon!

— Simon Geschke (@simongeschke) March 9, 2018

Full race report at Cycling News

Race Website Race Twitter #TirrenoAdriatico

Header image: Rudy Mollard – JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images