Cyclingflash
Harold Tejada takes biggest career win in Paris-Nice, easy day for Vingegaard

Harold Tejada takes biggest career win in Paris-Nice, easy day for Vingegaard

Harold Tejada secured the biggest victory of his career at Paris-Nice. The Colombian surprised with an attack on the final climb and sustained his effort all the way to the finish. Jonas Vingegaard encountered no problems on Friday and remains the race leader. 

The sixth stage of Paris-Nice took place through the heart of Provence. Along the way, the riders had to tackle 2,100 meters of elevation, most of which came in the second half of the stage. The tough part of the route began about 70 kilometers from the finish with the Côte de Bonnieux (2.5 km at 4.6%) and the Côte de L’Aire Deï Masco (7.1 km at 4.4%).

Just before the end, the riders faced the Côte de Saignon (4 km at 5%). Especially the last 650 meters of this climb were steep, with an average gradient of 7.3%. After that, there were 4.5 kilometers left to the finish. On paper, it was a perfect day for the early breakaway, although that largely depended on the plans of leader Vingegaard.

The fact that many riders wanted to get into the early break was evident in the first fifty kilometers of the race. Not a single rider managed to stay away from the peloton for an extended period. Only after fifty kilometers did Joshua Tarling, Igor Arrieta, Arthur Kluckers, and Steff Cras break away. The four had to keep working hard all day to maintain a lead above one minute, while the peloton was determined not to let the gap grow beyond two minutes.

Kragh Andersen fails to close the gap, peloton succeeds
On the Côte de L'Aire Deï Masco, we saw a bold attack from Søren Kragh Andersen trying to bridge the gap to the three ahead – Cras had dropped off by then – but the Dane never managed to close the distance because the front group kept a high pace. The same applied to the peloton, which had clearly decided to fight for the stage win, notably with teams like Cofidis, XDS Astana, and Visma | Lease a Bike pushing the pace.

Just before the final climb, the gap between the leaders and the peloton was down to only fifteen seconds, making it clear that the winner would come from the peloton – but who? On the Saignon climb, Lenny Martinez launched the first attack, but leader Vingegaard quickly chased him down. Harold Tejada was the next to try. When the Colombian went, there was a moment of hesitation among the favorites, allowing him to quickly build a lead of around five seconds.

Tejada achieves the biggest win of his career
Among the favorites, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, INEOS Grenadiers, EF Education-Oatly, and Decathlon CMA CGM took turns trying to reel Tejada back, but they were too late. As a result, the XDS Astana rider claimed his first WorldTour victory now in his seventh season as a WorldTour rider.