Paris Nice 2023: the triumph of Pogacar, the summary of the race

By winning four of the eight stages, Tadej Pogacar won Paris-Nice 2023 ahead of David Gaudu and Jonas Vingegaard.

Tadej Pogacar will have been imperial until the end by finishing alone on the Promenade des Anglais. The Slovenian, for his first participation, won the Paris-Nice event (March 5-12). This race, which started from Yvelines de la Verrière, then headed to Seine-et-Marne at Fontainebleau. Then it was animated by an unprecedented time trial, the first by teams since 1981 before starting stages fed by hills. During these, the Slovenian took the yellow jersey which he never let go. This edition was also marked by the cancellation of the 6th stage due to weather conditions. Finally the weekend of Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March ended in apotheosis with the queen stage at the Col de la Couillole and the final in Nice.

Undisputed yellow jersey, the UAE rider defended himself with style throughout the race. He even put himself forward by almost systematically grabbing time and counter-attacking his powerless opponents in the face of the winner’s pedal strokes. Frenchman David Gaudu, second in the sun race even admitted it on arrival, “Pogacar was impossible to follow”. The Groupama FDJ rider was still pleased with the result and felt he had passed a milestone. “I progressed on the physical level and I combined the mental with”, he testified. This performance is very satisfactory for the 4th in the Tour de France 2022 who will be able to arrive on the Tour in 2023 with other ambitions.

In this first act Pogacar / Vingegaard version 2023 concluded on Sunday March 12, it was the Slovenian who was the strongest. The Dane, throughout the week gritted his teeth to cling to the car. But the reality is that he was dominated and himself not satisfied with this result, however not bad. “I still have a little work to do,” he confided after the race. The leader of the Jumbo-Visma will certainly work to arrive on the roads of the Tour de France in July with a clear ambition, a victory in Paris. He will have to beat Pogacar who has already announced the color this month. And the latter will not be confined to this success. “I had never taken part in Paris-Nice, I had done Tirreno-Adriatico twice. It was my goal and my dream to win Paris-Nice and now that I have done it, it’s incredible. it’s also special to share the podium with David Gaudu and Jonas Vingegaard because they are really great runners”, he concluded.

During the eighth and final stage in Nice, Tadej Pogacar won alone wearing the yellow jersey which logically consecrated him to the event. Frenchman David Gaudu is second in Paris-Nice, Vingegaard completed the podium.