Following on from Friday’s approach Team dsm-firmenich PostNL set out to ride aggressively on the penultimate stage of Paris – Nice. It was a fast start with lots of attacks as the rain fell down with Martijn Tusveld making it into an attacking trio. Behind, more attacks flew and eventually Gijs Leemreize made it into a counter-move that set off in pursuit of Tusveld’s group. Unfortunately, a mechanical issue saw Tusveld drop from the front group back to Leemreize and the Team dsm-firmenich PostNL duo fought hard to return to the front. However, the peloton kept up a strong pace and it was clear they weren’t going to make it; with the front break only ever given one minute and 30 seconds at most. Once they had returned to the bunch, the two riders fought to the finish ahead of tomorrow’s final stage.
Tusveld expressed: “We had the intention to go for the breakaway again and I was able to get in a good group of three upfront with Gijs also behind in a group of three. I had a mechanical and then came back in Gijs’ group but we never made it back to the front because Ineos was chasing in the bunch. After we were caught, it was a struggle with the cold weather and the tricky roads and we just made sure to finish safely. I think the spirit is really good and the last days we were present in the important breaks but we just haven’t been given a lot of space from the peloton.”