Stage win to Russian

Gall slips to eleventh place overall in Nice

Felix Gall (left) and team colleague Oliver Naessen(Bild: APA/AFP/Thomas SAMSON)

Professional cyclist Felix Gall lost ground on the very best on the penultimate day of the top-class Paris-Nice long-distance race, finishing 13th on the stage. The East Tyrolean slipped three places to eleventh overall on Saturday on the section from Nice to the Madone d'Utelle, which was shortened to 104 km due to wintry weather in the mountains. The stage win went to the Russian Alexander Vlasov (Bora), while Brandon McNulty (UAE) continues to lead the overall standings.

In cold and wet conditions, Gall was unable to keep up with the leaders until the end of the 15 km long but not particularly steep final climb. At the finish at 1,200 m above sea level, the Decathlon captain was 1:05 minutes behind Vlasov. The Russian won eight seconds ahead of former world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal) and his teammate Primoz Roglic.

Gall two minutes behind
In the overall classification Evenepoel is 36 seconds behind the American McNulty in fourth place before the final day, Roglic is already 1:21 minutes behind in sixth place. Gall is just over two minutes behind the leader ahead of another not-too-long 109 km mountain stage with start and finish in Nice on Sunday.

At Tirreno-Adriatico, the starting position before the final day is clear due to the dominance of Jonas Vingegaard. On Saturday, the Dane from the Visma team also won the queen stage from Sassoferrato to Monte Petrano (180 km) well ahead of his first chasers. The Tour winner now leads the classification by one and a half minutes. On Sunday, there will only be one less demanding section.