Vuelta a España champion Simon Yates claimed his first ever victory in an ITT today on stage five of the 2019 Paris-Nice.
As one of the earlier starters, the Brit blasted around the 25.5km fairly flat course, setting the fastest time and with no riders able to better him he held on for an unexpected victory, his second of the 2019 season.
The 25.5km route followed a straight-forward and mostly-flat parcourse, interrupted only by a small climb in the middle before a final drag up to the finish line.
In the early stages it was New Zealander rider Tom Scully (EF-Education First) to set the first bench mark, with a time of 31minutes 53seconds, followed shortly after by fellow countryman Jack Bauer,who crossed the line with the second fastest time of 31’11”.
As riders completed the distance, Scully remained in the lead until Yates, starting mid-event, finished with a blistering time of 30’26” to move into the stage lead.
Yates watched on patiently from the hot seat as many of the race favourites crossed the line. It seemed as if no riders were able to better the time with Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) getting the closest but still seven-seconds a drift.
Yates anxiously waited for the final rider, race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky), to set off down the ramp.
In the end Yates’ time proved unbeatable with Kwiatkowski settling for third place.
“I am really happy with my performance, I have been working on my time trial quite a lot the last few years but I didn’t really expect to be fastest today,” said Yates at the finish. “At the start of the day I thought it was for the TT specialists. So especially with how this course was I am very happy.
“It was really straight forward, there weren’t any corners you really needed to brake for, it was just in the skis, so a pretty filthy time trial for a guy of my size.The climb in the middle wasn’t real hard, the climb up to the finish line was probably harder so I am really happy with what I did today.
“The sensations are good for the next days, I knew I had good form, well decent form coming into the race and just got caught out in the crosswinds, it wasn’t from a lack of form or anything.
Stage 5 Brief Results:
- Simon Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) 30’26.70″
- Nils Politt (Team Katusha-Alpecin) at 7″
- Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) at 11″
General Classification after Stage 5:
- Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)
- Egan Bernal (Team Sky) at 19″
- Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana Pro Team) at 28″
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