'If you don't try then you never know': Simon Yates after final day win at Paris-Nice
BikeExchange-Jayco rider attacked on Col d'Èze to take stage eight and seal second overall


"I had to try something", Simon Yates explained after his attack on stage eight of Paris-Nice which brought him victory in Nice.
The Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider launched his solo effort on the Col d'Èze, the final classified climb of this year's race. While his advantage sometimes ticked up past 25 seconds, he was held in check by Primož Roglič and Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma, and remained second overall.
"I'm not going to win a sprint against Van Aert or Roglič, so I had to try something, and I wasn't feeling great either," the Briton said. "I wasn't confident to make an advantage, but if you don't try then you never know. I tried, and there was no real tactics, I just had luck."
Yates trailed Roglič by 47 seconds going into the day, and ended just 29 seconds behind the Slovenian. However, he maintained that he was only thinking about winning the stage in Nice.
"I don't know, I was not think about the GC today," he said. "I was just thinking about the stage win. Of course it crossed my mind once the gap really started to go out, but today I was all in for the stage win and that was it."
It is Yates' fourth stage win at Paris-Nice, but his first since 2019. It caps a week off which saw him deliver an impressive time trial on stage four. It is his best stage race result since winning the Tour of the Alps in April last year, and his first WorldTour stage race win since Tirreno-Adriatico in 2020.
However, he urged people to not read "too much" into his performance over eight days this week.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"The Giro [d'Italia] is still a long way away, at least as far as I'm concerned," Yates said. "Of course I'm very happy with my performance this week, it's been good. I do Catalunya next as well, which is not far away, so hopefully another good performance there.
"I think I'm really happy with the stage win, but the time trial was the best one I've done for a long time, so of course I'm very happy with that performance there."
After Saturday's stage to the Col de Turini, Yates had said that Roglič was hardly breathing while the others were panting on the mountain pass.
However, he argued that the final stage suited him a lot more, and that he also drew on experience to bring home the win.
"Shorter climbs, much more explosive," he said. "Yesterday I think it took us maybe 40 minutes to do the final climb, more of an aerobic effort. Obviously the conditions as well. I don't like racing in the rain or the cold but I had a lot of clothes on today. Maybe after the long descent into Nice that's where I gained a little bit maybe, I kept a lot of clothes on.
"I did that with a bit of experience, because I've raced this circuit in the rain before and frozen up, in 2018 and not had the legs, so maybe that's where the difference was."
Yates might not have won the yellow jersey, but he proved that he is in very good form ahead of a spring in which he hopes to pull on the pink jersey instead.
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.
Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.
-
'They never once checked me for concussion' - Jonas Vingegaard calls out head injury protocol after Paris-Nice crash
Two-time Tour de France winner says he was 'completely dizzy and nauseous' in days after crash
-
Identical start, diverging destinies? The story of Adam and Simon Yates as they both race for pink at the Giro d'Italia
Adam and Simon Yates head to the Giro d’Italia on different teams and with different prospects. As their career paths diverge, does the brotherly bond endure?
-
Altitude, Colle delle Finestre and an open field: Simon Yates presents his case for Giro d'Italia glory
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider will return to the Colle delle Finestre in this year's Giro, for the first time since he lost pink on its slopes in 2018.
-
Can anyone stop Primož Roglič or Juan Ayuso from winning the Giro d’Italia?
Roglič and Ayuso's form suggest they are the two outright favourites for overall victory in Rome next month
-
Jonas Vingegaard out of Volta a Catalunya after Paris-Nice crash
Visma-Lease a Bike say two-time Tour de France winner needs more time to recover from wrist injury sustained in France last week
-
Matteo Jorgenson aiming to 'set the bar higher' and target a Grand Tour after securing second Paris-Nice title
American explained that targeting a win in one of the sport's biggest three-week races was now the logical next step in his career
-
Matteo Jorgenson rules out Tour de France leadership after Jonas Vingegaard's withdrawal from Paris-Nice
The American is on the cusp of a second consecutive victory at the Race to the Sun
-
Mattias Skjelmose: 'Cycling is a relentless sport. One day you feel great, the next everything can change in a split second'
Lidl-Trek rider was forced to abandon Paris-Nice after a heavy crash on stage seven