The Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates), winner of the fourth stage and new leader of Paris Nice, did not expect to wear yellow on top of La Loge des Gardes, but He admitted that “you can’t say no to the yellow jersey.”
“It was not in my mind to wear yellow, but one cannot tell the leader’s jersey. I’m happy with the yellow and it’s good to be back.” Pogacar commented at the goal.
pogacar admitted to being “a bit surprised” by the performance of his great rival, Dane Jonas Vingegaard, whom he beat with an attack 2.5 km from the finish line that forced the Nordic to lose 43 seconds at the finish.
“Yeah, I was a bit surprised. She first threw a fit and I thought she was feeling super, super good, so I didn’t respond, I was just waiting for the plain. The ending was really difficult and I think he missed when he tried to catch me. Then it couldn’t close and it broke a bit,” he explained.
The Slovenian said he had had a difficult day, which he finally He had the plus of having to catch a dangerous rival like the Frenchman Dadiv Gaudu.
“I was very nervous all day. The flat area was difficult because of the wind, it was really chaos all day. And then on the final climb, Félix Großschartner did a very good job and the team before him, putting me in the perfect place. He had good legs. He knows that we couldn’t give Gaudu too much time. I decided to go all out to catch him, otherwise victory would not have been possible.” concluded.