Cycling
Hugo Houle finishes 13th overall
Sole representative of his team since Thursday, Hugo Houle made an exception at Israel-Premier Tech by surviving the 80and Paris-Nice. The Quebecer finished 25and of the eighth and final stage presented in the rain on Sunday and took the 13and rank in the general classification.
In the absence of his teammates, Houle struggled to position himself at certain times of the race, especially when it came time to stay ahead on the descents. He chased to catch up with the leading group and finished the race among a group of six riders, 6 minutes 34 seconds behind the winner, the Briton Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco).
“I felt good all week. I worked hard to keep a good ranking for the team, especially with all the work the staff did for me. I was alone in the peloton, but I had all the support of the team. It’s kind of my way of saying thank you, of fighting until the end to get some World Tour points,” said Hugo Houle.
He considers himself lucky not to have been affected by the virus which affected his teammates, including Montrealer James Piccoli, or to have been injured like Guillaume Boivin. His knowledge of the course, where he trains regularly, has also benefited him in his opinion.
“It served me well, I knew where I had to push and where I could be more relaxed, given that there were a lot of breaks in the peloton,” he said. It was another difficult stage and in the end, not many of us finished Paris-Nice! Everyone deserves a medal for finishing in these conditions. »
There were 154 cyclists at the start of the first stage and 59 crossed the finish line on Sunday. During this last day of racing, 29 athletes dropped out.
A duel at the top quickly took shape to complete the event. Simon Yates was second in the general classification before the start of this final stage and was 47 seconds behind the leader, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).
The Briton tried everything on Sunday to grab the yellow jersey. With just under 20 kilometers to go, he attacked solo to outrun the leading group. His lead went up to 25 seconds in the following kilometers.
Primoz Roglic can thank his teammate Wout Van Aert, who worked hard to limit the damage and accompany him on the various climbs so as not to let Yates slip away, who won by 9 seconds against the duo of the Jumbo- Visa.
Simon Yates is content with second place in the general classification, 29 seconds behind Primoz Roglic. The Colombian Daniel Felipe Martinez, victim of a puncture at a key moment in the race on Sunday, climbed on the third step of the podium (+2 minutes 37 seconds).
Auspicious
In particular conditions, Hugo Houle showed consistency and was able to gain confidence for the next races. He climbed among the top 25 in 6 different stages on various courses.
“That’s what made me strong throughout the week, maintained the athlete from Sainte-Perpétue. I was always present, without being too far away and I wasted no time in the general classification. Another highlight is how I climbed this Paris-Nice, where I was much more comfortable in the mountains. It’s interesting for the future and it encourages me. I am very happy with my performance. »
Houle will start from Milan-Sanremo next weekend.
Antoine Duchesne 49and in Italy
In Italy, the German Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) won the seventh and final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in a sprint, just ahead of the Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) and the Australian Kaden Groves (BikeExchange- Jayco).
Winner of Saturday’s solo stage, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) was not worried in the general classification to win easily. He ranked 33and Sunday, at the same time as Bauhaus. Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma, +1 minute 52 seconds) and Spaniard Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious, +2 minutes 33 seconds) completed the podium.
For his part, Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ) finished 105and (+58 seconds) during this seventh stage and occupies the 49and general level. This is his team’s second best result in the final standings, behind his French teammate Thibaut Pinot who is eighth (+3 minutes 37 seconds).
window.fbLoaded = false;
window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
FB.init({appId: ‘166995983353903’, version: ‘v3.2’});
window.fbLoaded = true;
};
(function() {
var e = document.createElement(‘script’); e.async = true;
e.src = document.location.protocol +
‘//connect.facebook.net/fr_FR/sdk.js’;
document.getElementById(‘fb-root’).appendChild(e);
}());
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.