Germany’s Maximilian Schachmann claimed overall victory on the final stage of the Paris-Nice, which ended in Valdeblore La Colmiane today.
Maximilian Schachmann claimed total victory on the final stage of the Paris-Nice today. Photo: BettiniPhoto©2020
Tomorrow’s scheduled last stage of the eight-day event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in the race concluding with today’s 166.5km leg.
Schachmann, who has been wearing the leader’s jersey since the start of the event, had a total time of 27:14:23, while Belgian rider Tiesj Benoot finished 18 seconds behind him. Sergio Higuita retained his third-place position.
“It was very, very hard. The last three kilometres were a walk through hell, through pain. Now it’s like being in heaven and it erases all the pain in my legs,” said Schachmann.
“It’s not my first success, but the biggest so far and the most important because a whole lot of people doubted I could be a GC rider. Now I’ve won the most prestigious one-week race.”
Nairo Quintana was the stage winner with a time of 4:27:01. Benoot and Thibaut Pinot finished second and third respectively.
“I always try to win stages with some elegance. The team worked a lot to make it back on the break and then I did what I had to do,” said Quintana.
“There was nothing I could do for the GC. I crashed badly and l lost too much time that day.
“Day after day I finished with the best and I wanted to win before the race ended to bring a little joy to this team and this is a gift for the whole team for the job done. Now I’m going to go back to Colombia to stay with my family.”
View results below:
Stage seven
| 1 | Nairo Quintana | COL | Team Arkea-Samsic | 4:27:01 |
| 2 | Tiesj Benoot | BEL | Team Sunweb | +0:46 |
| 3 | Thibaut Pinot | FRA | Groupma-FDJ | +0:56 |
| 4 | Sergio Andres Higuita | COL | EF Pro Cycling | |
| 5 | Vincenzo Nibali | ITA | Trek-Segafredo | |
| 6 | Maximilian Schachmann | GER | Bora-Hansgrohe | +0:58 |
| 7 | Guillaume Martin | FRA | Cofidis Solutions Credits | +1:19 |
| 8 | Tanel Kangert | EST | EF Pro Cycling | +1:22 |
| 9 | Romain Bardet | FRA | AG2R La Mondiale | +1:32 |
| 10 | Rudy Molard | FRA | Groupma-FDJ |
*Selected
| 40 | Ryan Gibbons | RSA | NTT Pro Cycling | +14:59 |
General classification
| 1 | Maximilian Schachmann | GER | Bora-Hansgrohe | 27:14:23 |
| 2 | Tiesj Benoot | BEL | Team Sunweb | +0:18 |
| 3 | Sergio Andres Higuita | COL | EF Pro Cycling | +0:59 |
| 4 | Vincenzo Nibali | ITA | Trek-Segafredo | +1:16 |
| 5 | Thibaut Pinot | FRA | Groupma-FDJ | +1:24 |
| 6 | Nairo Quintana | COL | Team Arkea-Samsic | +1:30 |
| 7 | Rudy Molard | FRA | Groupma-FDJ | +2:03 |
| 8 | Tanel Kangert | EST | EF Pro Cycling | +2:16 |
| 9 | Felix Grosschartner | AUT | Bora-Hansgrohe | +3:39 |
| 10 | Soren Kragh Andersen | DEN | Team Sunweb | +4:36 |
*Selected
| 47 | Ryan Gibbons | RSA | NTT Pro Cycling | +41:31 |
