Greig Leach

With the surprise attack of the duo from Trek-Segafredo but the Maillot Jaune of Sergio Henao (Sky) into some serious jeopardy, in fact, at this point Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) was the virtual leader of the race on the road. Henao had started with a 31 second buffer on the former winner of Paris Nice (and a great deal of other major races), so he need to be very aware of the time splits going forward. And he needed to pay attention to any bonus seconds Contador may be able to pick up at the intermediate sprint or the finish. Behind the Maillot Jaune, many were defending their positions and unwilling to assisted the Colombian. On his wheel was the Basque Jon Izauirre (Bahrain Merida), the Maillot Vert of Julian Alaphilippe (Quickstep) follow by yesterday's stage winner, Richie Porte (BMC) and Jakob Fulgsang (Astana). In the distance you can make out the sole figures of other riders that were finding the final climb of Paris Nice just too, too much.