Never say never again. For the second year in succession, Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) launched a late offensive on the final day of Paris-Nice, and for the second year in succession, he fell just short, as Sergio Henao (Team Sky) held on to win the overall title by just two seconds Sunday.
David de la Cruz (Quick-Step) claimed the stage victory in Nice in a two-up sprint against Contador, which ultimately denied the Trek man the bonus seconds that would have given him the third Paris-Nice title of his career.
Just 115 kilometres in length and with five climbs on the menu, the final stage of Paris-Nice lent itself to Contador's particular brand of all-out aggression, and though his 31-second deficit at the start of a day was a daunting one, another Fuente De-style remontada suddenly seemed on the cards when he attacked with 52 kilometres to go on the Côte de Peille.
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Contador's attack came after his lieutenant Jarlinson Pantano had set a brisk tempo on the upper slopes of the climb. Although Henao and Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) were lined up on Contador's wheel, they were unable to match his fierce acceleration, which tore the yellow jersey group asunder. Contador picked off the remnants of the day's early break as he rode towards the summit of the Peille, and swooped down over the other side as part of a new 14-man group that included De la Cruz and Michael Matthews (Sunweb).
Henao crested the summit 40 seconds down on Contador, meaning that the Spaniard was the race leader on the road, and at that point, his situation looked grave for the Colombian national champ. The yellow jersey group eventually swelled to 23 riders on the descent, however, and Henao's teammates David Lopez and Sebastian Henao helped to keep Contador's lead stable on the approach to the final climb, the Col d'Eze.
Once on the Col d'Eze, Contador was immediately out of the saddle, bobbing from side to side in familiar style, laying down a tempo that only De Le Cruz and Marc Soler (Movistar) could follow. Behind, Henao's deficit yawned out towards a minute and he was forced to do the bulk of the pace-setting in the yellow jersey group with Martin, Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) poised on his rear wheel.
How it unfolded
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