Quick-Step Floors may have missed out on stage wins in the opening two days of Paris-Nice, but the Belgian team sit pretty in the GC with three riders inside the top seven.
Yellow jersey Arnaud Demare has a slim six-second lead over Julian Alaphilippe, with Philippe Gilbert third at 17 seconds and Daniel Martin 7th, 23 seconds in arrears. With the individual time trial and the mountains still to come, the team is in a strong position, and with Richie Porte all but eliminated from the overall standing after losing significant time, Quick-Step are in pole position to at least finish on the podium, if not win.
"It's worked out pretty well for us with three in the top seven and second and third on GC," Dan Martin told Cyclingnews at the start of stage 3 in Chablis.
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Quick-Step were key instigators on stages 1 and 2 when crosswinds and rain battered the field. Along with Lotto Soudal, they put the likes of Porte and Alberto Contador under immense pressure with two virtuoso displays of echelon riding.
"It's a nice position to be in, but everyone is tired after yesterday. Every day is important here, so we need to keep our concentration," Martin added, stressing that despite calmer weather on stage 3, the team could not afford to make mistakes.
With Alaphilippe and Martin in fine fettle, Quick-Step Floors have options when it comes to the second half of the race. The 14.5-kilometre time trial on stage 4 will be crucial and should, in theory, allow Contador and the well-placed Tony Gallopin and Ilnur Zakarin to put the Quick-Step double-act on the back foot.
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