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Known as 'the Race to the Sun', tonight's final stage of the Paris-Nice will have the peloton taking in stunning views of the southern, summery French coastline from not one, not two, but five mountaintops along the way to the finish line.
The 118.4-kilometre course starts and finishes in Nice, and will see the top three contenders fighting for position over three Category Two climbs, then two Category One climbs before descending back down to the finish line.
Course profile for Paris-Nice stage 8
Looking more than comfortable in his overall leader's jersey, Pogačar appears quietly confident ahead of the stage, but admits Gaudu is a danger and he does not want to let him get away.
"[This] is a stage I like very much," Pogačar said. "I know the climbs because they are my training climbs. I also like five or six-kilometre climbs better, especially at this time of the year. Also as a team, we’re going to do everything we can to keep the jersey."
Vingegaard conceded more time on his Slovenian rival last night, but fought impressively to minimise that loss, and, earlier in the stage, looked like he might even reverse it.
"I also know that I still have to improve this season," said Vingegaard after last night's thrilling battle up the 15.7-kilometre Col de la Couillole. "This race is not one of the absolute main goals of this season, so there is still time to achieve that."
On tonight's stage, the likeable Dane revealed he is prepared to keep doing what he can for himself, and his team, all the way to the line.
"A lot can still happen there, so I certainly won't bury the hatchet," Vingegaard said. "I will keep fighting for it.”
Gaudu is perhaps the biggest talking point of the 2023 Paris-Nice, with his standout performance a sign of bright things to come.
"It’s really great to see the team working like this for me, so I’m sorry not to bring back the victory,” Gaudu said after finishing two seconds behind Pogačar on Stage 7.
“I’m happy to be at this level and I really enjoyed being able to attack them. Even if it did not work, we must take the positive out of this race. It shows that the team can trust me and that I am not afraid to fight with the best."
“Every time he tries, he gets closer to the best”, said Groupama-FDJ Sport Director, Philippe Mauduit. “Pogačar is still a little faster than him in the sprint, but we saw that he was not as dominant as the other days.
"This is one of the first times he challenged him for victory in a mano a mano, on a summit finish. It shows him that it will be possible to beat him one day. This is an important sequence for David and Groupama-FDJ”.
Will Pogačar's experience lead him to the finish line in first place overall, or will the thrill of improvement and a home crowd screaming his name see Gaudu ride out of his skin chasing a victory of his own?
“We have seen in the last years that this final stage makes Paris-Nice uncertain until the finish line,” Mauduit said.
“This stage is usually extremely hard, fast, and opens up very early. I don’t see why the scenario would be different this year. David deserves a little better than a second place... we still have to believe in it.”
Tune in to SBS and SBS On Demand to watch the eighth and final stage of the Paris-Nice as it happens from 11:05pm (AEDT).
