Drooling on his lips, the pace uncertain, Primoz Roglic sees many runners pass him.
The Slovenian is almost in agony.
The image is striking and contrasts with the show of force that the leader of Jumbo-Visma had made until then during this Paris-Nice.
Roglic had won three stages, a performance that had not been achieved by a rider since Tom Boonen in 2006.
The victory, for his comeback race in 2021, stretched out his arms to him.
With a last modified stage, shortened (92.7 km) and less difficult compared to the initial route due to the confinement introduced over the weekend in Nice, we did not see what could happen to Roglic.
A mind in question
But he fell 70 km from the finish.
The shorts torn, wounds on the upper thigh, Roglic had managed to get into the peloton.
Not at best, he was then let go in a descent, not really the specialty of the former ski jumping champion very crumbly in this exercise, after a second fall.
At the same time, his lieutenant George Bennett was in mechanical trouble and could not help him.
Maximilian Schachmann's Bora-Hansgrohe team, 2nd overall, took the opportunity to go on the offensive and reverse the race.
đźš´ Magnus Cort Nielsen wins in Levens ahead of Christophe Laporte!
Disaster scenario today for Primoz Roglic who loses Paris-Nice to Maximilian Schachmann who retains his title pic.twitter.com/0OBfr3wBqi
- France tv sport (@francetvsport) March 14, 2021
This twist on the last day can be seen as another stroke of bad luck for Roglic.
But he also questions his mind.
It is indeed not the first time that he has been struck by the syndrome of the last day.
At the Dauphiné, while he was in the yellow jersey, he fell during the penultimate stage and was unable to start the last stage.
The time trial of the Planche des Belles Filles, the day before the arrival in Paris, is also still in our memories.
His compatriot Tadej Pocagar had dispossessed him of the yellow jersey and the final victory.
If he quickly healed this trauma by winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège then the Vuelta, Roglic therefore knows another cruel disappointment with this day in hell.
German Maximilian Schachmann wins Paris-Nice for the second year in a row./AFP/Anne-Christine Poujoulat
It was Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education - Nippo) who beat Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) and Pierre Latour (Total Direct Énergie) in the sprint who won this last stage.
German Maximilian Schachmann wins Paris-Nice for the second year in a row.
Coming 56th on the stage at 3'08 ", Roglic moved from 1st to 15th place in the final standings.
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On the French side, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) finished 6th and Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Citroën AG2R-La-Mondiale), 9th.
Victim of a fall, David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) had to give up.