While three of the first four in the general classification of the last Tour de France fought for the stage victory, Hugo Houle (Israel–Premier Tech) realized that he did not have all his cards in hand, even though he was part of today’s breakaway in the seventh and penultimate stage of Paris-Nice.
The 143 kilometer route with an arrival at the top of the Col de la Couillole, a 19 kilometer ascent, was the scene of a merciless fight between the winner of the last Tour, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), the Slovenian double winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and the fourth in the 2022 edition, the Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ). It was the Pogacar yellow jersey that won this Paris-Nice 2023 for the second time, 2 seconds ahead of Gaudu and 6 ahead of Vingegaard.
Houle crossed the finish in 22e place with a delay of 8 minutes 34 minutes. A member of the breakaway which had 18 riders, he explained that this tactic was rather preventive for him.
“The idea was to anticipate the final difficulty and see how the peloton would manage us. For me, given that I don’t have a lot of teammates, it’s easier to stay in the breakaway than to try to stay well placed in the peloton. It also gave me an opportunity to spend the day in front to see how the final climb would unfold,” commented Houle, who will only have Australian Nick Schultz as his teammate on Sunday, as two others set foot on Saturday.
“I have a good level, but as soon as I want to make violent efforts to climb close to my limit, I feel limited in my breathing. It’s clear that the form is there and I just have to be patient for this constraint to subside. »
The UAE Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma controlled the gap and took control of the race on the final climb.
“We had a rest day yesterday (Friday), so the teams were fresh to run the race without problems,” Houle continued, referring to the cancellation of the sixth stage due to high winds.
“My only chance of getting a result is to take a breakaway. We don’t necessarily have a leader for the general classification, so that gives me a lot of freedom. »
The 32-year-old, who was also in the breakaway from Wednesday’s stage, will investigate to find out the exact cause of his respiratory problems with an upcoming X-ray visit after Sunday’s stage which will be contested on his roads. coaching.
What climbs and descents are in the profile of this last day.