The penultimate stage of Paris-Nice proved to be a difficult one for team LottoNL-Jumbo, who lost Steven Kruijswijk. Its leader felt ill and decided not to start the stage, won by Richie Porte. 

Bram Tankink leads the team now, but he fell from 14^th place to 19^th overall. Sergio Henao of team Sky holds the overall lead ahead of tomorrow’s final stage.

“This morning I said that Bram would be our leader,” Sports Director Nico Verhoeven explained. “But it is unrealistic to think that Bram would still be 14^th after this stage, a stage which doesn’t suite him at all.

"Our guys for the final three mountain days -- Stef Clement and Steven Kruijswijk – fell ill so there was not much more to gain. That will be the same tomorrow. We do not have the riders to do anything in these stages, but we will continue to do our best to finish as well as possible."