Impressive Paris-Nice for OGE
14 March 2016
Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) won the final stage with Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) the winner of the overall general classification.
Matthews claimed the yellow jersey in the 6.1km prologue, beating Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin) by just one second, and successfully defended the race lead until the penultimate stage on Saturday.
A stage two victory and three additional top-five placings awarded Matthews the sprint category after he completed the final stage unscathed.
”This was my first race of the season and I didn’t expect to win the individual time trial on stage one,” Matthews said. ”Then to hold the jersey for so long afterwards was great. The team was really strong all week and I learnt a lot with how to deal with the responsibilities of leading a stage race.”
”It was the first time that I have fought really hard on every stage of a race and I realise that it is important to try and conserve as much energy as possible. There are more demands placed on you when you are in the leader’s jersey, not just during the race but also after the finish.”
After a string of excellent performances from the team throughout the week, sports director Laurenzo Lapage was very happy with the overall achievements.
The surprise victory in the prologue altered the race plan for the team and Lapage was impressed with how well the team adapted and worked together.
