After a week in Paris-Nice in which the strength of Jumbo Visma was proven time and again, the quality of the Dutchman was once again on display as stage 4 winner Wout Van Aert helped overall leader Primoš Roglic on the final stage, Col d'Eze.

The Belgian helped the team leader fight back against a potential race-winning attack by Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco).

After a tough day, Roglic once again donned the yellow jersey and performed his trademark "telemark" celebration on the podium. Van Aert also took part in the podium ceremony, holding the green points jersey he has worn since stage 3.

He added the points prize to his two wins from last year's Criterium du Dauphiné and one from Tirreno-Adriatico. After the finish he was asked about the possibility of winning the same prize at the Tour de France.

"After Friday's stage, it looked like I could take the points jersey," he said. I won the Dauphiné and Tirreno-Adriatico, as well as Paris-Nice."

"This summer I'll try to win on the big stage of the Tour," he added.

If he can fight for the green in the sprints this July, Van Aat will be a balancing act between taking his chances and supporting Roglic. What is certain, however, is that it will mark the resumption of a partnership that was surprisingly infrequent at the Tour; the two have only raced together in the 2021 Tour and the Amstel Gold Race.

At the post-race press conference, Roglic was asked if the race was a kind of testing ground for the Tour.

"Definitely. The guys I've raced with here are a big part of the guys who will be in the Tour."

"It's a big test for us. We're going to try different things and see how they work in every situation, every circumstance, every strategy. We had a good race together this week."

But before thinking about July, Van Aert has a series of goals that span the spring season: adding the Milano-San Remo title to his 2020 triumph and returning to the cobbles at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

With the Dutch team led by Tadej Pogachar and Matteo Trentin and UAE Team Emirates expected to smash the race far earlier than the usual Poggio ignition point, Roglic will also accompany the team to the start line on Saturday.

He insists he is there to support Van Aert, and about his and compatriot Pogachar's attack on the Cipressa (an uphill that no one has attacked more than 20 km from the finish since Gabriele Colombo in 1996), He cheekily joked.

"Yeah, I'll definitely be there to support Wout. So I'm going to be there."

"I think I need to come to Poggio first. It's almost 300km to Poggio, and the other thing is that I still need my legs to do anything. So I hope I can get there."

"Maybe I can go to Cipressa with [Pogachar] again, right? he joked. 'Yeah, I think so. It's going to be a hard and challenging day for sure."

Van Aert, meanwhile, finished the race feeling good and said he would rest a bit before returning for the Classic.

"I finished the race in a good mood," he said. It was a really hard stage race and it was really nice to feel these legs at the end of eight days of hard racing. It always gives me confidence."

"Now the work is done and I'm ready to rest. Hopefully after a few days of rest I can keep this up during the Classic.