Primoš Roglic should have avenged his disappointment from last year's Paris-Nice race with a more assured victory, but bad weather and a serious threat from Simon Yates (Bike Exchange-Jayco) at the Col d'Eze resulted in an unexpectedly tense final stage.

Roglic almost single-handedly overturned Yates' gap at the finish, with the help of Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout Van Aert. Yates won the stage by 9 seconds and at one point had a 28-second lead, but Roglic took the overall win by 29 seconds over Yates.

Last year, two crashes on the final stage ended Roglic's hopes of winning the World Tour, dropping him from first to 15th place. Sunday's stage looked at one point to be another disappointment, but the Slovenian admitted that he did not have the power he needed on the day's final climb.

He said in a post-stage interview, "It's not that there isn't a little bit of drama," he said. But I'm happier finishing the stage this year than I was last year."

"I was tired from the beginning. I was overdressed and cooked myself. It was better when I took them off, but it was too late. Still, it was enough to accomplish what I came here to do.

"So I'm really grateful to the whole team and especially to the last wout. 'Half man, half motor. Wout can do anything."

"He's a first-class rider, very strong. I always say that I learned something from him and that I am happy and proud to ride beside him."

"Half man, half motor" was the same compliment given to teammate Rohan Dennis after stage 6. 2 days earlier, on the stage over the Col de la Muret, Col de Saint-Buc, and Col de l'Espiglier, Van Aert fell early on and Roglic finished the day isolated.

On Sunday, Van Aert not only stayed with Roglic until the final climb, but also helped to nullify Yates' lead, which at one point was virtually extended to a battle for the overall.

"I definitely didn't have enough power," he said. 'I didn't have the power on the steeps. I was really struggling and fighting on the climbs to limit my losses."

"Luckily, I knew Wout had had a super day.

Van Aert said it was always the plan to stay with Roglic as long as possible. He added that he never had a problem with the team plan before Cor d'Eze, but "that's why we are teammates," referring to the help he gave Roglic.

"The scenario was to stay with Primosch as long as possible and help him at the end. 'I tried to control the race for as long as I could. I didn't have to chase him and I was always safe on the downhills.

"I think I had some good situations with some guys in the final and I was hoping Primosch would have the legs he always has, but he struggled a bit today. I wouldn't say it was a bad day, because we ended up second and third in the final, but I wouldn't say it was a bad day. ...... But that's why we are teammates

"We all remember last year and it's one of the main goals of this year's team. For Primosch, it's his biggest goal this spring, and he prepared for it in Tenerife.

Logrich, who lives in Monaco, talked about racing on local training roads again after winning Saturday's frequently climbed Col de Turini, but he said it would not be an advantage.

"Home race, home road, but it wasn't that easy today.