After losing last year’s Tour de France on the last decisive stage, Primoz Roglic failed in his bid to win the Paris-Nice race after crashing early in Sunday’s final stage.
The overnight leader seemed certain to triumph at the week-long race after winning three stages. But the Slovenian fell after 22 kilometers (15.5 miles) of the eighth stage and lost valuable time as German rider Maximilian Schachmann successfully defended his title.
Roglic caught up the peloton after his crash, but a double dose of bad luck saw him hit by a mechanical problem three kilometers later and he got dropped, crossing the line in a weary 56th place and 15th overall.
Russian cyclist Aleksandr Vlasov finished the race in second overall, 19 seconds behind Schachmann, while Danish rider Magnus Cort Nielsen won the day’s final stage.
In an incredible climax to the 2020 Tour, Roglic was crushed by countryman Tadej Pogacar on the last stage before the finish in Paris, losing his healthy 57-second race lead in a dramatic capitulation.
Pogacar extended his overall lead at the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico race to more than a minute after the fifth stage on Sunday.
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