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Grivko moves to 2nd on GC in rainy, hilly stage
Astana Pro Team rider Andrei Grivko stuck with the lead group on Wednesday in stage three at Paris-Nice, rising to second overall in General Classification on a rainy, hilly day in France.
Grivko, the national champion in the road race and time trial in Ukraine, felt good enough before the start in Chatel-Guyon to declare his intention of moving up in GC on the hilly stage.
"Grivko attacked on the final downhill to get up to the leading group of riders, and rode strongly in terrible conditions. He said in the meeting this morning that he felt up to the challenge, and once the hills began, and the final 2.5km climb started, he benefitted from an attack on the climb by Max Iglinskiy that broke the chase apart and let him get away," said Astana Pro Team Director Sportif Dmitriy Fofonov.
Grivko finished Wednesday's 170km stage in central France in 7th, with the same time as winner Andrew Talansky of the United States, who now wears the yellow jersey of leader in the overall classification.
Rain, wind and a temperature of 10C meant riders shuttled back to the team cars all day for dry clothing and warm drinks.
"The riders are very skinny right now, even though it is the beginning of the season, and today's weather all across France was rainy and windy and cold enough. Coming back and forth to the team cars so many times, for so many teams, only adds to the confusion and pressure in a race like Paris-Nice. But the team worked really well to lead the race, and we had three riders in the top-20 today with Gasparotto and Iglinskiy just behind Andrei," Fofonov said.
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