Australia's Richie Porte claimed victory on the penultimate seventh stage of the Paris-Nice atop the Col de la Couillole Saturday but Colombia's Sergio Henao claimed the overall lead. France's Julian Alaphilippe had held the leader's yellow jersey since Wednesday but he was left behind on the challenging final climb and came home more than two and a half minutes behind.
The Col de la Couillole, which stands 1678m tall to the north of Nice, is the highest finish in the 75-year history of the Paris-Nice. Porte finished 20 seconds clear of Spain's former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador.
The BMC rider, who won the Paris-Nice in 2013 and 2015, attacked in the final three kilometres to secure victory on the queen stage of this year's race.
Henao faded towards the end of the stage and was beaten for third place by Ireland's Dan Martin.
Nevertheless, he now leads by 30 seconds from Martin and 31 seconds from Contador ahead of Sunday's eighth and final stage, a 115.5km loop to the north of Nice featuring five climbs.
Quintana takes Tirreno lead
Colombian climber Nairo Quintana pulled on the leader's blue jersey after a solo finish to win the fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico Saturday.
The Movistar rider broke away from his rivals with two kilometers to go, crossing comfortably ahead of the British duo of Sky's Geraint Thomas, at 17 seconds, and Orica's Adam Yates at 23 seconds.
The win after 187km between Montalto di Castro and Monte Terminillo allowed the South American to take the overall race lead from Australian Rohan Dennis.
Sunday's mountainous fifth stage covers 210km from Rieti, through the Apennine Mountains before seven steep climbs to the Torretta pass, towards the finish line at Fermo. — Agencies
