Australian cycling star Richie Porte has had a confidence boost in his Tour de France buildup, securing third place overall at Paris-Nice.
Porte gained four bonus seconds by finishing third in the pulsating last stage and that put him onto the race podium.
It comes after a rollercoast start to the season for the BMC rider.
He finished second in the time trial at the Australian road championships and was also runner-up at Adelaide's Tour Down Under.
But he struggled through the Tour of Oman last month and later admitted an old injury had flared during the race.
Porte's strong finish to Paris-Nice shows his Tour campaign remains on track.
The July Tour is Porte's major race goal this season and he will share team leadership with American Tejay van Garderen.
"After coming back to Europe two weeks ago and not really knowing where I was at, finishing third in such a hard Paris-Nice is a good sign for the future," Porte said.
The Tasmanian was the defending Paris-Nice champion and also won the race in 2013.
His former Sky teammate Geraint Thomas survived a fierce challenge from Alberto Contador on the last stage to retain the lead and take the Paris-Nice title.
Thomas finished just four seconds ahead of the Spanish star overall and 12 seconds up on Porte.
Contador put Thomas into difficulty on the last climb to Col d'Eze, but a furious chase on the descent meant the British rider finished 11th on the stage, only five seconds behind.
Belgian Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) outsprinted Contador (Tinkoff) to win the 134km last stage that started and ended in Nice.
"We went up Col D'Èze so fast but then we also came down at warp speed," Porte said.
"We could see that they were coming back at us, but it was just a great way to finish off a solid week of racing."
Compatriot Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) won the prologue and held the race lead until stage six, when Thomas took over a day before the finish.
Matthews finished 53rd overall and won the points classification.
Thomas had started the day with a 15-second advantage over Contador, who claimed a six-second bonus with his second place in Sunday's stage.
"I felt good, I felt strong, in control (when Contador first attacked)," said Thomas.
"But when he went halfway of Col d'Eze, my legs went away. I thought it's going to be all over, but Sergio (Henao) stayed with me. I had a 54 chain ring on in the descent and I needed that, I went just full gas to finally catch up in the last few kilometres."
Thomas' win means Sky have now won the prestigious Paris-Nice race for the fourth time in five years after Bradley Wiggins prevailed in 2012 and Porte triumphed in 2013 and last year.
"It's incredible to beat Contador. Man, he is one of the best stage racers ever. Richie won last year, it's hard to believe I beat those two. It's the biggest win for sure of my whole career," said Thomas.
AAP rhv/mg
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