For both riders, the day was an uplifting turnaround: for Sanchez, the win made up for the team's inattention on stage 2 when crosswinds split the peloton and they all missed the move.
"We started here with a good team and we are all in good condition, but we weren't paying attention that day," Sanchez said. "That was our own fault and a big mistake. I'm really happy that I've now be able to put things right. This tour has ended up being a good one for the team as a result."
Sanchez briefly threatened overall Paris-Nice leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky), who was 3:51 ahead of him at the start of the day, when the breakaway gained over four minutes. "It was a killer of a day, but I wanted to go to the limit, because we still had much to make up for," Sanchez said.
While Sanchez won a stage of the Tour de France and his national time trial championship in 2011, he has otherwise been lacking in results since moving across to the Dutch team from Caisse d'Epargne. Team director Adri van Houwelingen was impressed by what he saw today from the Spaniard. "Today for the first time in a long time I saw Sanchez as he was two years ago: an athlete and a rider with charisma and power," van Houwelingen said.
For Bos, today's win signaled a return to form after a year of struggles. Bos was able to finish off the work of the Rabobank team in the smaller 1.1 one-day race in the Netherlands, but having only been back on the bike since December after surgery to correct the restriction in his leg vein, he was pleased with the result.
"There are bigger fishes but this one was very valuable! Thanks to all those people who helped me back in the saddle after my operation," Bos said via Twitter.
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