Cycling: UAE Team Emirates in good spirits after Paris-Nice

Diego Ulissi and Simone Petilli at the Paris-Nice race.

Team Sky's Sergio Henao held on gamely to clinch a thrilling overall victory in Paris-Nice by just two seconds from Alberto Contador even as UAE Team Emirates' Diego Ulissi finished seventh.
Consistent and remarkable performance was displayed on part of the UCI World Tour team, UAE Team Emirates, who are now looking ahead to enhancing their performance for the remainder of the season.
Diego Ulissi was pleased with his showing. "Paris-Nice was an interesting test of my ability for me. I'd previously consistently participated in Tirreno-Adriatico across several years, however wanted to test my form in a different kind of race this year so I chose Paris-Nice. I was aware that the early stages would be difficult and challenging and would possibly thwart my aims for a general classification. That proved true in the first stage but I believe that this experience was imperative in preparation to my participation in this year's Tour de France."
"In the final three stages, the one which were more suitable for my skills, I tried to attack, however those attempts didn't yield the results I was looking for, but it did prove to me that I was in good form and I can now focus on continuing my training ahead of Milan San Remo. It is a race that is demanding and I plan to launch a few attacks on the hills in the final part of the course," Ulissi commented.
Riding alongside Ulissi in Paris-Nice was his UAE Team Emirates' teammate Benjamin Swift who is looking forward to returning to compete in Milan-San Remo this coming Saturday, which he has developed an affinity with over three starts, placing third in 2014, 13th in 2015 and second last year to Arnaud Demare (FDJ).
Benjamin Swift commented, "Paris-Nice is always an important step in the path to the Milan-San Remo. Unfortunately, in France we faced bad weather and our performance was influenced by the rain and the cold. I focused my attention on improving my form and, when I had the opportunity I tried to test myself in the sprint. I feel that I did alright and could've done even better. Definitely a top result would have given me higher morale. All in all Paris-Nice was a good opportunity to check out my competition ahead of Milan- San Remo race and a good chance to also strengthen some of the acquaintances."
Swift will start Milano-San Remo working towards a podium finish. However, the final 10km of the race and the climb and descent of the Poggio will reveal who can and can't win the 108th edition of Milan-San Remo.
Mario Scirea, sporting director of UAE Team Emirates commented: "We are fairly satisfied with the team's overall performance across the different stages of Paris-Nice. I believe the team could've done better at the earlier stages of the race however circumstances and harsh weather conditions were an obstacle. The team has set ambitious goals for the remainder of the upcoming races, with team line-ups we believe will be competitive across races. Next up is Milan San Remo which is a great focus for Ben Swift who will be setting his sights on making yet another podium finish for this year and hopefully clinching the title of overall lead to the 108th edition."