German Maximilian Schachmann battled through the final stage to win the Paris-Nice stage race by 18 seconds on Saturday. 

Schachmann limited the damage on the final climb as he held off his nearest overall challenger Belgian Tiesj Benoot as the race was cut short by a day due to the coronavirus, with the season now heading into an indefinite break. 

"This is just the beginning, my dream has always been to become a GC (general classification) rider," the 26-year-old said in reference to the elite group who contest overall victory in cycling tours. 

Pre-race favorite Colombian climber Nairo Quintana fell on day one but took this seventh and final stage of the 'Race to the Sun' after a lightning attack earned him a solo win for his new team Arkea-Samsic. 

Meanwhile, world champion Mads Pedersen of Denmark pulled out before the start on Saturday after his country asked its nationals to come home with borders to be shut down to most foreign visitors for a month amid the coronavirus outbreak. 

"As a team we always said that we would respect the authorities in this emergency," the Trek-Segafredo rider said in a team statement. 

Paris-Nice started last Sunday and with France having banned gatherings of more than 100 on Thursday, the race has been stripped of its final stage in Nice.  

(With input from agencies)