Vingegaard new leader in Paris-Nice after second place in rain-soaked mountain stage
The riders prepared themselves for the first mountain stage in Paris-Nice. The peloton had to conquer six categorised climbs. The finish was at the top of La Loge des Gardes, a seven-kilometer climb with an average gradient of around seven percent. The stage started in sunny conditions, but the weather soon took a turn for the worse.
Around fifty kilometers from the finish, rain and melting snow poured down. The race organisation decided to neutralise the race, after which the riders tried to warm up near the team cars. After a short pause, the peloton rode a few kilometers at a steady pace. With less than thirty kilometers to go, the race was officially restarted. After which a breakaway group of eight saw its lead quickly shrink towards the foot of the final climb.
On the final climb the last remaining escapee, Tobias Foss, was caught by the group of favourites. With two kilometers to go, Vingegaard countered an attack from Lenny Martinez. When the Dane took over, the Frenchman had to let go. Vingegaard managed to build a small lead, but in the last kilometre, the gap to the two-time Tour winner was closed. In the final metres, Almeida passed Vingegaard. However, the Dane is the new overall leader, holding a five-second advantage over Jorgenson, who finished sixth in the stage.
“In my opinion, they should have stopped the race completely”
Jonas Vingegaard
“Of course, there’s some disappointment that I couldn’t finish it off,” Vingegaard said afterward. “I had set my sights on this stage. In the end, João closed the gap very quickly, so he deserved to win today. I felt good, but after the neutralisation, that didn’t mean much anymore. In my opinion, they should have stopped the race completely. When we had to restart, everyone was shivering from the cold. It was dangerous, not just because of the cold but also because of the slippery roads. We kept racing, but I have mixed feelings about this stage.”
Neoshell rain jacket – Team Visma | Lease a Bike
Paris-Nice
Stage 4
Result
Rankings
Result
1
João Almeida
UAE Team Emirates – XRG
03:37:06
2
Jonas Vingegaard
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:01
3
Mattias Skjelmose
Lidl – Trek
+00:00:02
6
Matteo Jorgenson
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:06
56
Bart Lemmen
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:09:30
57
Axel Zingle
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:09:42
102
Per Strand Hagenes
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:14:57
123
Edoardo Affini
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:16:09
128
Victor Campenaerts
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:16:51
Rankings
1
Jonas Vingegaard
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
11:50:59
2
Matteo Jorgenson
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:05
3
Mattias Skjelmose
Lidl – Trek
+00:00:33
49
Bart Lemmen
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:10:17
66
Axel Zingle
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:13:53
100
Victor Campenaerts
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:19:04
118
Edoardo Affini
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:20:30
139
Per Strand Hagenes
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:28:26
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Subjects
Cycling – World Tour men
Jonas Vingegaard
1
Paris-Nice
