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 […]
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