Around 10km from where Jonas Vingegaard is from, in northern Denmark, is the town of Nykøbing Mors, where the writer Aksel Sandemose was born. The writer lives on, half a century after his death, through the Law of Jante, or Janteloven in Danish.

The ten rules, which were written satirically, have taken on a more sincere meaning now, and essentially boil down to the following: you should not think you're anything special, or that you’re better than anyone else. When you think of the reserved, quiet, family-oriented Vingegaard, it does not seem a giant leap to think of Janteloven.

The Vimsa-Lease a Bike rider has always been unflashy, someone who lets his legs do the talking.Already a two-time Tour de France winner, it's unfortunate, perhaps, that Vingegaard's heyday has coincided with that of Tadej Pogačar, a rider who makes even cycling's greats look like mere mortals.

In the era of Pogačar, this year to date even, there have been a few other riders touted as alternatives to UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s domination. We’ve had the hype around Remco Evenepoel at Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, the breakthrough of the teenage Paul Seixas, and the new start for Juan Ayuso at Lidl-Trek.

However, the one true alternative has always been Vingegaard. It was he and Visma-Lease a Bike who toppled Pogačar at the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, and we could hardly rule out this happening again. Of course, living with Janteloven, it’s hardly something he is going to crow about, but the signs are good, at least for the first part of his Giro d’Italia-Tour de France plan this year.

The Dane had not raced before Paris-Nice this year, due to illness, but his performances last week certainly would have made many take notice. He won by over four minutes, a crushing performance across eight stages; his biggest rivals might have been absent, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, and Vingegaard did it on an almost unmatched scale, with the largest winning margin since the Second World War. It was a Pogačar-esque performance.

Not that it was designed as a message. Vingegaard said post-race: “I think for me, it's just about racing, trying to win the races that I'm doing and this was my first race of the year. And, I'm just extremely happy with how everything went here.”

To all accounts Vingegaard currently presents a relaxed figure; perhaps knowing that all he can do is perform his best and hope things fall into place. If you know that you are racing against possibly the best-ever in Pogačar, there might just be some freedom in knowing that you’re not really expected to match him – so it is your job to prove people wrong, and just ride your own race.

Next on the list for 2026 is the Volta a Catalunya next week, where he will face off against Evenepoel and Pogačar’s team-mate João Almeida; a solid performance will boost confidence to their heights, ahead of the Giro d’Italia in May. The Italian Grand Tour could be a useful distraction, something to focus on before the Tour de France rolls around. He can say in interview that his aim is the Giro, and that nothing else matters – if he wins there, and completes the set, then the Tour is kind of a free hit. It seems like an enlightened plan. The Giro is clearly not a done deal, but Vingegaard has the ability to win it, and then anything can happen.

Cycling needs a strong alternative to Pogačar and UAE in stage races, just as Mathieu van der Poel offers a counterpoint in the Classics. Vingegaard might shun the limelight, understandably so, but he’s the person fans need to challenge the hegemony.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

Last week saw an exciting week of racing in the men's WorldTour, with some of the best riders in the peloton split across two decent-sized early-season stage races: Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy and Paris-Nice in France.

Much of the action was gratifyingly mountainous – or at the very least, hilly – resulting in some engaging battles. There were plenty of thrills and no lack of spills – one of which put Grand Tour star Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) out of action. Some of the results were more predictable than others, and not everyone will be going home with a smile on their faces. Here's a snapshot of what cycling showed us last week.

1. UAE has a wunderkind

Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) may have experienced a certain reluctance about beating his friend Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) in the latter's home town of Camerino on Saturday's Tirreno-Adriatico stage, but the fact he did it anyway speaks volumes.

The Mexican is, not unlike his more famous Slovenian team-mate, clearly a born winner and that victory at the end of a lumpy, 188km stage dotted the i's and crossed the t's on his overall victory the following day.

Del Toro made the short journey back to his San Marino base with the GC, points and youth classifications under his belt and, at just 22 years old, is clearly destined for great things. Not that we didn't know that already, but every victory amplifies it.

2. Jonas Vingegaard is back on top

After a bumpy start to the season involving run-ins with fans, crashes and illness, it was gratifying to see Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) looking back to something like his best at Paris-Nice.

The Dane won two lumpy mid-race stages as well as all the classifications available to him – general, mountains and points. He came very close to winning the final stage in Nice too, but was pipped on the line by Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious).

Vingegaard's performance in France won't exactly have Grand Tour nemesis Tadej Pogačar quaking in his DMTs, but it won't have gone entirely unnoticed by the Slovenian either.

3. Félicitations to the French

Paris-Nice saw another branch negotiated in the slow but sure climb of French cycling back to the top of the tree – and that was without a Paul Seixas in sight.

Gallic riders from a variety of teams helped make the race throughout, filling out five of the top-12 on stage two for example and half the top-10 on Saturday's stage six. Among them, Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers) was the most successful on GC with fourth place, but he was followed by Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) in fifth – who also rounded out the race with a win on the final stage that saw him outsprint Jonas Vingegaard one-on-one. Also contributing to the Gallic glow of success was Vaquelin's team-mate Dorian Godon, who won a truncated stage six.

4. Ineos Grenadiers "on the way back"

The British-registered team have come in for a fair bit of flak in recent seasons, but their rides across both races last week gave them much to be confident about going into the next part of this season.

Their stage three team time trial victory at Paris-Nice will likely be among the team's biggest celebrations, as it was such a collaborative effort, and the scaffolding for Kévin Vauquelin's high GC finish. Afterwards new DS Geraint Thomas himself said: "We've had a rough couple of years but we're on the way back now," showing that the previous paucity of results and what now looks like a bit of a turnaround has not been lost on the team.

Its riders also claimed a one-two in the the Tirreno-Adriatico stage one ITT via Filippo Ganna and Thymen Arensman, while dogged prodding by Dorian Godon and Vauqelin throughout Paris-Nice ultimately resulted in a late stage win for Godon and that GC fourth for his team-mate.

5. Picnic PostNL yet to deliver

Not all teams have as much to celebrate as Ineos Grenadiers and others. Only eight of the 18 WorldTour teams registered stage or GC wins across Tirreno and Paris-Nice combined, leaving plenty going without. However, one team has still to hit the mark at all this year and would have been less than pleased to miss out – Picnic PostNL.

Neither the men's nor the women's squads of the Dutch-registered team have won so far, with the men in the unenviable position of having lost 75% of their four winners from last season with Oscar Onley and Tobias Lund Andresen having changed teams, and Nils Eeckhoff out after having an operation on his iliac artery.

The men's team has registered two podium finishes, although compared with UAE Team Emirates-XRG's 10 wins and 37 podiums, it's quite the contrast. The season is young though. No doubt Picnic PostNL will deliver the goods in due course.

Frenchman Dorian Godon delivered Ineos Grenadiers' Paris-Nice second stage win as out-sprinting his rivals after a drastically shortened stage.

It was Godon’s first win since joining the team this year, and Ineos Grenadiers also won the race's team time trial on stage three.

The British-registered squad led out the sprint and delivered Godon to victory over Biniam Girmay (NS) in second and Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM) in third.

The stage had been shortened due to snow and rain falling at the original finish at the Auron ski resort. Instead, the stage finished in Isola-Village at the base of what was the final climb.

Then the morning of the stage it was cut further down from 120km to just 47km as the wind and rain battered the course.

That made the course, the fourth shortest ever Paris-Nice road stage, mostly uphill, albeit gently, all the way to the finish.

The lone break of the day was Tim Marsman (Alpecin-Premier Tech) who clipped off the front of the bunch after 10km.

His effort was always futile and after just over an hour of racing the bunch passed under the flamme rouge with Ineos Grenadiers at the front.

Godon was dropped off with a couple of 100m to go and never relinquished his spot at the front despite Girmay closing on him.

The stage had been shortened due to snow and rain falling at the original finish at the Auron ski resort. Instead, the stage finished in Isola-Village at the base of what was the final climb.

Then the morning of the stage it was cut further down from 120km to just 47km as the wind and rain battered the course.

That made the course, the fourth shortest ever Paris-Nice road stage, mostly uphill, albeit gently, all the way to the finish.

The lone break of the day was Tim Marsman (Alpecin-Premier Tech) who clipped off the front of the bunch after 10km.

His effort was always futile and after just over an hour of racing the bunch passed under the flamme rouge with Ineos Grenadiers at the front.

Godon was dropped off with a couple of 100m to go and never relinquished his spot at the front despite Girmay closing on him.

There were several crashes on the wet roads in the final 10km. Stage 6 winner Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) was among those that came down but he kept his place in the top 10 on GC due to only falling within the final three kilometres.

Yellow jersey wearer Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) came through unscathed and has to only survive one more stage to take home his first Paris-Nice title.

He told broadcasters at the finish: “Obviously they want to have a stage, but I think there could have been something different, maybe we could have stopped a bit earlier because in the end it was a bit slippery, there were some big crashes. If we had stopped 10km earlier there wouldn’t have been any problem at all.”

Asked how he was he added: “I’m fine, I backed off at the right moment… I hope everyone who crashed is ok.”

Result

Paris-Nice, Stage 7: Pont Louis Nucera > Isola  (47km)

1. Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, in 1:01:48
2. Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling Team
3. Cees Bol (ned) Decathlon CMA CGM
4. Laurence Pithie (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
5. Luke Lamperti (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
6. Mike Teunissen (Ned) ADS Astana
7. Jensen Plowright (Aus) Alpecin-Premier Tech
8. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
9. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling
10. Samuel Watson (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, all at same time

General classification

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 22:18:38
2. Dani Martínez (Col) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:22
3. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost, +5:50
4. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, +6:09
5. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +7:37
6. Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +8:15
7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis, +9:02
8. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +10:06
9. Alex Baudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, +10:16
10. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), +11:27

The summit finish of today’s queen stage of Paris-Nice has had to be scrapped due to heavy snow.

Late last night, race organiser ASO said the finish at Auron resort was “inconceivable” as a mix of rain and heavy snow forecast for the high-altitude finish.

It added that the bad weather was expected to affect areas above 1,100m, far below the 1,600m Auron finish line.

Instead, the race will end in Isola-Village at the foot of the climb, which had been scheduled to host the intermediate sprint, and sits at an altitude of just 858m.

On Friday night the stage had been set to be 120.4km long, but on Saturday morning it was cut further to just 47km.

The race is now due to start at 12:45 GMT.

The summit finish cancellation was not entirely unexpected as the weather forecast had looked unfavourable for several days and ASO said it had been “monitoring the weather conditions in the Alpes-Maritimes department throughout the week”.

It added it had consulted with the sport’s governing body the UCI, teams representative the AIGC and rider union the CPA before making its decision.

Race director Yannick Talabardon told l’Equipe on Friday: “Fifteen centimetres were expected in Auron, which made it difficult to maintain the course.”

He added: “Isola-Village is at the foot of the climb to Isola 2000, so it won't be a summit finish as the profile might suggest. It's more of a long, false flat uphill."

That will provide a boost to Jonas Vingegaard’s (Visma-Lease a Bike) chances of clinching a maiden Paris-Nice title as he is unlikely to lose any significant chunks of his 3.22 lead on a stage that now favour the baroudeurs and maybe even the sprinters.

He had seen the change coming. On Friday afternoon, he told l’Equipe: "It's rather worrying, the weather isn't going to be good, there's going to be snow. For the organisers, it's very difficult to make this decision; we all would have liked to go as far as Auron. I haven't checked the weather forecast yet, but it might not be possible to finish the stage tomorrow."

The Dane will now just have to navigate defending his lead over Sunday’s traditional final lumpy stage around Nice, which includes three first category ascents: the Col de la Porte, the Côte de Châteauneuf-Villevieille and the Côte de Linguador.

Harold Tejada slipped the bunch in the last few kilometres of a lumpy stage six on Paris-Nice to pull off a hard-fought solo victory in Apt.

It marked the XDS Astana rider's first WorldTour win and a hard-fought one at that, with Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) leading in a large chasing group just seconds behind.

"It's my first victory in a WorldTour race and I'm loving it," Tejada, 28, said afterwards. "I've been very patient and I'm really happy to do it.

"I didn't have much luck on the day with the wind, but that's cycling. Today was the revenge," he said, referring to the weather-battered fourth stage where he got caught behind the front split.

"We came here looking for a podium overall, but I lost a lot of time in the TTT. But we have a couple of stages now with Max [Kanter, stage two winner] and me, and we'll hopefully go for another."

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retained the overall lead after finishing just behind in the bunch, while Tejada replaced Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers) in 10th overall, marking the only difference in the GC top-10 from yesterday, after Onley withdrew due to illness.

The 179km stage from Barbentane to Apt in southern France was marked by a day-long break comprising four riders: Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates) Arthur Kluckers (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Steff Cras (Soudal Quick-Step).

Cras was dropped in the later stages but the remaining trio survived until the top of the last of three small climbs in the final part of the stage, with just five kilometres to the finish.

A hard attack by Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) over the top served to string out the bunch and separate a large front group, from which Tejada made his move.

Result

Paris-Nice, stage 6: Barbentane > Apt (179km)

1. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, 179km in 3:54:38
2. Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, +6s
3. Lewis Askey (Gbr) NSN Cycling
4. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
5. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling
6. Laurence Pithie (Nzl) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
7. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers
8. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step
9. Alexandr Vlasov (Rus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
10. Alex Baudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, all at same time

General Classification after stage six

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 21:16:50
2. Dani Martínez (Col) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:22
3. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost, +5:50
4. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, +6:09
5. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +7:37
6. Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +8:15
7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis, +9:02
8. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +10:06
9. Alex Baudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, +10:16
10. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), +11:27

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) soloed to back-to-back stage wins at Paris-Nice and extended his general classification lead on stage five.

The Dane attacked with 21km to go en route to Colombier-le-Vieux, kicking away from the peloton on a 13% gradient as he approached the summit of the second of three finishing climbs.

His victory photo, taken only a few hundred kilometres south of his win on Wednesday, seemed a world away. This time there were no grey skies, freezing rain or faux pas bib tight straps over his jersey, but rather a sun-dappled scene, lighting up his yellow leader’s jersey.

Having started the day with a GC advantage of 52 seconds, Vingegaard now leads the race by 3:22 ahead of Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

"It's been an amazing day for me and for the team," Vingegaard said afterwards.

"We wanted to win and take as much time as possible. Now I took a good amount of time. Once again, I want to thank my team-mates a lot for today. They deserve the champagne tonight."

As the two-time Tour de France winner approached the finish line, he leant forward and kissed his handlebars, where he had placed a sticker of his wife and two children.

He then celebrated by stretching his arms out wide, toasting his second victory in as many days – an impressive haul for a rider who only decided to race Paris-Nice after a crash forced him to skip the UAE Tour.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the line, Vingegaard's team-mate Victor Campenaerts said the Dane is in "extremely good shape".

"Killer Jonas destroyed everybody," Campenaerts smiled. "He’s been very relaxed from December training camp and feeling very ready for it. Clearly when we came to Paris-Nice, already beforehand, [the goal] wasn’t to do race miles or whatever. It was to come here and smash it."

The Belgian helped set up Vingegaard's winning attack on stage five. After spending the day embedded in the breakaway, Campenaerts dropped back into the peloton and towed Vingegaard up to speed, catapulting him up the double-figure slope, before grinding to a near halt himself.

The race leader then ploughed alone through the hills of the Ardèche. By the time he reached the final climb, his advantage stood at around 40 seconds, which he doubled over the summit to hold off the chasing Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) by 2:02.

Though he now leads by a comfortable three-minute cushion, Vingegaard assured that the race is "not over".

"There are still three stages left, where a lot of things can happen," he said. "We just have to keep the focus until Nice."

Friday's sixth stage will take the peloton 179.2km from Barbentane to Apt, ahead of the weekend's finale.

Results

Paris-Nice, stage five: Cormoranche-sur-Saône > Colombier-le-Vieux (206km)

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 4:29:01
2. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, +2:20
3. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +2:20
4. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious
5. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis
6. Dani Martínez (Col) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
7. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers
8. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
9. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling
10. Marc Soler (Esp) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, all at same time

General classification after stage five

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 17:22:06
2. Dani Martínez (Col) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:22
3. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost, +5:50
4. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, +6:09
5. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +7:37
6. Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +8:15
7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis, +9:02
8. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +10:06
9. Alex Baudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, +10:16
10. Oscar Onley (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, +11:23

Jonas Vingegaard had a very successful day on stage four of Paris-Nice, winning by 41 seconds, moving into the race lead, and surely securing at least a top-two position overall.

However, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider went viral not for his performances on the bike, but his attire, which was unorthodox to say the least.

On a torrid day of inclement weather in the centre of France on Wednesday, riders were dressed in waterproof jackets, gloves, bib tights and overshoes; the kind of kit you might wear in deep winter, rather than in a WorldTour race.

However, as the race was full-on, and various layers were taken off, it became apparent that Vingegaard had gone a step further, and put his bib tights over his jersey.

The Tour de France winner was in fact wearing a second pair of bib tights over his normal ones, but with the chamois pad removed and the waist cut in order to make them fit over his, well, base bib tights. According to Sporza, the bib tight-surgery was done by Victor Campenaerts, Vingegaard's teammate, piece-by-piece, in order that the Dane's saddle height wouldn't have to be adjusted due to the extra padding.

"I think a lot of guys were freezing today. I personally didn't freeze because I had a lot of clothes on, that was also maybe the reason I couldn't take it off," Vingegaard said post-stage.

He added: "It was just full gas racing, there was not even time to take clothes off. So maybe you can call me a trendsetter with the long pants, but there was just no time to take them off."

"To keep me warm in the beginning, I wore the extra-long pants," the Dane explained further on Thursday. "We prepared the bibs so that two teammates could easily rip them off.

"After that, I could just take the parts on my legs off like leg warmers. In the end, the race was so hard that there were never two teammates around to tear the bibs off," he explained.

It was not only the bib tights which were novel, but Vingegaard was also wearing an extra jacket backwards underneath his outer one. One could speculate that this was to introduce an extra barrier, a move done out of a desire to just be a bit more warm and dry.

In the chaos of stage four, it appeared there was no time for Vingegaard to take all of his innovative clothing options off – not that it mattered in the end, given he won the stage and is now the overwhelming favourite to win the race overall.

Whether Nimbl, Visma-Lease a Bike's kit sponsors, will now introduce the Vingegaard hacks for deep winter, time will tell.

A flat time trial midway through an early-season stage race may not usually be something to relish, but this afternoon's third stage of Paris-Nice is a little different. It's a team time trial for one, and it is only one of two such events held between now and 4 July – the date of the Tour de France TTT in Barcelona that will decide the first yellow jersey of the race.

That means that today's 23.5km race between Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire and Pouilly-sur-Loire in central France is an important dress rehearsal for Le Grand Boucle. The only other opportunity will be on the eve of the big race at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné).

The Paris-Nice stage also raises the stakes even higher by taking riders times individually rather than as a team – so if one rider is dropped, they will feel it in the GC.

Race director Yannick Talabardon told L'Equipe that his TTT "will be a good rehearsal for the teams in preparation for the Tour".

"We knew the 2026 Tour de France had one, and the idea was to have one too," he added. "Our regulations require us to place it in the first third of the race. It almost has to be our top priority: finding the right towns and roads suitable for a team time trial."

He said he would have liked his event to have been closer to that of the Tour de France, which will feature two tough climbs over a 19.7km course, whereas today's event is rolling and a bit longer, with the same elevation gain but spread over the length of the course.

Not all the riders in today's race will be the same as those who compete at the Tour, but many are likely to feature in both races. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is an obvious candidate, while Ineos Grenadiers have Oscar Onley and Carlos Rodríguez at Paris-Nice too.

The first team, PicnicPost NL, sets off at 15:10 CET – here is the full start list.

Paris-Nice stage 3 team time trial: Start List (all times CET)

15:10: Picnic PostNL
GC leader: Juan Guillermo Martinez

15:14: Jayco AlUla
GC leader: Pascal Ackermann

15:18: Pinarello-Q36.5
GC leader: Eddie Dunbar

15:22: Groupama-FDJ United
GC leader: David Gaudu

15:26: UAE Team Emirates-XRG
GC leader: Brandon McNulty

15:30: TotalEnergies
GC leader: Anthony Turgis

15:34: Visma-Lease a Bike
GC leader: Jonas Vingegaard

15:38: Bahrain Victorious
GC leader: Lenny Martinez

15:42: Movistar
GC leader: Iván Romeo

15:46: Soudal Quick-Step
GC leader: Valentin Paret-Peintre

15:50: Cofidis
GC leader: Milan Fretin

15:54: Decathlon CMA CGM
GC leader: Nicolas Prohomme

15:58: Lotto Intermarché
GC leader: Milan Menten

16:02: Alpecin-Premier Tech
GC leader: Jensen Plowright

16:06: Uno-X Mobility
GC leader: Andreas Leknessund

16:12: Tudor Pro Cycling
GC leader: Mathys Rondel

16:16: Lidl-Trek
GC leader: Juan Ayuso

16:20: Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
GC leader: Daniel Martínez

16:24: XDS-Astana
GC leader: Harald Tejada

16:28: Ineos Grenadiers
GC leader: Oscar Onley

16:32: NSN Cycling
GC leader: Biniam Girmay

16:36: EF Education-EasyPost
GC leader: Luke Lamperti

XDS-Astana rider Max Kanter powered to a bunch-sprint victory on stage two of Paris-Nice on Monday.

After being dropped off by leadout man Mike Teunissen, the German rider looked unstoppable, going ahead to take what is his first WorldTour victory at the ripe old age of 28 on the 186.8km stage from Epône to Montargis in central France.

On what is the only clear-cut sprint stage in this year's 'Race to the Sun', sprint hopeful Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) was unable to even contest the final after being baulked behind, while second and third-placed Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) could make no inroads on Kanter's charge.

EF Education-EasyPost's Luke Lamperti retained the yellow jersey of GC leader, which he took yesterday after winning the bunch sprint into Carrières-sous-Poissy.

His team called Kanter's win "a dream", and it was certainly a long time in the making. He turned pro midway through 2018 for Team Sunweb – what is now PicnicPost NL.

"I've been waiting so long for this," the German said afterwards. "It's kind of a dream winning this race. It's such a high prestige, and I'm really happy.

"It was really messy with two K to go," he added. "We lost a lot of positions with Mike Teunissen, but he stayed calm with me, and he brought me up to the last roundabout in a good position. Then he just started to go full-gas and nobody could pass us.

"I will take a lot of confidence out of this, especially as the last couple of weeks were not the best. Yesterday I felt really bad on the bike, and today I suddenly won."

At one point it looked as though the sprinters might not have their day at all, after time trial talent Daan Hoole, perhaps buoyed by the riding of a certain Decathlon CMA CGM team-mate, took off alone with 21km to go. He managed to draw out his solo effort until inside the final kilometre, and after that the day belonged to the sprinters.

With the potential strong winds failing to blow, the risk of echelons was nullified and the day was largely a quiet one. An early break of Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step) and Mathis Le Berre (TotalEnergies) was caught just under 60km to go, after which the peloton rode together – and often looking in no hurry – until Hoole's move.

Results

Paris-Nice, stage 2: Epône > Montargis, 187km

1. Max Kanter (Ger) XDS-Astana, 187km in 4:25:07
2. Laurence Pithie (Nzl) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
3. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
4. Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers
5. Luke Lamperti (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
6. Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling
7. Lewis Askey (Gbr) NSN Cycling8. Tom van Asbroek (Bel) NSN Cycling
9. Clément Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United
10. Anthony Turgis (Fra) TotalEnergies, all at s.t.

General Classification after stage 2

1. Luke Lamperti (USA) EF Education-EasyPost, in 8:10:12
2. Vito Braet (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché, at s.t.
3. Laurence Pithie (Nzl) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +6s
4. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +8s
5. Orluis Aular (Ven) Movistar, at s.t.
6. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, at s.t.
7. Casper Pedersen (Den) Soudal Quick-Step, at s.t.
8. Dorian Godon (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, +12s
9. Anthony Turgis (Fra) TotalEnergies, at s.t.
10. Mike Teunissen (Ned) XDS-Astana, at s.t.

Luke Lamperti claimed the first WorldTour win of his career, as he took the victory in the bunch sprint on the opening stage of Paris-Nice. It was also the first win of the season for EF Education-EasyPost, as they finally got off the mark after a difficult start to the year.

The victory was far from easy for the American rider, as a challenging finishing circuit featuring the Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes meant that the breakaway was only caught with just over a kilometre to go to the finish in Carrières-sous-Poissy. However, the positioning and leadout from his teammate Marijn van den Berg meant that none of his rivals were able to come around him once he launched his sprint in the final few hundred metres.

“It’s super special”, the EF Education-EasyPost rider stated in his post-race interview. “I think it’s no secret that the team’s been struggling. We’ve had a rough start to the year, but you always know it will come. It’s still early and to get a victory here is super nice. The team rode full all day, we committed and it paid off. We’ve been knocking on the door, but to actually get the job done is super special. It’s also my first victory with the team and it’s a nice way to start.”

When asked about the difficulty of the finishing circuit, Lamperti said, “the climb was quite, but we had Max [Walker] in the break and he was super strong. We had a few cards to play if the break made it, so that was also okay for us. Then we came back and did the sprint, so in the end it was a beautiful day.”

Speaking about the final kilometre, he went on to say, “it was super hectic. We had [Kasper] Asgreen and [Alastair] Mackellar there, and then Marijn van den Berg was the last guy. We started quite early, he went from far, but luckily he was super strong and he did maybe 350m himself to deliver me into the last 200m, so in the end I just had to do the final few metres on my own.”

A major result like this had certainly been on the cards for Lamperti after top-ten results at both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last weekend, and he has certainly made himself one to watch for the rest of the Spring Classics.

On the confidence this win will give him for the races ahead, he said “I know I’ve been going well. To actually get a win and get the momentum rolling, especially as a sprinter, is really important. For me, it's the biggest win I’ve had in my career, so it will be great for the rest of the season and for the Classics.”

Having moved across to EF Education-EasyPost after two years at Soudal Quick-Step, Lamperti was asked about how he has settled into his new team, to which he said, “of course it’s different, but it’s been super nice. I already feel quite at home and I’ve enjoyed it a lot, so I think so far I really can’t complain with the new team.”

Victory on the opening stage also meant that the American rider pulled on the yellow jersey, as he took the overall lead of the race ahead of another sprint stage tomorrow, with the race heading south from Épône to Montargis.

“To have the jersey tomorrow will be super special. It's my first WorldTour win, my first time wearing a WorldTour leader’s jersey, so a lot of firsts this week, but it will be nothing but nice,” said Lamperti.

How It Happened

At 171km in length, the opening stage of this year’s edition of Paris-Nice started to the northwest of Paris in the town of Achères. An out-and-back loop took the riders through the countryside of the Yvelines department before arriving onto the finishing circuit around Carrières-sous-Poissy with 33km to go, which featured the category three climb of the Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes.

It did not take long for the early breakaway to form at the beginning of the day, with Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step), Luke Durbridge (Jayco AlUla), Patrick Gamper (Jayco AlUla), Max Walker (EF Education-EasyPost), Mathis Le Berre (TotalEnergies) and Sébastien Grignard (Lotto-Intermarché) forming a six-man group at the head of the race.

Despite the strength of the leading group, the peloton managed to keep the breakaway on a tight leash throughout the day, with their lead never allowed to go above a minute and a half. There was an array of jerseys at the front of the main bunch, as various teams looked to take control and keep their leaders safe on what is often a very hectic opening stage.

It was Pedersen who emerged victorious in a battle with his breakaway companions Le Berre and Walker for the lead in the mountains classification, as the Dane took maximum points on the Côte de Gargenville, Côte de Vaux-sur-Seine and the first ascent of the Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes to secure the polka-dot jersey at the end of the day.

Gamper then took maximum points at the intermediate sprint as they went onto the final lap of the finishing circuit with 17km to go. It was at this point that those in the leading group began to believe that they could go all the way, as their lead hovered around a minute and fifteen seconds over the peloton.

The attacks began as they went onto the final ascent of the Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes, with Le Berre getting a small gap over his breakaway companions, which was swiftly closed over the top of the climb by Pedersen, Gamper, Walker and Grignard.

Visma-Lease a Bike then came to the front of the main bunch with around 9km, which ultimately sounded the death knell for the breakaway, as their gap began to tumble as they entered the closing kilometres. Grignard was the last to be caught with 1.3km to go, with the sprinters’ teams coming to the fore to position their fast men.

A tight ninety-degree corner just inside the final kilometre saw three riders hit the deck in a crash involving Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), before Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) was then involved in another crash slightly further up the road, which caused a few riders to be held up in the peloton.

Meanwhile, Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) had used that final turn to position himself behind Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM), with his teammate Luke Lamperti on his wheel. Van den Berg then began his final leadout with around 550m to go, before perfectly delivering Lamperti into the final few hundred metres for the sprint.

Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) attempted to challenge the American for the victory, but found himself boxed-in against the barriers, with Vito Braet (Lotto-Intermarché) coming closest to snatching the win with a move around the outside on the other side of the road.

Nobody could deny Lamperti the victory in the end though, as he punched the air and clapped his hands in celebration as he crossed the line.

There was no time lost for any of the GC contenders on the opening stage, as the three-kilometre rule was in effect and those that were involved in any of the crashes received the same time as the stage winner.

Results

Paris-Nice 2026: Stage One, Achères > Carrières-sous-Poissy (171km)

1. Luke Lamperti (USA) EF Education-EasyPost, in 3:45:17
2. Vito Braet (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché
3. Orluis Aular (Ven) Movistar
4. Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis
5. Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling
6. Jensen Plowright (Aus) Alpecin-Premier Tech
7. Mike Teunissen (Ned) XDS Astana
8. Sakarias Koller Løland (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
9. Axel Zingle (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike
10. Robert Donaldson (GBr) Jayco AlUla, all at same time

General Classification after Stage One

1. Luke Lamperti (USA) EF Education-EasyPost, in 3:45:07
2. Vito Braet (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché, +4s
3. Orluis Aular (Ven) Movistar, +6s
4. Casper Pedersen (Den) Soudal Quick-Step, at same time
5. Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis, +10s
6. Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling
7. Jensen Plowright (Aus) Alpecin-Premier Tech
8. Mike Teunissen (Ned) XDS Astana
9. Sakarias Koller Løland (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
10. Axel Zingle (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time

Paris-Nice
8-15 March
1,206km
France

The first major European stage race of the year is Paris-Nice, the opening step on the road to the Tour de France in July. Run by the same organisers, ASO, the 'Race to the Sun' takes places over eight stages from the Île-de-France, just outside Paris, to Nice and the Mediterranean coast.

Winners haven't always gone on to win the biggest events of the year, but in the last 10 years Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič and Egan Bernal have all won. There have been 84 editions, the last two of which have been won by Matteo Jorgenson.

Here's the things you should be looking out for at this year's race.

Jonas Vingegaard is back

The Dane has delayed his season start after illness, but he will be back in action at Paris-Nice, where he will be looking to have a better time than last year, when he suffered concussion. A lack of a GC title here feels like a gap in the Visma-Lease a Bike career, that he will be keen to fill in.

Wind at the Race to the Sun

When one thinks of Paris-Nice, crosswinds loom large. As the race crosses central France, the corners and the famous named winds of the country come into play - the Mistral, the Tramontane and others. GC riders will have to be alert to not miss out on splits in the peloton, because it might ruin a race early on, before the big climbs even come into the picture.

A race to the sun?

The Race to The Sun might be its nickname, but given this is early March, weather is a bit changeable. As things stand, it looks like the eight-stage race will be the Race of the Sun rather than to the sun, as it looks fair across France across all of the week this far out. Previous editions have been rather wetter.

No room for sprints

Traditionally, Paris-Nice has been a solid warm-up race for the Classics, offering the hard men the chance to fine tune their form ahead of the key cobbled races. This year is no different, but there is only one nailed-on sprint stage, so there isn’t much on offer for the out-and-out fast men. Tirreno isn’t much kinder, either.

Tirreno-Adriatico is on too

Run concurrently, Tirreno-Adriatico is the other option for riders looking to get some kilometres in their legs in early March. There isn’t quite as much climbing in Italy, but the lineup is still good, with Mathieu van der Poel, Isaac del Toro and Wout van Aert all taking part in the seven-stage race on the other side of the Alps.

Focus on the TTT

All three big ASO-run stage races this year feature a team time trial, culminating in the big one at the Tour de France on stage one. They have been present in the last few editions of Paris-Nice, with the new-ish system where riders are given individual times at the finish, rather than as a team. This one looks relatively flat over 23.5km, with just 213 metres of climbing, so it is best tackled with as many riders as possible. Expect teams testing things out before the Tour.

There has already been one TTT this season, at the Challenge Mallorca, where Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe powered to victory with a team including Remco Evenepoel. In the past three editions of Paris-Nice, it has been won by Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates, so expect the super-teams to be on the podium.

The route

How to watch

It is on TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland, accessible via a TV package or a Discovery+ subscription. Find out more in our how to watch Paris-Nice guide.

Last year’s podium

1. Matteo Jorgenson
2. Florian Lipowitz
3. Thymen Arensman

Riders to watch

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) ****

The Dane is yet to race this season, so his form is a bit of a mystery. The only things we know about his 2026 are that he crashed in training and he was ill, but things have to turn around at some point… Targeting the Giro-Tour double.

João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) ****

Another man who will be at the Giro is Almeida, who is yet to quite replicate his stunning stage racing form from last year, when he won three WorldTour stage races. Second at Valenciana and third at Algarve hint at someone working towards his best.

Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) *****

The man who beat Almeida at the Volta ao Algarve was Juan Ayuso, who therefore is the GC favourite with a GC win to his name this season. The Spaniard is still finding his feet at Lidl-Trek, but given the backing of a whole team, will hope to deliver the promise that he showed at UAE. His goal is the Tour.

Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers) ****

Also targeting the Tour not the Giro is Onley, who impressed on his first outing in Ineos Grenadiers colours in Portugal last month. A win here would cement the Scot as one to watch this season, and prove that the British team were right to sign him, breaking him out of his previous contract.

Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) ****

There are not many opportunities for sprinters, but given the Eritrean is a bit more of a puncheur, he could well thrive in this lumpy edition of Paris-Nice. His only appearance at the race came in 2022, when he had three top 10s, but he has won twice already this season, so it is time for that to change.

Paris-Nice, familiarly known as the 'Race to the Sun', is one of the first key stage races on the men's WorldTour calendar.

Taking place in France over eight days, this year's edition stretches from the Achères to Nice via a hilly opening stage, a team time trial and high mountain finishers.

While the title may be nicknamed the race to the sun, the weather in early March may heighten the difficulty of this warm-up race. Battling the famed winds of central France, will Jonas Vingegaard be able to clinch a GC title here after suffering a concussion in the race last year, or will Matteo Jorgenson take the title for the third year running?

Below, Cycling Weekly has laid out all the key information on broadcasters and live streams so you can watch Paris-Nice wherever you are.

Quick guide to watching Paris-Nice 2026

• UK: TNT Sports / Discovery+ (£305.88/year or £30.99/mon)
• US: Peacock ($109.99/year or $10.99/month)
• Canada: Flobikes
• Australia: SBS
• Free live stream: SBS (Australia), FranceTV (France), Sporza (Belgium)
• Anywhere: Watch your local stream from anywhere with NordVPN

What to expect at Paris-Nice 2026

Paris-Nice marks the season's first major stage race on European soil, and is seen as one of the key precursors to the Grand Tours, which open with the Giro d'Italia in May.

Last year's edition was won by Visma-Lease a Bike's Matteo Jorgenson for the second consecutive year, after taking the lead from teammate Jonas Vingegaard in the fifth stage. Jorgenson will wear the number one dossard this year, flanked in a team by two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard.

The eight-day route carries a mixture of flat and hilly stages, with one uphill finish in Auron, and a team time trial, scheduled for day three.

Can I watch Paris-Nice 2026 for free?

Fans in Australia, France, Spain and Belgium can watch Paris-Nice for free thanks to broadcasters in their regions.

In Australia, the race will be shown on TV and online by SBS, the country's public service broadcaster.

Viewers in the host country of France can watch on the public broadcaster France Télévisions, with streaming on their FranceTV platform.

In Belgium, Flemish-speakers can watch on Sporza's website or on RTBF's streaming platform, Auvio. Fans in Spain can also watch with RTVE.

Coverage is geo-restricted, so if you're not in any of these countries right now, and these channels are your usual port of call, you'll need a VPN to get your usual coverage while abroad – more on that below.

How to watch Paris-Nice 2026 while abroad

Want to know more? We have an explainer on the benefits, costs, and considerations of using a VPN...
– Should I use a VPN to watch cycling?

Most streaming platforms have geo-restrictions these days, which means they only work in certain countries. But being locked out of the races is a thing of the past thanks to a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network is a piece of internet security software that can alter your device's location, so you can unblock your usual streaming services, even when you're abroad.

How to watch Paris-Nice 2026 in the UK

In the UK, the race will be shown on TNT Sports, and also streamed on Discovery+, with a package now priced at £30.99 a month.

How to watch Paris-Nice 2026 in the US and Canada

For US viewers, this year's coverage of Paris-Nice will be shown on Peacock. The sports streaming service is home to all ASO events until 2029, covering races from Paris-Roubaix to the Vuelta a España.

Flobikes is in charge of broadcasting Paris-Nice in Canada. Subscriptions cost CA$39.99 a month, with big savings for long-term plans.

What time is Paris-Nice 2026 on? Schedule

The broadcast times for Paris-Nice in the UK differ from stage to stage. The coverage begins on Discovery+ at the following times (GMT):

Stage one, 8 March - 14:15pm
Stage two, 9 March - 14:10pm
Stage three, 10 March - 14:10pm
Stage four, 11 March - 14:10pm
Stage five, 12 March - 14:10pm
Stage six, 13 March - 14:10pm
Stage seven, 14 March - 12:25pm
Stage eight, 15 March - 14:20pm

In the US, Paris-Nice broadcasts on Peacock will begin each morning at the following times (ET):

Stage one, 8 March - 8:35am
Stage two, 9 March - 8:45am
Stage three, 10 March - 8:45am
Stage four, 11 March - 8:45am
Stage five, 12 March - 8:45am
Stage six, 13 March - 8:45am
Stage seven, 14 March - 7:25am
Stage eight, 15 March - 9:25am

For Australian viewers, these are coverage start times on SBS (AEDT):

Stage one, 8 March - 1:20am
Stage two, 9 March - 1:10am
Stage three, 10 March - 1:10am
Stage four, 11 March - 1:10am
Stage five, 12 March - 1:10am
Stage six, 13 March - 1:10am
Stage seven, 14 March - 11:25pm
Stage eight, 15 March - 1:00am

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Jonas Vingegaard is to make a surprise return to racing next week at Paris-Nice, after delaying his season due to illness.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider was due to start his season at the UAE Tour, but decided to skip it after crashing during training and subsequently falling ill. It will be the Dane's third Paris-Nice, after finishing third overall behind Tadej Pogačar in 2023, and last year, when he left the race partway through after crashing and suffering concussion.

Matteo Jorgenson, also of Visma-Lease a Bike, has won the last two editions, although the American is not racing Paris-Nice in 2026. The race runs from Saturday 8 March to Sunday 15 March.

Vingegaard, who won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, was victorious at the Vuelta a España last year, and is now targeting the Grand Tour treble in the Giro d’Italia, which he will ride for the first time this spring.

After his UAE Tour withdrawal, the Giro and the Volta a Catalunya were the only races on his calendar before July’s Tour, but that has now been rejigged. It is not known whether Vingegaard will still race Catalunya, which begins on the 23 March. The Giro begins on the 8 May in Bulgaria.

"I am excited to be at the start of Paris-Nice once again. It is a prestigious race with a lot of history. As a team, we have a title to defend here," he said in a team statement. Matteo Jorgenson has won the race for Visma for the past two years, but is skipping the race for a more Classics-focused spring.

"After crashing and falling ill, I took the necessary time to recover. Now I feel ready to start racing again and am looking forward to it after a long winter of training."

Vingegaard crashed his bike last month after being followed by an amateur cyclist on a descent near Malaga, Spain.

Jonas Vingegaard has called into question in-race concussion protocols, following his experience with a head injury at Paris-Nice this March.

The two-time Tour de France winner crashed with 84km to go on stage five of the race and rode to the finish line, but abandoned ahead of the next day's start. He is yet to compete in the two months since.

Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Vingegaard said he was not immediately checked for concussion during the race, and "really suffer[ed]" with the aftermath of the injury.

“I went to the race doctor because I had some blood on my face – I was bleeding – but they never once checked me for concussion, which I find a bit odd, to be honest,” he said.

“It was visible that my glasses were broken, I had blood on my face, I even had a little bit of blood here on the eyebrow. For me, that was a bit odd that they didn’t check me for concussion.”

According to the UCI’s concussion protocol, riders should undergo an immediate assessment after a 'potential concussive event'; as part of this, medical staff are told to look for ‘red flags’, such as loss of consciousness and vomiting, as well as lesser ‘observable signs’ including facial injuries. The rider's team staff are expected to take appropriate action when race doctors are not available.

Vingegaard’s crash at Paris-Nice came while he was leading the general classification. After the stage, his teammate, Victor Campenaerts said the Dane complained of “dizziness – I didn’t get the impression that he was very lucid”.

Now looking back, Vingegaard described the incident as “maybe the most stupid crash that I’ve ever had”.

“We were going uphill, and one guy in front of me overlapped the wheel and went in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. We were basically just going 10-15kph. I couldn’t do anything, so I crashed straight on my face,” he said.

The severity of the injury then became clear in the days that followed.

“When I had been awake for about an hour or so, I had to sleep for about an hour and a half for the first three, four days,” the 28-year-old explained. “I did have a concussion, and I was really suffering from it at the start. Every day it was getting a little bit better.

“By Monday, I was thinking I could try get on the bike again, just one hour of a recovery ride, which backfired pretty much. Afterwards, I was completely dizzy and nauseous. I had to go lay down and sleep again, and then I didn’t touch my bike for the next four days.”

Looking ahead, Vingegaard said he would like to see more concerted in-race tests for concussions.

“I think as soon as somebody has something within the shoulders and above that’s visible, and you see that they hit something there, they should check them for concussion before they let them [continue],” he said.

“Of course, maybe the medical car was not there yet [in my case], but once I go to the medical car, they should as least check me when they can see that I hit my face.”

The former Tour de France champion is currently at a training camp in Sierra Nevada, Spain, building form towards the Tour de France.

Having only completed 10 race days this season, he will next compete at the Critérium du Dauphiné, before returning to altitude in Tignes, France ahead of the Tour.

A lack of racing, he said, has only given him “even more motivation” for his upcoming goals.

“I know at this moment that I’m not on my best level yet, but that’s what I’m here [in Sierra Nevada] for,” he said. “Hopefully I can be even better than I have ever been before. If I’m better than I’ve ever been before, I’m pretty sure that then I can at least fight for the victory in the Tour de France.”

While the French Grand Tour remains his "main goal", Vingegaard will also ride the Vuelta a España later this year. After that, a senior debut at the UCI World Championships in Rwanda is "in my head", he said, but not yet confirmed.

Jonas Vingegaard will not ride the Volta a Catalunya in Spain next week due to the injuries he sustained in a crash at Paris-Nice.

The Dane was involved in a minor incident on stage five, and appeared to have injured his wrist after coming off his bike. Visma-Lease a Bike withdrew him from the race ahead of stage six as a precautionary measure.

The former two-time Tour de France winner was initially due to start the Volta a Catalunya stage race in northern Spain on 24 March, but his team said on social media on Wednesday that he would not be involved in order to give him longer to recover. Simon Yates will lead the team in his absence.

"Jonas Vingegaard has not yet recovered sufficiently from his crash in Paris-Nice. Therefore, he will not start in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya," the team said in a short X post. "We wish him a speedy recovery."

In the aftermath of Vingegaard being pulled from Paris-Nice, Visma-Lease a Bike remained guarded regarding the state of his health and gave little away. There was initial speculation that he had suffered a fractured wrist, although head of racing Grischa Niermann put that to bed when speaking to the press on Friday.

"We did some x-rays, but it doesn’t seem like anything is broken, although it is still very painful for him and he is not feeling well after the crash," he told reporters in Berre l’Etang.

As it stands, Vingegaard's next race will be the Critérium du Dauphiné in June in which he will face Tadej Pogačar before returning to the Tour de France in July. If no further races are added to his programme in the interim, then he will have only raced twice competitively this season before the Tour.

After winning Paris-Nice on Sunday for a second time, Matteo Jorgenson was asked whether he felt he could now lead Visma-Lease a Bike in a Grand Tour setting. "Now it's time to set the bar higher. I can't say that I'm capable of winning a Grand Tour, but at least I want to try. I want to work towards that," he said.

The sky is his limit, that was the message from Visma-Lease a Bike after watching Matteo Jorgenson roll across the finish line on a sun drenched Promenade des Anglais to complete a second consecutive overall victory at Paris-Nice.

After a dominant week which epitomised controlled and measured racing, Jorgenson secured the yellow jersey with a gutsy ride to the finish after launching a huge attack on the slopes of the Col d’Èze. The Idaho native then time trialled into the streets of Nice and tore along the seafront with the aim of catching fellow American Magnus Sheffield, but it wasn’t to be as Sheffield sealed a first-ever victory at WorldTour level.

The two riders then celebrated emotionally together as they were mobbed by television cameras and jubilant team staff beyond the finish, and both congratulated one another on ensuring that the race had became an all-American affair on the final day in Nice.

Jorgenson previously suggested that potential Tour de France leadership had not entered his mind after the team lost Jonas Vingegaard to injury on stage five this week. However, the American was singing from a very different hymn sheet in Nice after collecting the winners trophy on the podium.

"It was something that I have thought about a lot during the off-season," Jorgenson said. "Because last year the team asked me if it was something I wanted, to race a Grand Tour as leader. And yes, it is something in my career that now is a goal.

"I think before, it was one of those goals that seemed almost impossible. I never thought I could win Paris-Nice and now I've won twice. Now it's time to set the bar higher. I can't say that I'm capable of winning a Grand Tour, but at least I want to try. I want to work towards that."

"It was one of my objectives this year to really become a leader in the team and the team also asked me to do that," he added. "It's been an objective to really master leadership of the team, to give my view in the meetings, to give my opinions."

One of the best riders in the world

Jorgenson revealed in his winners' press conference that he had initially been asked to target Tirreno-Adriatico by team management. He explained that he briefly considered it before pushing back and insisting that he was given the opportunity to return to a race which he is beginning to make his own.

"I was told by Grischa [Niermann, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Head of Racing] that Jonas wanted to come here to Paris-Nice, and that it was more logical that I'd ride Tirreno," he said. "It was just before we started winter training that I called Grischa and told him that Tirreno didn’t give me the same feeling as Paris-Nice and that I was not motivated to work through the winter for Tirreno. So I asked if it was possible to come here, with Jonas, and fortunately they both agreed."

Meanwhile Jorgenson’s sports director Frans Maasens couldn’t hide his delight as staff from other teams passed him at the finish and called out messages of congratulations. The Dutchman beamed as he reflected on the week, telling Cycling Weekly that Jorgenson had underlined his status as "one of the best riders in the world."

"You saw it everywhere last year," he said. "I think he did some great efforts in the Tour and showed that he can ride the Classics. Of course, it was a big disappointment with the crash of Jonas, but it also makes it a bit easier that you then have one leader. I think everyone has seen that Matteo was the best rider in the race."

"Definitely he can play a bigger role in Grand Tours," Maasens added. "But winning the Tour, I don't say that, but he's a very good, very talented rider and we will see much more from him in the next few years."

Matteo Jorgenson says his role in Visma-Lease a Bike’s Tour de France team will not change this summer after Jonas Vingegaard crashed out of Paris-Nice on stage five.

The American is on the cusp of a second overall victory but made clear that he feels it is not yet a done deal with a difficult last stage in Nice still to come. Jorgenson has a gap of 37 seconds over Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Florian Lipowitz who sits second overall, with Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) one minute and 20 seconds down in third.

"It will be a very dangerous stage, in terms of the GC," Jorgenson explained as he looked ahead to the final day. "Several times in the past the eighth stage of Paris-Nice has seen a change of the overall lead. I think it will be an aggressive stage and I have to be ready for a fight tomorrow."

Visma-Lease a Bike came into the week-long stage race with the aim of overall victory through Vingegaard. However, the team were forced to adjust their plans after losing the two-time Tour de France winner to injury.

"He’s ok, but he has a lot of pain in his hand," the team's Head of Racing Grischa Niermann said on Friday when questioned on the extent of Vingegaard's injuries. "We did some x-rays, but it doesn’t seem like anything is broken, although it is still very painful for him and he is not feeling well after the crash. We will now monitor him and after a few days we will then have to decide what’s next."

"He felt shit about leaving the race," he added. "But we absolutely don’t want to take any risks with him. I think everyone could see that he was in a lot of pain so we had to make that decision."

Despite the minor setback, Vingegaard is set to be the Dutch team’s leader once again at the Tour in July. He is due to race the Volta a Catalunya in Spain in just over one week's time, although Niermann made clear that it was too early to say whether that plan would have to change in order to give the 28-year-old more time to recover.

Vingegaard faced a race against the clock in order to be fit for the 2024 edition of the Tour after being caught up in a brutal crash at Itzulia Basque Country last April. The Dane eventually made the start line in Florence, but he was unable to match Tadej Pogačar who won by more than six minutes.

Speaking after pulling on a fresh yellow jersey at the Auron ski station on Saturday, Jorgenson immediately played down suggestions that he could pick up the baton from Vingegaard and go toe-to-toe with Pogačar this summer if the Dane's recovery is delayed this time round.

"No not at all, that's not the plan,” he said firmly.

Much of this year’s Paris-Nice has taken place in foul weather, with the long climb to the finish on stage eight covered in heavy snow. Michael Storer took the win for Tudor Pro Cycling after distancing Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AIUla) in the closing kilometres. The Australian's efforts saw him move up to fourth overall and will have aided his team’s cause in the rush for a wild card invite to the Tour.

"The weather was all over the place again today," Storer said as he reflected on his first WorldTour win for a number of years. "It just got worse throughout the day so it was hard to make the right choices with my clothing and stuff like that. In the end, I was going so fast that I had no choice but to wear less. The temperature really dropped in the last few kilometres, it really was epic conditions to finish the stage in."

Lidl-Trek's Mattias Skjelmose says he escaped serious injury after crashing out of Paris-Nice on stage seven.

The Dane was third in the overall standings going into Saturday's Queen stage - which was won by Tudor Pro Cycling's Michael Storer - but he fell heavily in the snow and rain after colliding with a traffic divider at around 50 kilometres from the high altitude finish in Auron.

He was immediately surrounded by concerned riders, including his teammate Mads Pedersen, before later being wrapped in blankets and loaded into an ambulance. Television pictures showed him with ripped shorts and an injured right thigh.

An update from Lidl-Trek on Saturday evening confirmed that hospital assessments in Nice had shown that Skjelmose did not suffer any fractures in the incident. The 24-year-old only required stitches to close a wound in his elbow.

Skjelmose later added in a social media post that he will undergo further medical checks when he returns home to Andorra.

"The dream of a podium spot was snatched away from me when I crashed today with 50km to go," he wrote. "After some time in the hospital in Nice, I am now discharged. I’ve had stitches in my elbow, heavy blows to my right knee and hip, and an injury to my back."

He continued: "Cycling is a relentless sport. One day you feel great, the next everything can change in a split second. But you have to remember that the battles to overcome setbacks are just as important as the victory itself.

"In the end, cycling is like life itself - an unpredictable battle where sometimes you win and sometimes you learn to get up after falling. Now it’s about looking forward and recovering as soon as possible."

Skjelmose was the second high profile rider to abandon the race this week after Visma-Lease a Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard did not start stage six to Berre l’Etang. The two-time Tour de France champion was involved in a small crash on stage five and appeared to have injured his wrist.

He managed to complete the stage but was pulled from the race as a precaution the following morning. Vingegaard is set to return to the Tour in July to attempt a third overall victory, so his team explained that it was futile to allow him to continue and risk further damage.

"I think everyone could see that he was in a lot of pain so it’s like it is and we had to make that decision," Visma's Head of Racing Grischa Niermann said on Friday.

A Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) victory might suggest normal scheduling at Paris-Nice, but stage six was far from it, torn apart by echelons, which ended some riders’ GC hopes.

Wind and rain laid waste to the peloton on Friday as it headed towards Berre l’Étang on the Mediterranean coast. Pedersen won the stage from a reduced bunch sprint, contested by the 17 riders who made the front group.

Josh Tarling finished a close second, gaining on the Dane in the closing moments, ahead of fellow Ineos Grenadiers man Sam Watson.

"After such a tough day like today, it’s of course nice to win. It would be a pity to get second or third," Pedersen said.

"No one likes to race in five or six degrees [Celsius] and rain, so it was a tough day. I just don’t care when it’s weather like this, but I really don’t enjoy it. In the end, I enjoy it now after the race, and it’s a victory in the pocket."

Shepherded by his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates, race leader Matteo Jorgenson also finished safely in the front group.

The big GC losers on the day were João Almedia (UAE Team Emirates XRG), winner of stage four, who lost almost two minutes, and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), stage five’s winner, who lost nine minutes, freefalling out of top five.

Seventh on the day, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) hopped up to third in GC going into the race's final weekend. "It’s super nice to get a victory with the team, and also Skjelmose moving up in GC. For us this was a perfect day," said Pedersen.

How it happened

Once again, the rain fell on Friday at Paris-Nice, the not-so-aptly named ‘Race to the Sun’. Stage six brought this edition’s longest, at 209.8km, heading to the south coast, over a trio of nondescript category-three climbs.

Groupama-FDJ’s Rémi Cavagna led an early breakaway out of Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban. The Frenchman eventually ended up on his own, dressed in a rain cape and trudging through the wind.

In the second half of the stage, the conditions turned sharply on the racing.

Echelons ripped through the bunch, tearing the peloton into small groups. After a battle for the front of the race, a 17-strong group formed, containing all six of the Jonas-Vingegaard-less Visma-Lease a Bike, and six of the seven Ineos Grenadiers riders.

Six bonus seconds were offered in a sprint with 20km remaining. Shooting out of the front group, yellow-jersey-wearer Jorgenson claimed maximum honours ahead of Skjelmose and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), both smartly placed at the fore, and earning four and two seconds respectively.

The gap to the peloton then began to grow. By the time the leaders bore down on the final kilometre, their advantage stood at almost two minutes.

Sensing weary legs, and perhaps knowing he was the favourite in the group, Pedersen launched a long sprint, looking to get a jump on his breakaway rivals. Tarling followed, but the line came too soon for the Brit, who shook Pedersen's hand afterwards, a valiant runner-up.

"Tarling is just so strong," the Dane said post-race, shivering in a bulky jacket. "You know never to [count] him out of the race, even in a sprint like this. In the end, I’m just happy that I won. If you win with one centimetre or half a metre, it doesn’t matter."

Paris-Nice continues on Saturday with its penultimate day, a stage shortened to just 109km due to "unfavourable" weather conditions.

Results

Paris-Nice 2025, stage six: Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban to Berre l’Étang (209.8km)

1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek, in 4:25:37
2. Josh Tarling (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
3. Sam Watson (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Axel Zingle (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
6. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers
7. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek
8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike
9. Max Schachmann (Ger) Soudal Quick-Step
10. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, all at same time

General classification after stage six

1. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 20:52:57
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +40s
3. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +59s
4. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:20
5. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates XRG, +2:40
6. Tobias Foss (Nor) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:47
7. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:54
8. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates XRG, +3:05
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS Astana, +3:22
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +3:24

Two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard has withdrawn from Paris-Nice after suffering a crash on Thursday's fifth stage.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider fell with 84km to go on the stage, cutting his upper lip, and appearing to hurt his wrist.

The Dane's team confirmed on Friday morning that he will not take the start on stage six.

"Our medical staff has decided that it is best for him to recover from yesterday's crash at home and focus on his next goals for the season," Visma-Lease a Bike said in a statement.

Vingegaard was leading Paris-Nice at the time of his crash, but ended up losing 26 seconds on a steep finish, ceding his yellow jersey to teammate Matteo Jorgenson.

After the stage, the Dane was pictured by TV cameras in discomfort, holding his wrist as he was examined by a team doctor.

"He told me that he thought his hand was possibly broken," Jorgenson said post-race. "It was really painful for him and I know he had a hard time braking and a hard time holding his handlebars.

"He told me just to go for it myself and that he'd try and do his best," the American continued. "We tried to get him back in the race but he seemed to be in a lot of pain."

Victor Campenaerts, also of Visma-Lease a Bike, said Vingegaard told him he was experiencing "dizziness" during the stage.

"Given the circumstances, it's very impressive that he finished this stage. I didn't get the impression that he was very lucid," Campenaerts told Sporza.

The team is yet to confirm any of the Dane's injuries.

The crash came almost a year to the day Vingegaard was involved in a high-speed incident at Itzulia Basque Country, which left him with broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a punctured lung. He spent almost two weeks in hospital at the time, where he underwent surgery on his fractures.

Vingegaard returned to racing three months after the crash at the Tour de France, where he won a stage, and eventually finished second to Tadej Pogačar.

The Slovenian, too, was recently involved in a crash, sliding out into a ditch during last Saturday's Strade Bianche. He went on to remount his bike and win the race.

Three stages still remain at this year's Paris-Nice, which comes to a close on Sunday. Friday's stage six offers a mostly flat course, stretching out over 210km to Berre L'Étang.

Following Vingegaard's withdrawal, Jorgenson leads the race by 36 seconds over Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Florian Lipowitz, who has jumped from third to second in the overall standings.

Jonas Vingegaard crashed on stage five of Paris-Nice on Thursday before losing 26 seconds on a steep finish, ceding the race lead in the process.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider was involved in an innocuous-looking crash with 84km to go, but quickly remounted. He suffered a cut to his upper lip, but resumed racing soon after swapping bikes and being attended to by the race doctor. He is understood to have hurt his wrist, and will be examined.

However, come the steep finish on the Côte de Notre-Dame-de-Sciez, the two-time Tour de France winner was dropped with just under a kilometre to go. He ended up losing 26 seconds to the day's winner, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), and lost the race lead to his teammate, Matteo Jorgenson. He now lies in second, 22 seconds behind the American. At the finish, he could be seen holding his wrist.

It was the first crash for Vingegaard since he was involved in the high-speed incident at Itzulia Basque Country in April last year, which saw him break ribs, his collarbone and suffer a punctured lung.

The incident at Paris-Nice comes the week after Vingegaard's great rival, Tadej Pogačar, crashed at Strade Bianche, although the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider went on to win that race after remounting.

"It's mixed feelings for me," Jorgenson, now the race leader, said. "Personally I felt very strong. I was coming back from a nature break and saw Jonas had a crash, he then found me in the race and told me that he thought his hand was possibly broken. It was really painful for him and I know he had a hard time braking and a hard time holding his handlebars.

"He told me just to go for it myself and that he'd try and do his best," he continued. "We tried to get him back in the race but he seemed to be in a lot of pain. I tried my hardest to manage it from an offensive position on the last climb, because I knew that if I set a harder pace then it was better for me. I'm happy that we kept the jersey under these circumstances, but it's not in the way I'd have imagined."

"I don't really know what happened," his teammate Victor Campenaerts told Sporza post-race. "Halfway through the stage, they got caught in the peloton and Jonas fell on his face."

"He had hurt his hand a lot and could no longer use his left brake" he continued. "We then chose to stay out of the stress and to move up the slopes. That is of course not ideal, because you lose a lot of strength with that. The damage in time is limited, but hopefully there is not too much damage from the fall."

"Jonas talked about dizziness," Campenaerts added. "He must have suffered incredibly. Now he has to visit the doctor and hopefully the verdict will be not so bad.

"Given the circumstances, it's very impressive that he finished this stage. I didn't get the impression that he was very lucid. He got through it a little bit, but he couldn't hold his brake anymore."

Lenny Martinez sprinted to stage five victory at Paris-Nice, surging past Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson on the steep uphill drag at La Côte-Saint-André to take a first-ever stage win at the Race to the Sun.

The punishing ascent took its toll on the legs of the race leader, Jonas Vingegaard, who shipped time in the fight for overall victory in Nice on Sunday. The Dane was involved in what initially appeared to be an innocuous crash earlier in the stage, but he was seen clutching his wrist at the finish.

Fortunately for Visma-Lease a Bike, Jorgenson moved back into the race lead after first pulling on the leader’s jersey two days ago when the Dutch team triumphed in the team time trial. The American took third on the day with Clément Champoussin (XDS Astana) taking second.

"That was just incredible," Martinez said afterwards. "Everybody did a great job today. And on the final climb I knew that I needed to be up there with about 150 metres to go. I had to go for it, I accelerated and there was soon a big difference. It's incredible, I can’t believe it."

"The legs were on fire," he added. "For the final stages I wanted to make sure I was up there, and I wanted to try and do my best. I said to myself that today I really had to go for the win, I knew it was possible. I really believed it and it was brilliant for the team, just amazing.

"I haven’t won for a long time, so I’m super happy to win today. It's an incredible feeling to win here at Paris-Nice with my new team, I’m super happy."

Meanwhile Vingegaard was met with concerned looks from Visma-Lease a Bike soigneurs as they assessed the damage after his earlier crash. The 28-year-old was wrapped in warm clothing and safely escorted back to the sanctuary of the Visma team bus for further checks.

How it happened

Stage five was, on paper, seen as being a day for the breakaway with a series of short, sharp climbs on the cards for the peloton between Saint-Just-en-Chevalet and La Côte-Saint-André, including a category two uphill kick at the finish.

Similarly to the previous day, the stage got underway in cold and damp conditions with snow falling in patches on the course. Two men were away for much of the stage, Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Frenchman Thibaud Gruel from the Groupama FDJ team, before they were later joined by Swift’s teammate, Tobias Foss who was on the attack once more.

Jonas Vingegaard spent a large part of the afternoon at the back of the peloton after a small crash earlier in the stage which involved a bike change for the race leader. Visma-Lease a Bike did, however, have Matteo Jorgenson well placed at the head of the main field.

Foss eventually pushed on, quickly dropping Swift and Gruel as he looked to establish a solid advantage ahead of the final two climbs. The Norwegian soon had a gap of a minute on the peloton, with Swift and Gruel hovering in no man’s land behind him.

With 17 kilometres to go Foss was onto the penultimate climb - a category three ascent, the Côte d'Arzay - which featured a 15% gradient at its steepest point. Tudor Pro Cycling led the bunch into it with Matteo Trentin pushing the pace. Julian Alaphilippe briefly jumped from his wheel, looking to tease an attack ahead of the ramp to the finish. The former road world champion’s dig saw Foss’ advantage almost halved.

Foss was still up the road as the race tore past the ten kilometre to go point, although it seemed only a matter of time before he was caught. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was leading the peloton once more, setting a brutal pace with the aim of teeing up Mattias Skjelmose on the ramp up to the line. Visma-Lease a Bike eventually took over from the Dane and a huge turn from three of the Dutch team’s riders soon brought Foss back into the fold.

With one and a half kilometres to go the riders were onto the climb to the finish. Visma continued to lead the group with Jorgenson and Vingegaard gathering pace as the gradient began to bite. Sensing Vingegaard was under pressure, Brandon McNulty (UAE Emirates) kicked the leaders on looking to do some damage. Fortunately for Visma, Jorgenson was lodged onto his fellow American’s wheel and rode himself back into the race lead.

Jorgenson pulled a small group away from the select lead group looking to salvage the lead for his team. However, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) surged past him in the final few hundred metres to seal an impressive stage win.

Results

2025 Paris-Nice stage five, Saint-Just-en-Chevalet > La Côte-Saint-André (203 km)

1. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, in 4:36:23
2. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS-Astana, +3s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike,
4. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana Team, +1:24
5. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
6. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +7s
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +11s
8. Ilan van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +16s
9. Magnus Sheffield (Usa) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
10. Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +18s

General classification after stage five

1. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 16:27:26
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +22s
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +36s
4. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +40s
5. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +55s
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +57s
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +1:05
8. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:14
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS-Astana, +1:22
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana Team, +1:24

João Almeida pipped Jonas Vingegaard to victory on a rain-soaked stage four of Paris-Nice at La Loges des Gardes.

Vingegaard put in a stinging attack with two kilometres to the finish which quickly distanced Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), the only rider able to initially hold the wheel of the rampaging Dane. Vingegaard quickly caught and passed the last man standing at the head of the race, Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers), and immediately pushed on under the flamme rouge.

Matteo Jorgenson buried himself behind his teammate and former two-time Tour de France winner as he attempted to mark moves from UAE Emirates duo Almeida and Brandon McNulty as they looked to get back on terms. As Vingegaard faded, the race leader was unable to hold off Visma-Lease a Bike’s rivals as Almeida caught and passed the 28-year-old with the finish line in touching distance.

Vingegaard’s second place ensured that he took over the race lead from Jorgenson, although being beaten by UAE for a second time on the climb would have come as a blow. The 28-year-old was bettered by Tadej Pogačar on the climb at the 2023 edition of the race. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) completed the top three. Jorgenson finished sixth, six seconds down on Almeida.

"I’m super happy. It was a hard day. Lots happening in the stage of course, we had some snow. We never gave up, and I think we deserved it and I think I’m very happy with it," Almeida said post-race. "I was feeling quite good, I’m not the best guy with the cold temperatures, I was suffering a bit with that.

"I never gave up, the climb was just not steep enough so it was hard to get the group even smaller. When Jonas attacked I was not in the best position, but I gave my best, and I’m super happy now."

"I think I can win, but it’s not just up to me," he added when asked if overall victory was within his grasp. "I think my shape is good, I feel good, I am ready to show who João Almeida is. Not everything goes to plan, but I’ll try my best."

How it happened

Much of the stage took place in horrendous weather conditions, with torrential rain gradually turning to sleet which then led to ice forming on the road. As a result of this, the race was neutralised at the 45 kilometre mark to allow riders to safely navigate the treacherous section of the course at a slower pace, before later stopping to put on further wet and cold weather gear and temporarily shelter in team vehicles.

The state of the roads was evidenced by the sight of a race motorbike upended in a ditch after being caught out on the ice. A handful of riders were in the day’s early breakaway and held a lead of almost two and a half minutes on the peloton when the race was stopped. The nine rider move initially included three riders from Ineos Grenadiers, Ben Swift, Tobias Foss and Josh Tarling.

The race eventually got going again, albeit at a reduced tempo with riders repeatedly slowing down in order to navigate standing water and other obstacles on the route which were brought about by the inclement weather. It remained neutralised until the 28 kilometre to go mark when the action finally got underway again after another brief stop.

With 18 kilometres to go, Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) pushed on from the remnants of the breakaway but with the main field in hot pursuit back down the road. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Nils Pollitt (UAE Emirates) were helping to drive the peloton on as they ate into Leknessund’s advantage at speed. The Norwegian rider was briefly joined by several others, although Pedersen’s efforts soon helped the peloton make contact with the head of the race.

Once the riders began the final climb to the finish it was another Norwegian rider, Foss, who pushed on up the slopes to La Loges des Gardes. Meanwhile Pedersen resumed his efforts in the peloton and set an infernal pace in an attempt to bring back the lone leader.

A big attack then came from Jonas Vingegaard as the steep gradients began. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider quickly caught and passed Foss before pushing on to the finish. Vingegaard began to fade as the climb continued, enabling João Almeida to power past him to seal the 14th victory of his career.

Results

2025 Paris-Nice stage four Vichy > La Loge des Gardes (163.4 km)

1. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:37:06
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1s
3. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +2s
4. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, at same time
5. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull- Bora-Hansgrohe, +6s
6. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +9s
8. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana Team, +17s
9. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
10. Clement Champussin (Fra) XDS Astana Team, +21s

General classification after stage four

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 11:50:59
2. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +5s
3. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +33s
4.Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +36s
5. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +37s
6. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, 56s
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +58s
8. Tobias Foss (Nor) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:06
9. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +1:09
10. Pablo Castrillo (Spa) Movistar, +1:22

Love them or hate them, team time trials are back in vogue. There will be one at this year’s Vuelta Femenina, one at next year’s Tour de France, and Paris-Nice continued its tradition on Tuesday of hosting one each spring.

With more team races against the clock scheduled – particularly at the calendar’s biggest races – cycling’s great innovators are coming up with ways to draw marginal gains out of them. The latest came from XDS Astana, who wore multi-coloured gloves and overshoes when they lined up for Paris-Nice’s third stage.

The eagle-eyed among you may have already spotted it. Perhaps you thought it was just a fun gimmick, a nod to the disco trends of the 80s. According to XDS Astana's performance engineer Alex Dowsett, there’s good reason behind the rainbow.

“When you do a turn in a team time trial, you do obviously a massive pull on the front, with really high power, and then you have to come off the power,” he said in a team post on X. “When you get to seventh position or sixth position, you then have to do another big effort to get back into the line. If you miss the back of that line by centimetres, it then becomes a third monumental effort to close the gap.”

Riders typically count their way to the back of the line when they swap turns, rejoining the end, if they can hold on. At Paris-Nice, XDS Astana judged it quicker to respond to colours, rather than count back through teammates.

“You react to things in your periphery faster than you react to them if you look directly at them. The difficult thing about team time trials, from that respect, is everyone looks the same,” Dowsett said.

“It could be that split second where you’re like, ‘Is that [Harold] Tejada or is that [Mike] Teunissen?’ The first thing you see from each rider is their hands. I was like, ‘So what if we could make everyone’s gloves a different colour?’ So instead of looking for the person, or the riding style of that person, or counting one, two, three, four, five, six, you’re just looking for a colour.

“It’s a small advantage,” he continued. “Let’s not beat around the bush, we’re not saving on aero gains or anything.”

There are also advantages for the team directors in the follow car, Dowsett explained.

“They’re not having to memorise riders’ numbers,” he said. “I think it will just be easier for the directors to know if someone needs to miss a turn, if someone says they’re struggling, [or] if someone’s getting in on the back. It’ll hopefully be easier to relay that information to the riders as well.”

XDS Astana ultimately placed 13th of 22 teams in the Paris-Nice team time trial, which was won by Visma-Lease a Bike. Without the fluorescent gloves, though, who knows where they might have finished?

Visma-Lease a Bike powered to victory in stage three’s team time trial at Paris-Nice on Tuesday and took over the overall race lead through Matteo Jorgenson as a result.

The Dutch team set a time of 30:26.96, averaging 56.2 kmph across the 28.4 kilometre course from Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours to Nevers. Jayco-AlUla were next best, finishing 14 seconds down on Visma, with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe completing the top three a further ten seconds back.

Victory for Visma meant that last year’s Paris-Nice winner, Jorgenson, moved into the yellow jersey as race leader, taking over from Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier. The Belgian sprinter won the opening two stages of the race.

Speaking after Visma came across the finish line, Jorgenson said he felt relieved that everything had gone to plan for the team ahead of Wednesday’s uphill finish.

“You know before the race that it’s already going to be the most stressful day, so it’s just good to have it done and feel like we did the plan as perfectly as we could,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Jayco-AlUla looked good with a time of 30:41.29, which would have put Ben O’Connor close to the yellow jersey, but couldn't match Visma.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were then the next two GC-focused squads to finish, with the latter coming in 24 seconds down on Visma, and the former a further 17 seconds back. Lidl-Trek finished fourth, 29 seconds behind the winning time.

Visma’s win was a big statement of intent with the race moving towards the halfway point at La Loges Des Garde on stage four, a finish which the team will also be eyeing up as another moment to make their mark ahead of the final weekend in Nice. As well as Jorgenson, the team has Jonas Vingegaard in second place, six seconds behind his teammate.

"I think the execution today was as near perfect as it could be," Vingegaard explained post-race. "We just did the perfect team time trial today. We made no mistakes and we went so fast the whole way. Everyone was so strong, all my teammates were incredible. So far it looks really promising for us."

"I'm feeling pretty well actually," he added when asked how he felt ahead of the first summit finish of the week. "The legs are feeling better and better, hopefully tomorrow as well I will feel good. For now it looks like we’re in a really good position in the GC."

Results

2025 Paris-Nice stage 3, Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours > Nevers (28km)

1. Visma-Lease a Bike, in 30:26
2. Jayco-AlUla, +15s
3. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +25s
4. Lidl-Trek, +30s
5. Ineos Grenadiers, +33s
6. EF Education-EasyPost, +34s
7. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +39s
8. UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +42s
9. Movistar, +49s
10. Soudal Quick-Step, +51s

General classification after stage three

1. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 8:13:52
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +6s
3. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, +21s
4. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, at same time
5. Aleksandr Vlasov Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +31s
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe,
7. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Jayco-AlUla, at same time
8. Ben Zwiehoff (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +34s
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +36s
10. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, +38s

Tim Merlier made it two from two at Paris-Nice on Monday, sprinting to a resounding victory on stage two of the race while wearing the leader's yellow jersey.

None of Merlier’s rivals were able to match his lethal turn of speed, with the reigning European champion taking a relatively straightforward sixth win of the year after being perfectly set up in the finishing straight. It followed victory on stage one, too.

French duo Emilien Jeannière of TotalEnergies and Hugo Page of Intermarche-Wanty took second and third respectively, with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) completing the top five. Pedersen and Kristoff later moved up a place each after Page was relegated for an irregular sprint.

"It’s one to remember, for sure," Merlier said afterwards. "I think this is the first time in my career that I’ve won while wearing the leader’s jersey. It was a bit annoying today as the breakaway was playing with us a little, I think. In the end Abrahamsen was really strong and stayed a long time in front. But the team did a really good job for me again."

Several crashes took place on the road, and Merlier explained that he was forced to chase back after picking up a mechanic issue as a result of one of the incidents. "There was a crash before me and there wasn’t time to break. Someone hit me from the back and my wheel was broken so I needed to change the bike," he said.

Merlier joked that stage three’s team time trial should, on paper, spell the end of his stint in yellow, but said his Soudal Quick-Step team would do everything within their power to pull off a surprise.

"Of course, we’re going to try but it will be very difficult, I think," he added with a smile.

How it happened

The race preceded without much incident, until 42 kilometres were left to race when a huge pile up took out large numbers of riders. Several were seen swinging into the farmland alongside the narrow road in order to avoid the chaos. Frenchman Florian Sénéchal (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) was loaded into an ambulance with his arm strapped up.

The events back down the road played into the hands of the last man standing from the day’s breakaway, Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X Mobility. The Norwegian rider was part of an initial three-rider move, but his breakaway compatriots were unable to live with the hard pace set by the 29-year-old. Abrahamsen had a lead of more than a minute as the riders entered the final phase of racing.

The peloton gradually ate into Abramsen’s lead as he approached the 20 kilometre to go banner, with Visma-Lease a Bike being one of several teams jostling for position at the head of the pack, looking to get organised ahead of an expected sprint finish in Bellegarde.

Abrahamsen led the race into the finishing circuit for what would be the race’s first passage across the line, sweeping up six bonus seconds for his efforts.

Meanwhile. Soudal Quick-Step had the European Champion, and winner of the first stage, Tim Merlier, well-placed as the peloton came through the centre of Bellegarde. A small crash in the peloton caused a few small splits, which temporarily caught out several GC riders, allowing Abrahamsen to push on with the real finish drew closer. His lead stood at 35 seconds with under ten kilometres to race.

Abrahamsen was finally caught by the onrushing peloton with two and a half kilometres to go. The peloton tore under the flamme rouge with Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step leading the charge. But in the end, nobody could stop Merlier, as the Belgian cantered to a second successive stage win.

2025 Paris-Nice stage 2, Montesson > Bellegarde (183 km)

1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 4:11:29
2. Emilien Jeanniere (Fra) Total Energies,
3. Mads Pedersen 9Den) Lidl-Trek,
4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
5. Timo Kielich (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck,
6. Axel Zingle (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike,
7. Arnaud Demare (Fra) Arkea B&B Hotels,
8. Matevz Govekar (Slo) Bahrain Victorious,
9. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Picnic PostNL,
10. Cees Bol (Ned) Astana Qazaqstan, all at same time

General classification after stage two

1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 7:43:12
2. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +14s
3. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, st
4. Matteo Jorgensen (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, st
5. Jhontan Narvaez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-CRG, st
6. Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, st
7. mads Pedersen 9Den) Lidl-Trek, +16s
8. Mick van Dijke (Ned) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, st
9. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling, st
10. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, +18s

Jonas Vingegaard’s start to the season has been "very promising" but his coach has warned his rivals that they can expect "Jonas 2.0" when he begins his serious preparations for a return to the Tour de France this summer.

The 28-year-old won the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal in his first competitive appearance of the new campaign, taking a stage win in the final day individual time trial to secure the victory. He will start Paris-Nice on Sunday as the overall favourite and will look to test his climbing form in the high mountains around Nice in the latter half of the early season stage race.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Tim Heemskerk said he was delighted with Vingegaard’s win in Portugal but said there is still a lot more to come from the two-time Tour de France winner.

"Obviously when you win, you can't complain," he said. "Seeing him ride like this is already very promising, and that good shape and form he is taking now to Paris-Nice. But we also know and have to remember that this summer, and also the Vuelta coming after that, is the highlight of the year. I’m not saying he’s not in good shape right now, but when Jonas starts his Tour preparation, we will see Jonas 2.0."

Vingegaard skipped Paris-Nice last year in order to ride Tirreno-Adriatico, a decision which ultimately paid off after he took two stage wins and the overall title in Italy.

Heemskerk made clear that the goal for Paris-Nice this time round was overall victory, but said it was difficult to predict how he expects the race to play out. Last year’s winner Matteo Jorgenson is also part of the Visma-Lease a Bike squad, which Heemskerk says will count in their favour.

"We'll have to see how the race will develop. We have two riders that can handle themselves, but there are a lot of strong riders that can give them a good run for the money," he said.

Just over 12 months ago, Vingegaard began the 2024 season in top form, winning O Gran Camiño as well as Tirreno, before he was then caught up in the horrific crash at Itzulia Basque Country which became one of the biggest talking points in the early stages of the year.

The Dane’s injuries were well documented, but he quickly returned to training and vowed to be on the start line at the Tour in July. He went on to finish second to Tadej Pogačar, before wrapping up his season by winning the Tour de Pologne.

"It takes months to actually gain muscle mass again and get back to the explosive values which he had last year before Tirreno-Adriatico," Heemskerk said. "That's a process where at the end of December, January, we saw values which are like normal again. Of course, you want to become better, but like I always say, when you have a crash like that, you never know how long it takes."

"I also have to say that we have approached it a little bit more relaxed," he added. "For instance not doing any altitude work now to have a little bit extra in reserve for summer and autumn.

"He's now really focused and I think that will give him a little bit extra in the tank for around May time. We will try to have the best version of Jonas for when the Tour comes and learn from what we're doing now."

Pogačar and Vingegaard both have very different racing schedules before July. Unlike the Dane, the reigning World Champion will ride most of the major Spring Classics before meeting Vingegaard at the Critérium du Dauphiné in June. Pogačar has also been front and centre in much of the off season cycling news, aided by a video of him riding the Arenberg cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix, hinting at a possible appearance at the cobbled Monument next month.

Vingegaard, however, is not remotely interested in what’s being said or written about in relation to the two riders schedules, according to Heemskerk. "That is a big strength of Jonas anyways, because knowing him like I do, he doesn't read the stuff in the media, he's not really ever on his phone," Heemskerk explained. "He is focused on his own things and he does not read what's written. But when preparation for the Tour starts, it's a very different Jonas."

Yannick Talabardon is a French former professional cyclist. He retired in 2013 after spending 12 years in the sport riding for three different teams, including the famous Crédit Agricole squad. Talabardon has spent the last ten years working for the Amaury Sports Organisation, the organiser of the Tour de France, and now works in the role of assistant race director for Paris-Nice and other major races on the men's and women's WorldTour calendars.

What got you interested in cycling at the start? What made you decide to pursue becoming a professional rider?

I initially became interested in cycling because of my father, he was always interested in the sport when I was younger and he would would often try to encourage my interest too. He did a lot of sportive riding in different parts of France, and he also always watched the Tour every year without fail no matter what. Me and my brother got our passion for the sport through him, and we always wanted to race as a result of that exposure in the early days when we were growing up. My brother began riding at 18, he was very strong, and he got to the professional level just three years later. I wanted to do the same, so I began riding at 16 years old and eventually joined the same team as him. So really it's thanks to him and my father that I got interested in our sport.

Was there a particular famous rider who inspired you at the start?

My brother of course! I remember he eventually rode the Tour very quickly after becoming professional. He was my inspiration, I always wanted to do the same. But other than that I would say Laurent Jalabert.

What would you have done if cycling hadn’t worked out?

Ah that’s a tough question, that’s always a tough question to answer. I’ve always liked geography and have always been interested in maps and things like that. Maybe I would have gotten into a job where I could work in that area, I’m not sure. I guess that’s kind of what’s happened to me in cycling anyway after I retired.

How did you come to work for ASO after you finished your career?

At the end of my career, I began to study at a school of sports journalism and communication. During the three years I was studying, I needed to arrange and organise some professional training in the industry. I'd always wanted to see the other side of the Tour de France and understand what it was like off the bike, so I eventually contacted Christian Prudhomme and François Lemarchand directly by email just to ask them if they could help me out somehow, I wasn't sure what I could expect or what opportunities there might be with them. We all had lunch together one day to discuss some ideas, and then eventually I started to work with them which then led to some different roles here at ASO over several years until now. It’s been a great journey.

What does your current role involve in relation to the races that ASO organise?

Eventually I was made a job offer to work in Thierry Gouvenou's team, the competition department of ASO. In 2015 I began the role that I am working in now as what we call a sport manager. In the beginning, you are in charge of one race coordination, so you have to do the recon of the proposed route. The second part is that you have to create all the supporting documents for a race, the road book, the press communications on everything in relation to the route, and you are also the link with the teams competing, especially for the start list and everything like that. At the end of that process you move into the race direction itself. I always used to be on the motorbikes as a regulator, but after some time my job took me into the red cars, the famous red cars that we have always had.

t's been about 10 years now that I've worked here and I am now in charge of the Arctic Race Of Norway, and also both the Flèche Wallonne Féminine and Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes. Over the years, I have also worked with François Lemarchand on Paris-Nice when he needed it. He eventually began to give me one stage to work on and he would say to me, ‘okay Yannick, you can play with this stage this time. Show me what you can find for the route and everything else and then we'll take it from there,' and then for the last three years he has given me all of the route to work on and develop.

What’s your biggest achievement that you’ve had while working in this capacity? Is there a particular stage of the Tour de France or race route that you’re really proud of?

I think the biggest stage and achievement that I've had was when I was involved in the gravel stage of the Tour de France in Troyes last year. I worked a lot on this. About five years ago, Thierry came to me and said, 'Yannick, we need to find some gravel that we can bring in to the race one day,' he knew that I liked gravel and he had been saying for a long time that we needed to find some white roads in France.

I then found the place we used because during my holidays I often go to the east of France. I knew of these roads, so one day I took my bike and tested them out to see if it was ok. And after that we began a long, long project looking at that. We checked everything out, and then we used some of them on the Tour de France Femmes.

We eventually soon saw what works and what didn't work. Thierry and I then did a lot of work on this stage in the years just before. I actually think in the year before last I did about ten recons on my bike of that stage myself. On the day of the stage last year I was so stressed, but at the end Thierry and I were so pleased and happy with the result and how everything went.

As is always the case on the Tour de France we had little time to celebrate in the moment as we had to move straight on to the stages still to come. We took a big risk bringing that stage in, and so we discussed with everyone involved afterwards about what worked, what didn’t work and what we could change for the better.

Is there a particular Tour de France stage this year that you’re really excited about?

I just did a recon of the stage of Mont Dore in the Massif Central. I think it will be a crazy, crazy stage. There is no flat part with eight opportunities to win mountain points. I actually think we could probably have about 14 on this stage! I think it will be a super, super stage and very dramatic. It reminds me of the stage into Le Lioran last year when we had the superb battle between Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar. I think it will be very interesting for the fans and for the riders. It's on July 14 too, so the French riders will be excited about that one, it will be good for them.

What’s the best location that your career has ever taken you to?

I like all of the French countryside as you will find different landscapes everywhere you look. I was born in Paris and live in Paris, so when I was a professional I think I probably visited every corner of the country at some point. But in my career after riding then I would say Norway, I really love being involved with the Arctic Race of Norway.

The Tour de France has obviously had a few foreign Grand Départ's in recent years. Which would you say was the best? Which one did you enjoy the most?

I’m always happy to visit other countries for the Grand Départ, it has always been a great experience. I remember the start in Yorkshire in 2014, that was absolutely crazy when I look back at it. There were so many people and loads of fans on the side of the road. It’s difficult to choose, although I really enjoyed the start in the Pays Basque. It is always so beautiful there, and the people were crazy again. The crowds on the Col de Pike near Bilbao were something else. Italy was also absolutely beautiful last year, especially in Florence and the local area. It’s really difficult to choose one as a favourite, but I would probably say the start in the Pays Basque if I had to pick and highlight one.

Matteo Jorgenson has, by his own admission, enjoyed a debut season beyond his wildest dreams at Visma-Lease a Bike. After enjoying a break post Paris-Olympics, the American arrived in Canada this week full of hope and positivity regarding his return to WorldTour racing at this week’s Grand Prix Cyclistes de Québec and Montréal.

The two Canada races are set to be the final chance to test his form before representing the USA at the World Championships later in September. 

Jorgenson is optimistic and looking to pick up where he left off when he clips back into his pedals. The 25-year-old has already won Paris-Nice and Dwars door Vlaanderen this year before an impressive outing at the Tour de France. 

The American finished eighth overall in Nice while riding in support of Visma’s leader, Jonas Vingegaard, but says that he is aiming for his own Grand Tour GC tilt in the future after surprising himself in the brutal final week. 

"I think after the Tour de France, my opinion on riding GC has changed a little bit," he said. "I saw, at least in the Tour, that I didn't have any days where I was exceptionally bad. I had some bad days, there's no doubt, but I didn't have any day where I really just lost everything, and I felt really good, especially in the third week, which for me has never been the case before. 

"So I think I would like that challenge at some point in my career to go for GC in a Grand Tour. I don't know whether that's next year or in three years, but I would like to try it at least one time."

While riding for Movistar, all the signs pointed to Jorgenson being a rider with enormous potential. The American made huge personal investment into his own performances which helped to attract attention from Visma. Given all of the hard graft that he had put into his own development in recent years, Jorgenson said that it had been a breath of fresh air moving into his new environment and realising that he now had access to even better backing than before. 

"It was just what I wanted. It was almost just an accomplishment joining the team. I had it in my mind for a long time that I wanted to join the best team I possibly could, just because I know how the sport works, and I know that you need resources and support to get to your best level. 

"So I was even willing to join a team where I wouldn't have as many opportunities if I could try to take advantage of the resources and the support team at my disposal. 

"I think it's just difficult to do things on your own, especially in this sport, you can't do everything on your own."

Love affair with Paris-Nice

"It's been everything that I've dreamed of so far, or even more," he added as he reflected on his breakthrough year. "Paris-Nice is definitely the biggest moment and will be something I remember forever. Just thinking about it now makes me happy, but that was the big big highlight. There were other really good moments, but the biggest was Paris-Nice."

Jorgenson explained that he has relished every moment that’s come since he pulled on a yellow and black Visma jersey. When asked if on top of a future GC bid, he would like to target any other particular races, he made clear that he would be reluctant to adjust his programme from this year severely in order for his love affair with Paris-Nice to continue. 

"I think I've done almost every race I would like to," he said. "I would like to do Strade Bianche again at some point. But the problem is, with it being so close to Paris-Nice, I don't think that's ever going to be a possibility. I will never skip Paris-Nice, if possible."

On a proud day for American cycling, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) claimed the biggest victory of his career so far, winning the overall title at Paris-Nice. 

The 24-year-old from Idaho went into Sunday's final stage in second on the general classification, four seconds behind his friend and compatriot Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates). He then rode astutely into Nice, tagging onto a trio of attacks from Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) with 44km to go, and following the Belgian to the line. 

Evenepoel won the two-up sprint for the stage, a silver lining for his efforts, and rose to second in the general classification. McNulty held onto a podium spot to place third overall.

Prior to Sunday, the last American victory at Paris-Nice came in 2006, when Jorgenson was just six years old. Honours that year went to Floyd Landis, who later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. 

"Until this year, I never would have believed that this was possible, but here we are," Jorgenson said post-race.  

"It couldn't have gone any better today really, and the whole week. It hasn't really sunk in yet, to be honest. I could barely sleep last night, to be honest with you. I was so nervous and felt, for the first time in my life, pressure. 

"To have it come together like that, and to ride in with such a champion like Remco, was just a really special moment." 

Ahead of stage eight in Nice, Jorgenson said he "expected only the unexpected". The final day of the 'Race to the Sun', a punchy 109km stage with over 2,200m elevation, opened with downpours on the French Riviera, and pointed to a dramatic closing act. 

Victor Campanaerts (Lotto Dstny) started proceedings with an early rampage, ripping up the front of the race, before being reeled in just after the halfway point. 

As Campanaerts rejoined the pack, Evenepoel put in two thrashing digs to try and wriggle away. The former world champion, known for his long-range attacks, began the day in fourth, 36 seconds behind the race leader, McNulty, whose team-mates helped quash the initial attempts to go solo. 

A third dig By Evenepoel, however, broke through UAE Team Emirates. Inside 44km to go, the Belgian split the front group on the penultimate climb, towing Jorgenson and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) to the summit. The trio stretched out their advantage on the descent to over a minute ahead of the yellow jersey. 

Local knowledge would then play into Jorgenson's hands. "I knew this course from my heart," the Nice resident said. "I could tell you right now every single corner."  

Over the 1.7km Col dÈze, the American pickpocketed Evenepoel to maximum bonus seconds, and then helped drive the pace to drop Vlasov on the final climb. 

On the run-in to Nice, the final duo exchanged a few words, and sealed their own destinies. Jorgenson, the champion-elect, began his celebrations to the TV motorbikes, while Evenepoel pushed ahead to take the stage victory. 

"I'm not going to get ahead of myself," the Visma-Lease a Bike rider said afterwards, asked if he now had bigger ambitions. "This is a really nice victory and a really good achievement in my life. I'm just going to try and enjoy it, and keep my feet on the ground."

Results

Paris-Nice 2024, stage eight: Nice > Nice (109km)

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 2-50-03
2. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
3. Aleksandr Vlasov, Bora-Hansgrohe, +50s
4. Mattias Skjelmose (Den), Lidl-Trek, +1-39
5. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, at same time
6. Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan, +2-13
7. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling
8. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
9. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
10. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla, all at same time

Final general classification

1. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 27-50-23
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +30s
3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +1-47
4. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +2-22
5. Aleksandr Vlasov, Bora-Hansgrohe, +2-57
6. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +3-08
7. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +4-03
8. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +4-35
9. Primož Roglič (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe, +5-33
10. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +6-08

Brandon McNulty was eight the last time an American won Paris-Nice. In the tumultuous time - in cycling anyway - of 2006, that winner was Floyd Landis, soon to be banned for doping. 16 years on, in a different sporting landscape, not only is McNulty in the race lead at the week-long stage race going into the final two days, but the man in second is also an American, Matteo Jorgenson.

The UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike pair were part of the three-man winning move on stage six of the race. Neither triumphed in La Colle-sur-Loup, that being Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), but now have quite the advantage over some of the pre-race favourites, like Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe). With just two stages left, either could become the first since Landis to win the Race to the Sun.

McNulty certainly enjoyed being on the attack with a fellow American, who is a year younger than him.

"Besides my teammates, if there was one guy I'd work really well with in a break like this it would be Matteo," he said post-stage. "That was fun, just like juniors, we were doing the same then."

McNulty appeared to be surprised to be in a position to take back yellow - he previously held it after Tuesday's TTT - as Friday's stage was raced a lot more full-on that he previously thought. However, he now has 23 seconds on Jorgenson, 1:03 on Evenepoel, and a whole 1:44 on Roglič.

"When I came to this race I thought there would be a few hard days, and then a couple of sprint days before the mountains," he said. "We took a closer look at it in the last days and realised that this finishing circuit was quite hard, so we expected teams to do something. 

"Then the race played out, with how long it took the breakaway to go and stuff, it was pretty obvious that it would be an aggressive fight, and that's exactly what it was."

"I knew there would be attacks on the circuit but I didn't really expect to take yellow back, and yet here we are," the 25-year-old continued. "We're in a good position now, but you can't get ahead of yourself. We have two hard days coming, probably with bad weather, and everything. We'll go tomorrow as hard as we can."

Stage seven has been shortened due to bad weather, with just 104km being raced, ending on the first-category La Madone d'Utelle. Shorter does not mean easier.

"We have to defend," McNulty said. "I expect chaos, shorter days are always like this. [There will] probably a big fight for the break, and then the climb will be full gas. We'll just have to ride well as a team to defend the jersey."

Two tough stages stand between the Arizonan and history, with Jorgenson also ready to take on the mantle if the situation arises. The Star-Spangled Banner could yet be ringing out over Nice on Sunday afternoon.

Mattias Skjelmose escaped to victory on stage six of Paris-Nice, besting the two other members of the race-winning move in La Colle-sur-Loup.

The Lidl-Trek rider went on the attack 27km to go, joining Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and bringing Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) with him. All three gained almost a minute on their general classification rivals at the end of the day, but the latter moved back into the race lead.

Jorgenson attacked with 29km to go, with a brief pause in the group of favourites seeing Skjelmose chase with 27km to go, joined by McNulty. From there, the time gap only grew, allowing the trio to juke it out for the win.

Ahead of the day, it looked like it could be one for a breakaway, and a ferocious pace set early on seemed to support that. One of the key animators was Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), the green jersey holder, who kept attempting to get away, along with Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), the polka dot jersey wearer, and his main rival in that competition, Christian Scaroni (Astana).

It took most of the opening 70km for the break to go, proving how high the pace was and just how many attempts there were. In the end, 10 went clear, including Pedersen, Burgaudeau, and Scaroni, but this was eventually chased down by Ineos Grenadiers.

The peloton was whittled down with less than 40km to go, and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) chose the first pass through La Colle-sur-Loup to attempt something, but his move was soon shut down.

This high pace and highly-fraught atmosphere created the perfect conditions for Jorgenson to attack, followed by Skjelmose and McNulty, while the other GC favourites watched each other, and ended up losing more time that they would have wanted. A crash for Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) saw him lose over two minutes.

McNulty and Jorgenson did the lion's share of the work in stretching the gap back to Roglič, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and company, as Skjelmose sat on, content in the knowledge that he had the best shot of winning the stage.

This is exactly what he did, springing away with just under 200m to go, to take his first victory of the season, and make up for all the effort that his team, especially Pedersen, have put in this week.

"I'm really happy and surprised," Skjelmose said post-stage. "I was feeling quite good all day, but these days are quite special. You need a lot of luck, but the team worked perfectly for me after Mads was brought back from the breakaway. When the team works like this, it minimises all the luck you need.

"Remco or Primož, one of the guys high up on GC were closing, and then I tried to pull a little bit and they let me go, so I attacked. Then Brandon joined me."

"Bigger miracles have happened than me winning Paris-Nice, but I think the other guys are stronger than me," he continued. "Today was a bit of weird way to win, because I played on me being down on GC. It's not the nicest way to win, and the others were stronger than me I think. I feel better than when I won the Tour de Suisse last year."

12 months ago the stage to La Colle-sur-Loup was cancelled due to high winds, but now the French town finally has witnessed an exciting stage. The race is finely poised as it heads into its final two punchy stages.

Results: Paris-Nice, stage six, Sisteron > La Colle-sur-Loup (198.2km)

1. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, in 4:36:51
2. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +52s
5. Harold Tejada (Col) Astana Qazaqstan, +53s
6. Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
7. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
8. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
9. Primož Roglič (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, all at same time

General classification after stage six

1. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, in 22:15:58
2. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +23s
3. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla,+34s
4. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +54s
5. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:03
6. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:14
7. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +1:30
8. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +1:36
9. Harold Tejada (Col) Astana Qazaqstan, +1:37
10. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:39

Olav Kooij won for the second time in a week at Paris-Nice, powering past Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) in the final 50 metres.

Stage five of the race was a long day on the bike, a stage which was penned in as a possible one for a breakaway, but once it was caught with 10km to go, it was only going to end in a bunch sprint.

Visma-Lease a Bike's Kooij timed his sprint perfectly to cross the line in first. There was no change on general classification, with Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) staying in yellow.

The Dutchman has taken four wins already this season, at least one in every race he has competed in, and so is in good form, but his speed to round Pedersen and Ackermann was still impressive. The former was second for the second time this week, while the latter took his first podium since moving to Israel-Premier Tech.

A strong breakaway threatened to stay away. At its biggest, it contained three Lotto Dsnty riders (Victor Campernaerts, Pascal Eenkhoorn and Mathias Paaschens), two from TotalEnergies (Pierre Latour and Sandy Dujardin), along with Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Matthias Norsgaard (Movistar) and Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis). However, there was too much interest in a sprint finish for this to stay away, ultimately.

The yellow jersey holder, Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), briefly looked like he was out of position inside the final 10km, especially as the road rose and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) accelerated, but there was no change overall.

It was a messy final sprint, with few full teams left after an attritional day, but Kooij waited until the final 150m to properly open up, and chose the left side of the road in order to not get boxed in. The rest looked simple.

"It was quite a tough day, with the headwind it was very difficult to control a strong breakaway, especially after two guys more raced across," the winner said post-stage. "We had to work for it all day. In the final, most teams didn't have many guys left to control it, I just had to find my way. Luckily, I was able to open up.

"We committed to it with the whole team, had a great plan, so really happy that I could take my second win. It has been a good week, and a huge success. We have some other goals with Matteo [Jorgenson] and Wilco [Kelderman] for the weekend, so we're not done yet."

Pedersen has moved into the green jersey, and will try and get more than second on possibly his last chance of the race on Friday's stage six, a lumpy 199km stage from Sisteron to La Colle-sur-Loup.

RESULTS: Paris-Nice stage four, Saint-Saveur-de-Montagut > Sisteron (193.5km)

1. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma-Lease a bike in 4:23:44
2. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek
3. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Israel-Premier Tech
4. Sam Bennett (Ire) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
5. Danny Van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe)
6. Tobais Lund Andresen (Den) dsm-firmenich PostNL
7. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling
8. Laurence Pithie (NZl) Groupama-FDJ
9. Madid Mikhels (Est) Intermarché-Wanty
10. Dušan Rajović (Ser) Bahrain-Victorious, all at same time

General classification after stage five

1. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla, in 17:38:48
2. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain-Victorious, +13s
3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +27s
4. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +29s
5. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +30s
6. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +40s
7. Chris Harper (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +46s
8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +52s
9. Rigoberto Urán (Col) EF Education-EasyPost, +54s
10. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:02

Santiago Buitrago flew to victory on stage four of Paris-Nice, as the Bahrain-Victorious rider attacked from a late move to triumph on Mont Brouilly.

His companion in the winning move, Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla), could not hang on on the final climb, but did take the yellow jersey, a good consolation prize.

There was little to separate the other general classification hopefuls, but the top ten has now been reshaped as a result of UAE Team Emirates' four star riders losing time.

Plapp powered off the front with 25km to go, accompanied by Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), who unwittingly kickstarted the winning move of the day, meaning his team leader Remco Evenepoel could not claim it.

He was then joined by Buitrago with 22km, at which stage the pair had just 10 seconds on the group of leaders, with there not really being much of a peloton to speak of anymore.

However, working together, the pair were able to contest the final climb of Mont Brouilly for victory, with Buitrago leaving Plapp behind with just over a kilometre to go. Plapp hung on to claim enough time on previous leader Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), to take the yellow jersey.

After the pair had crossed the line, the other GC hopefuls were left to battle it out, but with little time gained or lost. Evenepoel attempted to claim some bonus seconds, but was outsprinted by Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). Evenepoel sits in fifth, 30 seconds behind Plapp now, after he also gained six bonus seconds on the intermediate sprint. 

The other pre-race favourite, Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe), is in 15th, 1-10 down.

Evenepoel described the day as "very good" post-stage. 

"I thought I was third, then I was shown that Plapp was still in front," the Belgian said. "I thought I took seconds on the line, but it’s not a big thing. I think it was overall a good stage for us. 

"The tactics of UAE were a bit strange, to let the guy go all of a sudden, especially if you have four guys in the classification. In the end, Vine stopped riding, which was unfortunate for all of us, and all of the GC guys that Buitrago and Plapp, two dangerous guys, could stay away. Overall, [it was] a very good day for us."

"Luke is 30 ahead, which is not a nice present to go into the final weekend with," he continued. "Two good climbers [up there], in good shape. We’re going to have to sit down and have a good think about the tactics, and hopefully some other teams don’t let them go again. I don’t want to blame anybody, it was just a bit unfortunate for two guys to take 40 seconds out of nowhere."

"I didn't really expect it today..." a smiling Buitrago said post-stage. "You never know how things are going to come out in the wash, but I'm really happy. Winning here is amazing for me."

The win was the Colombian's first of 2024, and the first on French soil. Meanwhile, it was Plapp's second time in a WorldTour leader's jersey, after the UAE Tour last year, but his first since moving to Jayco AlUla.

RESULTS: Paris-Nice stage four, Chalon-sur-Saône > Mont Brouilly (183km)

1. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain-Victorious, in 4:25:52
2. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +10s
3. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +37s
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, s.t.
5. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +39s
6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
7. Primož Roglič (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe
8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, all s.t.
9. Harold Tejada (Col) Astana-Qazaqstan, +43s
10. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +46s

General classification after stage four

1. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla, in 13:15:04
2. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain-Victorious, +13s
3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, +27s
4. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +29s
5. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +30s
6. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +40s
7. Chris Harper (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +46s
8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +52s
9. Rigoberto Urán (Col) EF Education-EasyPost, +54s
10. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:02

Visma-Lease a Bike said they were "surprised" at the UCI’s decision to review the team’s new aero helmet, which was worn by the Dutch WorldTour giants in time trials at Tirreno-Adriatico on Monday, as well in stage three's team time trial at Paris-Nice. 

The helmet, which is manufactured by Giro, was named specifically in a statement which was released by cycling’s world governing body as it emerged that other helmets would also be included in the new review. The two other helmets named as part of the review were EF Education-EasyPost's 'duck-bill' POC Tempor TT, and Bahrain-Victorious' Rudy Project Windgream HL 85, which also made its debut on Monday at Tirreno.

"We’re working on an official statement based on our first experiences after the two time trials this week," a spokesperson for Visma-Lease a Bike told Cycling Weekly in Auxerre. 

"There’s a set of conditions that a helmet like this should meet. It’s about size, safety, everything. With those conditions, brands start designing equipment and obviously there’s a lot of money and development going into that process." 

"So it's surprising that you make a design, all those conditions are met, and then it’s questioned again," they added. 

"The UCI acknowledges that while this [they] may not directly contravene existing UCI Regulations, it raises a significant issue concerning the current and wider trend in time trial helmet design," the UCI spokesperson said.

The "head sock" which accompanies Specialized’s TT5 helmet is also to be banned from 2 April, the UCI has said. Both Remco Evenepoel’s Soudal Quick-Step team and Bora–Hansgrohe, the team of Primož Roglič, use that design. 

Cycling Weekly contacted Bora-Hansgrohe for comment in relation to the "head sock" being banned but the team did not respond. 

On Tuesday evening, Visma-Lease a Bike released an official response to the UCI's decision to look at the Giro helmet. 

"First and foremost, the Giro Aerohead ll is a safe helmet, meeting all safety regulations," it read. "Safety for our riders is paramount for both Giro and the team. For example, this helmet has a larger visor that allows riders to have better visibility. And Mips (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) provides even better protection. 

"Giro Sport Design developed the Aerohead II to meet all impact test requirements and safety certifications, which applies to all helmets ridden in competition.

"In addition, Team Visma | Lease a Bike, in collaboration with Giro, has also put a lot of time, money and energy into further aerodynamic development, within the frameworks set by the UCI.

"Team Visma | Lease a Bike is looking forward to the next time trials and is confident to continue using the Giro Aerohead ll this season and in the future."

The race from the rain, through the sun, to the hail, to the rain. That was stage three of Paris-Nice in a nutshell. As the last few teams tore across the line in Auxerre, a hail storm erupted leaving already cold and wet bodies aching even further. 

Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel were both swaddled in towels, jackets and warm clothing by soigneurs as reporters watched on, hoping someone would take pity and hand them a towel to dry dictaphones and camera lenses. In the end, nobody did, and some were even removing sodden trainers as Brandon McNulty, the new race leader, walked into the post-stage press conference representing the stage three winners, UAE Team Emirates. 

Many were surprised to see Soudal Quick-Step finish 21 seconds down on UAE and Bora-Hansgrohe finish 54 seconds adrift. McNulty told the room of journalists and other media that he was equally as shocked and admitted that he felt the inclement weather towards the end of the stage had been decisive. 

"No not at all, but I think we were a bit lucky with the weather now," he said when asked if he was expecting such a time gap. "But in the end we’ll take what we can and you make your own luck there. But in the end, it's how it is and we will just enjoy this win.

"I think overall we had a good ride as a team. I mean, all things even, I think we would still be up there. But that's impossible to say in the end how much the weather really did affect us but I think we can be super proud of the way we rode, I think we executed it perfectly, did our pacing as we wanted so we're all proud of the way we rode today."

As well as McNulty in the race lead, UAE now have Finn Fisher Black, João Almeida and Jay Vine in second, third and fourth respectively. 

Reflecting on the team’s performance, McNulty talked through the improvements that UAE had made to its time trial equipment in recent months which he said had been integral on the course around Auxerre. 

"We had Nils [Politt] who was going to be our big guy on the flats and then the rest of us I think we're pretty even, we're all good time trialists," he explained. “So we really just had to push on the climbs and then stick together and use that to carry more speed on the fast ride home, which worked out perfectly."

"The team has developed a new frame, I guess two years ago now," he added. “And then we made the switch to the Enve wheels last year and the tires also to Continental. So all these things add up and are huge, especially nowadays with how tech. 

"Also our skin suit is super, super fast and precise. So it's really the whole package. So yeah, it's benefited the whole team."

With the TTT chalked off, the overall favourites will now inevitably be offensive as the race heads towards the slopes of Mont Brouilly for stage four. Evenepoel is now eighth overall, 18 seconds from the race lead, with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) a further two seconds back in tenth. Meanwhile Primož Roglič lies almost a minute from the leader's jersey in 28th place. 

Given how the time trial played out, McNulty said he is expecting fireworks for the rest of the race as Evenepoel, Bernal and Roglič look to reassert their authority. 

“In the end it's nice to have a big gap but it also means that the race is going to be super difficult and aggressive," he said. "So we'll just have to be defensive and watch for attacks from the other teams. So we'll see, but it'll definitely be a hard race. I guess tomorrow on Mont Brouilly it'll be really tough and then when the weekend comes too.

“Tomorrow looks really difficult. I've seen some different things about the stage on Saturday with the weather and what not so I don't know what's going to happen there. Tomorrow, I think it will be one of the toughest stages of the week and then the final day in Nice is always chaos.” 

UAE Team Emirates powered to victory in the team time trial on stage three of Paris-Nice, as they took advantage of clement weather to claim the yellow jersey.

The team in white averaged 51.4km/h across the 26.9km course, and took the win by 15 seconds from Jayco AlUla and 20 seconds from EF Education-EasyPost in Auxerre.

As a result of their win, Brandon McNulty stepped into the yellow jersey after it was vacated by New Zealander Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ).

Astana-Qazaqstan set an early benchmark with a time of 32:02, before they were swept away by UAE Team Emirates, who finished in 31:23. Jayco AlUla then came close, as did Ineos Grenadiers and EF Education-EasyPost, all within 30 seconds of UAE, but without making them move from the hot seats.

Rain moved on late on in the day, interrupting some team's efforts at challenging UAE. Soudal Quick-Step were 17 seconds ahead of UAE at the intermediate timing point, but ended the stage 21 seconds down, while Bora-Hansgrohe were 14 seconds up at the halfway mark, but finished the day 54 seconds behind.

As a result, the general classification has been shaken up, with four UAE riders - McNulty, Finn Fisher-Black, João Almeida and Jay Vine in the top five, and pre-race favourites Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 18 seconds and 54 seconds, respectively.

There is a lot of racing still to come - five more stages, in fact - so it is far from game over for Roglič, but it is still quite the deficit to come back from.

For UAE and their quartet of general classification hopefuls, they could hardly be in a better position ahead of bigger tests to come.

"I love this discipline, and we were a strong team coming into it, so we knew we had a good shot at the win," Fisher-Black said, who was first across the line. "I'm not going to lie and say it [the weather] didn't make a difference, we came just before the rain. 

"The team wins a lot, but every win is cherished just as much as any other. There's something special about winning a time trial because you win togheter, there's not just one person crossing the line. Everything was perfect, we don't think we could could have gone faster in any section. 

"We thought before the start it would be good if I could do the sprint at the end... it was good."

Asked if he thought he now had a chance of winning the whole race, the New Zealander said: "I think that's still a dream, but it puts us in a very good position, we can look to fight the next few days. I don't think it's about defending yet, we can still do a lot of attacking."

RESULTS: Paris-Nice stage three, Auxerre > Auxerre (26.9km), TTT

1. UAE Team Emirates, in 31:23
2. Jayco AlUla, +15s
3. EF Education-EasyPost, +20s
4. Soudal Quick-Step, +22s
5. Ineos Grenadiers, s.t.
6. Visma-Lease a Bike, +38s
7. Astana-Qazaqstan, +39s
8. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +39s
9. Cofidis, s.t.
10. Bahrain-Victorious, +42s

General classification after stage three

1. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, in 8:48:53
2. Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates
4. Jay Vine (Aus) UAE Team Emirates, all at same time
5. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +15s
6. Chris Harper (Aus) Jayco AlUla
7. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla, all at same time
8. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +18s
9. Owain Doull (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost, +20s
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, s.t.

Good morning, and welcome back to The Leadout. I hope you’re well and as excited as I am by the return of proper racing. I watched Strade Bianche with my friends at the weekend, and while both races were won by their respective favourites, it was good to see the best riders in the world going up against each other again. I can’t wait for Flanders, now. As always, if you want to get in touch, let me know what race you’re most looking forward to this spring, I’m adam.becket@futurenet.com.

The year is 2024 and we live in a world where Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico are still run concurrently. There are two WorldTour stage races, of more or less equal importance, on at the same time, in two bordering European countries. 11 years ago, there was talk and hope of the pair being given different slots in the season, but that appears to be a long-lost dream now, with the pair seemingly inseparable.

As it is, we all do the same dance every year, switching between the two depending on what the most interesting looking stage is, and getting confused all the while. Is Jonas Vingegaard at Paris-Nice or Tirreno? Is that Mark Cavendish, I didn’t know he was here? Wait, are Lotto Dstny not riding this race? It goes on.

Of course, Paris-Nice and Tirreno are not the only races to clash, but they are the only WorldTour races to overlap by more than a day or two.

Both races have their merits, although they are largely similar: Paris-Nice being an eight-day affair with punchy stages, time trials, sprints, and proper climbing thrown in; Tirreno-Adriatico, meanwhile, is a seven-day race with proper climbing, time trials, sprints and punchy stages thrown in. 

That feels glib, and both are actually great entertainment, especially in the early season, as narratives start to bubble. However, those narratives are affected by both WorldTour races running at the same time, and effectively splitting the field. We can’t know how old teammates Primož Roglič and Vingegaard will match up, because the former is in France, while the latter is in Italy. The same with sprint rivals, like Tim Merlier and Fabio Jakobsen, or Classics stars like Mads Pedersen and Julian Alaphilippe. They’re at different races, with different fields, so it’s hard to measure anything up.

When explaining the cycling season to a non-obsessive, like I’m sure many of us are, it’s easy to sketch it out as a building up to a peak, normally either the Classics or the Tour de France. Where does Paris-Nice and Tirreno clashing fit into this? It’s hard to define. This one is the top race at this time of the year, but so is the other one. It doesn’t really make sense.

Splitting the WorldTour peloton like this just feels mad, and also makes for slightly devalued racing on either side of the Alps. There is history to thank for their concurrent running - both are key to the Classics build up and Tirreno used to be the stage race for Italians, while Paris-Nice was there for French riders - but bike racing is a bit more international these days. And their dates  don’t need to be set in stone.

The solution to this is to give the races different slots in the calendar, a solution which feels reasonably simple to do, given next week is empty of WorldTour racing until Milan-San Remo on the Saturday. It would require a shifting round of programmes and schedules, sure, especially as much of the Tirreno peloton are riders who have stuck around after Strade Bianche, but sometimes things need to change.

Meanwhile, we will continue to channel surf between the two races, hoping to catch the best of the action and work out some kind of narrative. Well, I won’t, I’ll be watching Paris-Nice, because I prefer it. Just don’t tell the Italians.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

After starting in bright sunshine in Thoiry in the Yvelines department of France, stage two of Paris-Nice was a relatively subdued affair as the peloton meandered south in the direction of Montargis. 

In the end, a highly charged sprint finish was inevitable. But it wasn’t Olav Kooj that got another moment in the spotlight, it was Tudor Pro Cycling’s Arvid De Kleijn. The Dutchman was a surprise stage winner ahead of Laurence Pithie (Groupama FDJ) who took over the overall race lead. 

Reflecting on what had been a relatively straightforward day for his team, Bahrain Victorious, Great Britain’s Fred Wright told Cycling Weekly in Montargis that the weather conditions on the rolling terrain were behind the reduced pace. 

Wright said: "It was just a headwind. The main factor was the headwind. There's not that many guys motivated for the break on a day like this. 

"Most teams, even the smaller teams have sprinters that they want to ride for, I mean, Tudor they're not WorldTour but they won the stage today. So that kind of shows. 

"You had the guys fighting for the mountain points, but no one really wants to be hacking into a headwind for four hours just to be caught I guess."

For a large part of the day, the peloton had the appearance of a casual Sunday club ride as opposed to a WorldTour bike race. However, Wright explained that the calmer tempo made for a frenetic finale as the sprinters tore into the centre of Montargis. 

"It wasn't really the stage that I think the organisers had planned with no crosswinds," he said. "We were on a lot of roads where I thought this would have been very different if the wind was coming from a different direction. 

"But in the end, in a lot of ways, it makes it slightly more stressful because everyone's fresh coming into the final kilometre. It was pretty carnage at the end but chapeau to Tudor because they really nailed it with that lead out in the end. 

"We got caught on the wrong side, which is a bit annoying, but the GC boys were safe, so at least we ticked that box."

The British national champion said that he was largely relieved to see the back of the race’s first two stages, ahead of the inevitably brutal days further south to come in the mountains around Nice. 

But before the peloton reaches Nice, the riders will tackle two hillier days around Sisteron in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region. 

Wright explained that he had circled stages five and six in the roadbook as two days opportunities to potentially get up the road and ignite some action in the breakaway.

"I'm quite happy that these first two days are done now as these can be the real stressful ones at Paris-Nice," Wright explained. "Hopefully we'll have a nice hit out in the team time trial tomorrow. 

"Then hopefully there could be some opportunities for me on stage five and six but we'll see."

"Whether it's breakaway or a little reduced sprint, I'm not sure, but six I've had a look at as well as five," he added. "I think five might be controlled again for another sprint, but it's like a much harder sprint and then stage six looks look like a day for a breakaway. 

"Then it's just a case of surviving the mountains for me and then thinking about the rest of the Classics season now."

Paris-Nice continues on Tuesday in Auxerre with a team time trial on stage three. 

Arvid de Kleijn and his ProTeam Tudor Pro Cycling beat some of the best sprinters in the world to victory on stage two of Paris-Nice on Monday.

The Dutchman timed his sprint to perfection in Montargis to take Tudor's first victory of 2024, and the second division team's first ever WorldTour victory.

With many of the favourites out of the final run-in, De Kleijn outsprinted Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla), after coming round Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) in the closing 200m.

Pithie, the 21-year-old from New Zealand, has taken the race leader's yellow jersey as a result of his consistency over the first two days.

The predicted bunch sprint finalé followed a largely slow day on the roads of northern France, as the wind failed to have any impact on the racing. Possibly as a result of sterner tests to come, the peloton seemed to take it easy on Monday, before things kicked off within the final 5km.

"It means a lot," De Kleijm said post-race. "I’ve been close a couple of times, and I was chasing a WorldTour victory. It’s nice to grab it like this. It was a great team performance, we stayed really calm. We have Matteo [Trentin] in our group, and he told us what to do… Today was all in for me, so it’s really nice to finish it up.

"I saw the last 200m and I was a bit boxed in by my own team. I screamed go left, and I was on the wheel of Van Poppel. I came with speed and could keep it to the line 

"We are making big steps, and I’m also taking steps every year. I’m a little bit older than the rest, but it’s still nice to see I can make improvements."

Tudo Pro Cycling, backed by Fabian Cancellara, has made a step up this season, signing the likes of Trentin and Michael Storer, and now they have a WorldTour win to back it up.

It was a quiet day for the general classification riders, with little in the way of terrain to split the bunch, but the yellow jersey did change hands, with stage one winner Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) absent from the front of the bunch sprint. Therefore, Pithie stepped into yellow, the first race leader's jersey for the young Kiwi.

RESULTS: PARIS-NICE STAGE TWO, THOIRY > MONTARGIS

1. Arvid De Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling ) 177.6km in 4:41:02
2. Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) at same time
3. Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) at st
4. Danny Van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) at st
5. Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) at st
6. Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) at st
7. Dries Van Gestel (Total Energies) at st
8. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) at st
9. Pascal Ackermann (Israel-PremierTech) at st
10. Mateo Sobrero (Bora-Hansgrohe) at st

PARIS-NICE OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 2

1. Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) 8:17:20
2. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) at st
3. Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease A Bike) at st
4. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease A Bike) at 4sec
5. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) at 6sec
6. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 8sec
7. Mathias Skelmose (Lidl-Trek) at st
8. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at 10sec
9. Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) at st
10. Jon Barrenetxea (Movistar) at st

Ineos Grenadiers were left delighted by Egan Bernal’s late showing on stage one of Paris-Nice. 

The Colombian came across the line smiling after briefly igniting some minor general classification action on the opening stage, a punchy circuit around Les Mureaux which was won by Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike). 

"One stage less," he told Cycling Weekly post stage. "We’ll go through it stage by stage but keep our feet on the ground."

"We had a plan to move the race on that last climb," he later added in a video from his team. "We were in a good position and then when I saw the opportunity I just followed the guys. We tried to make the race hard and we did it."

Bonus seconds can prove to be crucial in Paris-Nice, as was shown by the top riders determination to attack to snap up what was on offer at the only intermediate sprint point of the day, a steep uphill drag at Montainville. 

Bernal accelerated on the 10% ramp, grabbing third behind Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson and Remco Evenepoel. Jorgenson was the first rider to jump but some of the overall race favourites were straight onto his wheel. Bernal was rewarded with two seconds for his efforts. 

However, perhaps more impressive was Bernal’s willingness to push on once the race hit the final climb of the day, the Côte d'Herbeville. The Colombian surged off the front of the main field to test his legs once more and was briefly joined by Evenepoel and Primož Roglič. 

The move was short lived, but showed that the Colombian is gradually regaining some confidence as he returns to WorldTour racing after a serious crash in 2022 which left him severely injured. A long period of rehabilitation followed before he eventually returned to racing action. 

The former Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner started the current season in strong form and took third overall at O Gran Camiño behind Jonas Vingegaard. 

Steve Cummings, head of racing at Ineos Grenadiers, told Cycling Weekly in Les Mureaux that simply having Bernal present at the race already felt like a victory.

"Obviously, it was a brutal, brutal accident," Cummings said as he reflected on Bernal's comeback. "It's worth looking back and reminding yourself about how bad it was. And then, since then, he's just steadily improved, step by step, and he continues to improve. So it's really good, I’m really happy. 

"I read something yesterday, like the first 40 hours, they weren't sure if he was going to walk and all of this kind of stuff. So it's incredible, really, just to have him at the race and then to see he keeps improving, it feels like a victory every day to be honest."

"He's a really special character in that way as well," he added. "Very resilient. gritty, happy and a very good person."

Paris-Nice continues on Monday with an opportunity for the sprinters. Stage two is a flat 179 kilometre run between Thoiry and Montargis. 

Just as UAE Team Emirates riders were settling into their hotels ahead of Paris-Nice starting on Sunday, their teammate, Tadej Pogačar, was hundreds of miles away putting in an attacking masterclass on the white gravel roads of Strade Bianche. 

Many were left speechless at Pogačar’s daring 81 kilometre solo raid which resulted in a second victory at the Italian Classic for the Slovenian. 

One man who wasn’t totally surprised at Pogačar’s exploits was Jayco-AIUla’s Michael Matthews. The Australian has trained regularly with Pogačar near their base in the south of France. 

Matthews told Cycling Weekly in Les Mureaux that after he had ridden with the Slovenian recently it was clear he was going to hit the ground running in 2024. 

"I think the whole cycling world was watching yesterday," Matthews said. "It was just a phenomenal performance. He did exactly what he said he was going to do. 

"He said he was going to attack from that section from 80 kilometres to go and he just annihilated the peloton."

"We haven't trained together for the last few weeks as I've been away," he added. "But yeah, before that it was a lot and you could see that everything was going in a good way for him that's for sure."

UAE Team Emirates DS Marco Marcato was glued to the television as he watched Pogačar’s attack unfold in the rain on the Monte Sante Marie gravel sector. 

The Italian told Cycling Weekly that Pogačar continues to surprise his coaches with his performances on a yearly basis. 

Marcato said: "It was just amazing to see and actually because he also declared before the start 'I'm going to attack on Monte Sante Marie' and then he did it. 

"When you see the kilometres to the finish, 80 km, it was just huge and it's really a lot but Tadej is Tadej and he did it. 

"Of course we are speaking about real talent and he's making the history of the new cycling, modern cycling. 

"Actually every year we think okay, maybe he is at the limit but he always surprises us and he can just do better every time."

Marcato explained that he is constantly impressed with the two time Tour de France winner’s dedication to the sport and improvement in training. 

"He is a great, really good guy and it is a real pleasure to work with him," he added. "But at the same time he is also really professional and focused on what he's doing. He just shows the champion that he is all the time."

Pogačar is set to make his Giro d’Italia debut in May before making a return to the Tour de France two months later. 

Portugal’s João Almeida is set to line up alongside the Slovenian at the Tour for UAE Emirates as well as the likes of Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso, Marc Soler and Pavel Sivakov. 

Ahead of stage one of Paris-Nice, Almeida explained that he couldn’t pull himself away from watching the action unfold in Italy on Saturday. 

"I was watching the whole afternoon,” he said. “It was such an impressive effort. He can still surprise us all the time so it's so impressive. He is a pleasure to race with."

Once Strade Bianche on Saturday has been and gone, the men’s WorldTour season rolls on with Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico getting underway, on Sunday and Monday respectively.

The provisional start lists for both week long stage races are littered with an array of cycling’s biggest stars and should be quite the spectacle. Remco Evenepoel will continue his preparations for his Tour de France debut at Paris-Nice where he will face off against Primož Roglič. 

Meanwhile, Jonas Vingegaard will be looking to carry on his hugely successful start to his  new campaign at Tirreno-Adriatico. The defending two-time Tour champion opted to ride Paris-Nice last year where he finished third, but is going to Italy this time. He will return to Tirreno for the first time since 2022 in which he finished second to Tadej Pogačar. 

Away from the general classification action, both races should see plenty of aggressive racing from stars including Ben Healy, Tom Pidcock and Mads Pedersen. The sprinters will also get their moment in the limelight on the flatter stages too. 

Here are seven things to look out for once the racing gets started. 

Primož Roglič’s Bora-Hansgrohe debut 

All eyes will be on Primož Roglič this weekend as he gets set to make his Bora-Hansgrohe debut after making the move from Visma-Lease a Bike at the end of last season. 

Roglič has forged a solid reputation as being one of the very best stage racers. As well as winning the Giro d’Italia last year, the Slovenian won every week-long race he entered, winning 10 of the last 13 he has entered, in fact.

It will be intriguing to see how he approaches Paris-Nice with his new teammates. Will he look to take the race on and ignite it or simply get his legs going, and ominously tick over in the background? You would be best placed putting your money on the former. 

There is plenty of firepower in the provisional Bora squad for next week. Backed up by the likes of Aleksandr Vlasov and Bob Jungels, Roglič won’t be short of support as he locks horns with Remco Evenepoel and looks to land his first trophy in his new team's colours. 

Tao Geoghegan Hart continuing comeback 

Geoghegan Hart made his long awaited return to action after injury at the recent Volta ao Algarve, which was also his debut for Lidl-Trek. 

The Londoner fractured his femur in a crash at last year’s Giro which left him side-lined for months prior to his off season transfer to his new team. There were no expectations on his shoulders when he returned to action in Portugal, but he finished seventh on the race's two key mountain stages. 

It was an impressive return given his long layoff and one which he will have been more than happy with. Geoghegan Hart is set to lead the line for his new team at the Tour de France this summer, alongside Mads Pedersen, so Tirreno is another step on the way there.

After a long absence from competition, it’s difficult to predict how comeback races will pan out for a rider but based on his performance in the Algarve, it’s like he was never away at all. 

Explosive racing from Jonas Vingegaard

While everyone was tuned in to Opening Weekend, Jonas Vingegaard was busy getting his season underway at the relatively new Spanish stage race, O Gran Camino. With the four stages out of the way, the consensus is that Vingegaard looks very, very good indeed. 

The defending Tour de France champion completely obliterated all competition to win the general classification, and three stages along the way. It was the second year in a row that he’d pulled this off. 

What was particularly notable was his willingness to take the race on, and ignite the action earlier on in stages than we are perhaps used to seeing. There were early attacks to test rivals legs, pushing away from the main field before sitting up and coming back into the fold. That’s the type of behaviour that you would expect from his rival, Tadej Pogačar, more so than the Dane. 

If Vingegaard looks to continue that attacking style at Tirreno-Adriatico next week, then we could be in for a gripping week of racing from the word go. 

Josh Tarling looking to hit out for Ineos Grenadiers

Josh Tarling is gradually becoming one of the most talked about riders in the sport, despite being just 19-years-old, down to his top time trialling. 

Hailing from Aberaeron in west Wales, the Ineos Grenadiers rider is already one of the best time trialists currently riding in the WorldTour and will only get better. Last summer, Tarling took the bronze medal at the World Championships behind Remco Evenepoel and Ineos teammate Filippo Ganna. He then went on to win the European time trial title just a few months later. His unbeaten streak in ITTs currently stands at four, with Chrono des Nations, one at the Renewi Tour, and the opening stage of O Gran Camiño thrown in.

Paris-Nice lacks an individual time trial this year, but stage three is a team time trial in Auxerre, which he could well help his team out in, despite its hilly profile. Tarling is also looking to claim a road race at some point this season, and where better than in a long range attack on a stage of Paris-Nice?

In other British interests, Tom Pidcock will be one to watch on the punchier days at Tirreno.

Remco Evenepoel's next move

Evenepoel has started the new season with a bang after coming out of a block of racing in Portugal with GC victory to his name at the Volta ao Algarve as well as a win at the Figueira Champions Classic. 

In the Algarve, he demonstrated that he was in fine time trial form, landing a first victory in the rainbow bands as time trial world champion. 

However, Paris-Nice will provide a much sterner test than what Evenepoel faced in Portugal, especially with Primož Roglič present.

Roglič got the better of Evenepoel at the Volta a Catalunya early on last year but, after such a strong start, Evenepoel will be keen to continue the momentum as he builds towards July and a Tour de France.

Will Mads Pedersen continue his sparkling early season form?

So far in 2024, Mads Pedersen’s form book reads two stage races, two overall victories, and four stage wins. The former World Champion completely steamrolled any form of competition at both the Tour de la Provence and Etoile de Bessèges to get his season going with a bang. 

Alongside Mattias Skjelmose, Pedersen will be one of Lidl-Trek’s leaders at Paris-Nice and, judging by his current form, will be a solid bet for a stage win somewhere along the way. He has won stages at Paris-Nice before, including stage two last year, and knows what it takes to outfox the sprinters or win from a breakaway on hillier terrain. 

With the Classics hotting up in the weeks ahead, it will be interesting to see if Pedersen’s hot streak continues in the coming days. 

Ben Healy on the attack

Ben Healy will line up in Italy once again after lighting it up at the Giro d’Italia last year. 

The EF Education-EasyPost rider was regularly on the attack at the Italian Grand Tour and was rewarded with a stage win for his efforts on stage eight. He very nearly landed a second too, and some of the terrain at Tirreno looks perfect for him.

Healy is explosive, punchy and aggressive and always looking to get up the road in pursuit of breakaway opportunities. 

EF are also expected to take Richard Carapaz to Italy in search of GC opportunities. When not working for the Ecuadorian, Healy will hopefully be let off the leash as he should flourish on some of the hillier stages at Tirreno.

With the one-day hitters opening their accounts a fortnight ago at Opening Weekend, Paris-Nice offers the equivalent opportunity for the Grand Tour men when it starts this Sunday (3 March). 

Most notably, Tour de France hopefuls Remco Evenepoel Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) will butt heads for the first time. How much can be read into whoever emerges on top from this particular skirmish is limited this far out from July. 

But, as an eight-stage WorldTour race complete with a healthy complement of proper mountains and a hilly team time trial, the ‘Race to the Sun’ represents a key marker along the bumpy road to La Grande Boucle. 

The duo are unlikely to have it all their own way, of course. Riders such as João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and new Visma-Lease a Bike signing Matteo Jorgenson are all capable of taking the fight to them.

Thee sprinters, too, will look to create their own narrative, but they will have limited opportunity: seven out of eight stages are classified as hilly or mountainous by organiser ASO. The parcours gets grippy from the go, with stage one – a loop based on Les Mureaux just outside Paris – featuring four cat-three climbs. Only the second stage to Montargis is classified as flat, and all the fast finishers will have their eyes on this one.

Then comes the team test – a hilly one to boot. After that, climbing is the order of the day all the way to the finish. Stage four, to Mont Brouilly in the Beaujolais region, looks particularly brutal with six cat-two climbs and a cat-one, including a tough little 3km ascent to the finish. Things calm down over the next stages before battering the riders again on the final day with three cat-two and two cat-one climbs on the way to the Nice finish.

Paris-Nice 2024 key information

Date: Sunday, 3 March - Sunday, 10 March
Location: France
Start: 12:00 GMT
End: 16:00 GMT
2023 winner: Tadej Pogačar
TV: Discovery+/Eurosport

Paris-Nice 2024 stages

There’s an unwritten rule or, at the very least an expectation, that team time trials are broadly flat. After all, when riding on the rivet, keeping seven riders in tight formation is challenge enough. 

Start throwing any proper climbing in there though, and it becomes a whole different ball game. But that’s exactly what ASO’s route planners have done, sending riders over the 3km climb of Côte de Jussy halfway through the 27km course. 

This is preceded by a slightly smaller climb and another over the final kilometre. Removed from a TTT context they would be nothing to write home about, but with seven riders with different strengths and weaknesses all determined to go as fast as possible, they have the potential to wreak havoc.

Paris-Nice 2024 riders to watch

Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step
*****

Evenepoel ranks as the odds-on favourite for the race, having started the season with a very promising performance in the Volta ao Algarve, where he won the time trial and took the overall honours.

Primož Roglič
Bora-Hansgrohe
*****

Paris-Nice will be the 34-year-old’s first race with his new team. He would almost certainly prefer an individual TT over the team test, but there is enough tough riding across the rest of the week to allow him to do what he does best.

Mads Pedersen
Lidl-Trek
*****

Fastman Pedersen has had his best ever start to the season, topping GC on two short stage races. Paris-Nice represents a step up but the Dane is on fine form and ready to take advantage of the one nailed-on bunch sprint on stage two.

Rigoberto Uran
EF Education-EasyPost
***

The 37-year-old Colombian finished last season without a win. However, ‘Rigo’ can still turn a mean pedal, and with retirement looming following the Olympics, he still has goals and will be hoping to go out with a flourish.

Carlos Rodriguez
Ineos Grenadiers
***

Part of Ineos’s new generation of Grand Tour hopefuls, Rodríguez should be counted as a GC favourite at Paris-Nice. A mountain goat by nature and a world-class one at that, he will be pleased to see the race does not scrimp on the climbing.

Arnaud Démare
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
***

After being left out of FDJ’s Tour squad despite multiple early summer wins last year, the Frenchman promptly moved to Arkéa. Moving teams often leads to levelling up – look out for a reinvigorated Démare at Paris-Nice.

Paris-Nice 2024 start list

Alpecin-Deceuninck
GROVES Kaden
KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren
BALLERSTEDT Maurice
DILLIER Silvan
OSBORNE Jason
PLANCKAERT Edward
GHYS Robbe

Arkéa-B&B Hotels
DÉMARE Arnaud
CHAMPOUSSIN Clément
SCOTSON Miles
GUERNALEC Thibault
MCLAY Daniel
OWSIAN Łukasz

Astana Qazaqstan
SCARONI Christian
BATTISTELLA Samuele
CHARMIG Anthon
LUTSENKO Alexey
KANTER Max
SELIG Rüdiger
TEJADA Harold

Bahrain-Victorious
BILBAO Pello
BUITRAGO Santiago
HAIG Jack
WRIGHT Fred
GRADEK Kamil
RAJOVIĆ Dušan
SÜTTERLIN Jasha 

Bora-Hansgrohe
ROGLIČ Primož
VLASOV Aleksandr
JUNGELS Bob
SOBRERO Matteo
DENZ Nico
HALLER Marco
VAN POPPEL Danny

Cofidis
COQUARD Bryan
GOUGEARD Alexis
RENARD Alexis
THOMAS Benjamin
IZAGIRRE Ion
IZAGIRRE Gorka
PEREZ Anthony

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
GALL Felix
ARMIRAIL Bruno
BENNETT Sam
GODON Dorian
NAESEN Oliver
PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien
DE BONDT Dries

dsm-firmenich PostNL
JAKOBSEN Fabio
EEKHOFF Nils
VAN DEN BERG Julius
ANDRESEN Tobias Lund
LEEMREIZE Gijs
ROOSEN Timo
TUSVELD Martijn

EF Education-EasyPost
BISSEGGER Stefan
VAN DEN BERG Marijn
VALGREN Michael
URÁN Rigoberto
DOULL Owain
ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack
RUTSCH Jonas

Groupama-FDJ
GAUDU David
PITHIE Laurence
BYSTRØM Sven Erik
GENIETS Kevin
RUSSO Clément
WATSON Samuel
PACHER Quentin

Ineos Grenadiers
DE PLUS Laurens
TARLING Joshua
FRAILE Omar
RODRÍGUEZ Carlos
CASTROVIEJO Jonathan
BERNAL Egan
TURNER Ben

Intermarché-Wanty
VAN SINTMAARTENSDIJK Roel
THIJSSEN Gerben
CALMEJANE Lilian
PETIT Adrien
ZIMMERMANN Georg
DE POOTER Dries
MIHKELS Madis

Israel-Premier Tech
ACKERMANN Pascal
FUGLSANG Jakob
HOFSTETTER Hugo
BOIVIN Guillaume
HOULE Hugo
SCHWARZMANN Michael
ZABEL Rick

Jayco AlUla
REINDERS Elmar
MATTHEWS Michael
HARPER Chris
PLAPP Luke
GROENEWEGEN Dylan
DURBRIDGE Luke
MEZGEC Luka

Lidl-Trek
SKJELMOSE Mattias
PEDERSEN Mads
BERNARD Julien
KIRSCH Alex
STUYVEN Jasper
DECLERCQ Tim
GIBBONS Ryan

Lotto Dstny
DE LIE Arnaud
CAMPENAERTS Victor
DE BUYST Jasper
BEULLENS Cedric
VAN MOER Brent
EENKHOORN Pascal
PAASSCHENS Mathijs

Movistar
CAVAGNA Rémi
NORSGAARD Mathias
BARTA Will
LAZKANO Oier
ARANBURU Alex
GUERREIRO Ruben
JACOBS Johan

Soudal Quick-Step
EVENEPOEL Remco
VAN WILDER Ilan
VERVAEKE Louis
LAMPAERT Yves
CATTANEO Mattia
MOSCON Gianni
PEDERSEN Casper

TotalEnergies
BURGAUDEAU Mathieu
CRAS Steff
VAN GESTEL Dries
LATOUR Pierre
TURGIS Anthony
DUJARDIN Sandy
JEGAT Jordan

Tudor Pro Cycling
TRENTIN Matteo
DE KLEIJN Arvid
STORER Michael
KLUCKERS Arthur
PLUIMERS Rick
VOISARD Yannis
ZIJLAARD Maikel

UAE Team Emirates
ALMEIDA João
MCNULTY Brandon
FISHER-BLACK Finn
VINE Jay
GROßSCHARTNER Felix
POLITT Nils
SOLER Marc

Visma-Lease a Bike
JORGENSON Matteo
KOOIJ Olav
KELDERMAN Wilco
AFFINI Edoardo
BOUWMAN Koen
VAN DIJKE Mick
VAN DIJKE Tim

Two men who who stole Tadej Pogačar’s watch during this year's Paris-Nice have been sentence to four years in prison by a a French court.

32-year-old Jonathan Napolitano and 37-year-old Haikel Jerbi were found guilty of stealing the Richard Mille watch, with a reported value of €165,000, from the UAE Team Emirates hotel in Valbonne during the race in early March this year, Nice-Matin reported on Wednesday.

The robbery occurred about 6pm on the 11th March during Paris-Nice, the evening before Pogačar’s overall victory at the race in Nice.

The Slovenian told the court in Nice this week that the Richard Mille watch had been given to him by his sponsor after the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“It was a special watch for me,”  Pogačar told the court. "I find it curious that they could sell it so quickly, with no box or documentation."

The 24-year-old was not present in his room when the theft occurred, as he was getting a massage on the same hotel floor. During this window, Napolitano and Jerbi convinced a trainee waitress to let them into Pogačar's room on the pretence of being guests wanting to serve a drink to one of their partners.

The two men also were found guilty of robbing two more watches, both still missing, from a safe in a home in Nice, a crime that was aided with the use of a tracker put under the victim's car, and a story about a lost bird.

It was due to this earlier robbery that the police were able to apprehend the pair, however none of the stolen watches have been recovered. The two men were arrested on the 16th March.

As well as the four-year prison sentence handed down, the two were each fined €50,000.

Pogačar is not the first professional cyclist to be robbed of his luxury watch. 

Romario Henry and Ali Sesay were both convicted of robbery and sentenced to prison at Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this year, after they broke into Mark Cavendish's family home in November 2021.

In January, the court was told that the pair broke into the house wearing balaclavas and put Cavendish in a headlock with a knife to his throat.

The robbers then forced the family to hand over phones, a safe and two Richard Mille watches values at £400,000 and £300,000, among other items.

The cyclist's wife, Peta Cavendish, told the court how the crime had "turned a loving family home into a constant reminder of threat and fear".

David Gaudu has been the coming thing of French cycling for a few years now, the Groupama-FDJ rider being on the radar of cycling watchers since his third place at the UAE Tour four years ago. As his compatriot and teammate Thibaut Pinot has faded, the buck has passed to the Breton, the future hope of a nation desperate for GC success.

At Paris-Nice last week, the 26-year-old took another step forward, finishing on the podium in the starry company of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), the winners of the last three Tours de France collectively.

This was his second WorldTour podium, after the UAE Tour in 2019, and his first in Europe, the first that one feels really matters.

It was not just the result which impressed, but the manner with which Gaudu rode. He was able to attack on stage four to La Loge des Gardes, even if he was eventually beaten by Pogačar, and on stage seven to the Col de la Couillole, he was the only rider able to follow the Slovenian, and again finished second.

At last year's Tour de France, Gaudu finished fourth, a stellar result, but he was six minutes off Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in third, and 11 minutes behind Pogačar in second. This year, it feels like something has changed.

His Swiss teammate, Stefan Küng, agreed with this sentiment: "I think he will gain a huge amount of confidence out of this race, because even though he was fourth in the Tour last year, he was far away from the other two riders for sure. 

"Now, I feel he has really narrowed the gap to these two. I think he will feel that as well himself. As soon as they went, he was riding his rhythm, limiting his losses, and now he's not afraid of following, of even attacking them. It's really cool to see."

The diminutive man is from Landivisiau, about as northwest as you can possibly get in France without touching the Atlantic Ocean, but he feels central to France's hopes for a first Tour de France win since 1985 and Bernard Hinault. We all know the story.

Perhaps it has been easy to dismiss Gaudu before, due to his bookish look - he wears glasses off the bike, and prescription lenses on it - and his height, but it feels like he is here to stay. Even the Anglophone media needs to start paying attention.

"For this whole week, I’ve been in the battle," he said. "In my head, I’m really motivated and I don’t want to have any regrets or look back in a year’s time and think I could've followed him [Pogačar].

"Today, this year, this week, we’re trying to learn how to respond to attacks and attack ourselves. I’m happy to be at this level, but there’s still stage nine, so we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves."

Küng, three years Gaudu's senior, has seen the progression in his teammate through the years.

"I've seen quite a development with him over the last few years," he explained. "Now, he's calmer, more mature. Before, he had a lot of temper, and now he's able to channel his temper and do good things with it. Otherwise, he's pretty calm, so it was a bit all or nothing, but now he is more stable. 

"He's confident in his abilities and in his teammates. I think this is what we see today, as well as another little progression that he has made from year to year."

The Swiss rider also echoed the thought that it is Gaudu's performances over Paris-Nice that have been as impressive as the result itself.

"It's hard to say, sometimes when you see a teammate going strong in training, it's different to in a race," Küng said. "But for sure, as good as he's going now, he will gain a lot of confidence out of this. He didn't quite have that three, four years ago, and now he is really good, this is what you need when you want to win a race like this. You have to be confident in your abilities. This is already a good sign."

The team are not getting carried away, but they were also delighted with second at Paris-Nice; one could see that from the way they greeted each other post-stage eight. Perhaps Pogačar is one step too far, but on this form, you can see Gaudu challenging throughout the season, and at the Tour.

"During our debriefing, we didn't talk about regrets," his directeur sportif, Philippe Mauduit said. "We mainly emphasised the fact that the guys did a great job for eight days. They were involved in the race every day, they never suffered, they even had a head start at times.

"Collectively, it worked really well and David took full advantage of it. As I said yesterday, having this team around him helps to make him even more confident. There is no great leader without a great team. We announced at the start of the race in Paris that we wanted to be as close as possible to the podium. We knew, since last year, that David was close to the best, but there was still some work to do to play with them.

"This week, he showed that he was capable of doing it, not only on one stage but over the whole week. His consistency is interesting. We will savour what has been done in Paris-Nice, learn from what worked well and examine the small details that we can improve."

As for Gaudu, what waits for him next is Itzulia Basque Country next month, where he can once again test himself against Vingegaard. On this form, one would suggest the Frenchman could win it. Then, the sky is the limit.

France has a strong art history of colours. Anyone who has looked at the works of the Impressionists, or the Fauvists, or even the 20th century work of the Nice-born artist Yves Klein can attest to bright colours becoming more important than realism in French art.

The Tour de France, one of the country's greatest exports, also has a strong history of colour. The maillot jaune, the yellow jersey, is iconic, known to people even beyond cycling as *the* cycling kit. Similarly, the maillot à pois, the polka-dot jersey, has a reach well beyond 21 days every summer in France.

This is why it is dramatic that one of the emblematic colours of the Tour - green - has a new shade as of last year. It was debuted at Paris-Nice in 2023, and will be seen across ASO's French stage races, which means the Critérium du Dauphiné, but also, crucially, the Tour de France. 

While the week of action at Paris-Nice, last March, was thrilling and enthralling, it is unlikely that the green jersey's new colour has reached the casual fan, the person that would only normally tune into cycling on a day in July. When they switch on stage two from Cesenatico to Bologna this summer, they will be in for a shock, as the points jersey has changed from its traditional lime green to a dark colour, think South Africa rugby or Plymouth Argyle or the Green Bay Packers.

It has proved controversial with vocal fans on social media - an important clarification, because it might turn out those who are into cycling a little less don't care - both because of the look, and because it is difficult to pick out in the peloton from above.

It has moved to a darker shade at the behest of sponsors Skoda, who have been on the jersey since 2015. It appears the company has rebranded to the new colour, so must the jersey that bears its name.

Speaking to riders at Paris-Nice last year, it was difficult to pick up a groundswell of opposition, as there has been from fans.

"I like it," Trek-Segafredo's Mads Pedersen told Cycling Weekly, while wearing the aforementioned kit. "I don't care, Skoda sponsor the jersey, and they decide what they want on the jersey. I think the problem people have with the new colours is because the old one was there forever. 

"Now it's changing, and of course that's something people have to get used to. To be honest, I think it's a nice colour and it's a nice new thing. Already now. It is how it is, it looks classy and more modern. I don't mind it, it's pretty cool. Maybe I would have a different opinion if they changed the yellow jersey, but this one is fine."

Equally, another man who has donned the green jersey in the past, Alexander Kristoff of Uno-X, does not particularly mind: "I liked the old one, but maybe you just have to get used to it and after a few days it is fine."

There was a hint of opposition from Bahrain-Victorious' Fred Wright: "I think on Sam [Bennett], with the Bora kit it looked really similar, but I think Mads pulled it off alright in the Trek kit.

"I think leaders' jerseys should be as bright and colourful as possible, so maybe it should be the lime green. I like the old school."

It's similarity with the Bora-Hansgrohe kit, a shade of dark green quite a lot like the points jersey, has already caused problems for fans trying to pick out riders. However, the German team will change their kit for the Tour de France, as they have in the past, with their new Red Bull sponsors.

It is not the only kit clash in the peloton, but it is a manufactured one.

"I'm incredibly colour blind anyway, so I find it hard to distinguish jerseys as it is," Bora's Ryan Mullen said. "From a distance, it doesn't look any different to our jersey, in my eyes. Personally, I prefer the old one, the Kermit green. I think it was more of a popping colour, now it's just a dirty milky green."

The green jersey's colour is not the only thing that has changed due to sponsorship.

Harder to spot on television, but still important both for the viewer and the fans watching, is the combativity prize, awarded daily at ASO's French races.

In living memory, it has always been red, and most recently sponsored by Antargaz, the French fuel company, but it is now be gold, because it is sponsored by Century 21, a nationwide chain of estate agents. Not 21st Century Fox.

As seen on Kobe Goossens, the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty rider, the effect is now a bit more muted, with the gold numbers harder to pick out, although they do look very different from the ordinary white. However, it might prove difficult to distinguish from the yellow numbers worn by the team leading that classification at the Tour, but then they do wear yellow helmets too.

Goosens was cool with it: "It's special, so it's still good for me."

However, Wright was less complimentary: "They should always be red. That's rubbish, they should be flames."

Change is coming. Be ready.

On the 20th anniversary of his death during the 2003 edition of Paris-Nice, an emotional tribute was paid to Andrei Kivilev on the start podium prior to the final stage of ‘the race to the sun’. In the presence of Kivilev’s wife, Natalia, and Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme, Astana-Qazaqstan team boss Alexandre Vinokourov, the Kazakh’s compatriot, close friend and winner of that 2003 race, recalled how this year’s race had passed close to the place where Kivilev crashed on a stage into Saint-Étienne two decades ago and described the sport as “hard, complicated and dangerous”.

Kivilev crashed when the rider in front of him suffered a mechanical problem just as the Kazakh had taken his hands from his bars to adjust his earpiece. Transported to hospital in Saint-Étienne, which was his adopted home in France and where his wife and six-month-old son had been waiting for him at the finish line, Kivilev died during that night. 

His teammates and the rest of the riders were told of his fate the following morning, when a decision was taken to neutralise the stage. “We weren’t going to cry in a car. We were going to ride. For Andrei. Like him,” his former Cofidis team-mate Nico Mattan told L’Équipe earlier this week. 

The UCI had previously attempted to make the use of helmets compulsory, but riders had rebuffed this measure. Although some of them continued to rail against their use, complaining that they weren’t ugly, weren’t aerodynamic and even it was said led to premature hair loss, Kivilev’s death led to the UCI introducing a rule making the use of helmets obligatory prior to the start of the 2004 season.

 Speaking to LaCourseEnTete.com, Jayco-AlUla team director Tristan Hoffman, then riding for Team CSC, recalled passing Kivilev as he received treatment on the road that day and reflected on the change that the Kazakh rider’s death precipitated. “I have a photo of me racing Paris-Roubaix without a helmet. I can’t imagine what I was thinking then,” he said. 

“One of the things that I also heard is that when you put a helmet on and then glasses, the fans cannot see you anymore, but these were stupid reasons. Some guys were saying that you lost your hair.”

According to Hoffman, “It was 100% the right decision. No doubt. OK, when you want to change something in cycling, everybody is going protest, but in the end it was a good decision. Like I said, I have photos of me at Paris-Roubaix without a helmet, and that’s stupid… It takes time to change the mentality in a peloton. But I think it’s the right way. It’s still a dangerous sport. But the helmet, of course, helps to protect your head.”

With Natalia Kivilev standing alongside him in Nice where he took a highly-emotional victory in 2003, holding a picture of his friend aloft as he stood on the podium, Vinokourov concluded the tribute by saying: “ I was here when Andrei left us and I was happy to win that race for him. It’s a good memory in the end.”

Form is an illusory concept. One can look at results, how someone is riding, how they are talking, and create an idea which may or may not be backed up by the person themselves. People talk about someone looking "in" or "out of" form easily, without complete access to the data, to how someone is actually feeling. Hence the clichéd question often asked of cyclists, "how are the legs?"

Take Tadej Pogačar. The UAE Team Emirates rider won his ninth race on Sunday by taking the final stage of Paris-Nice and the overall in the proccess, in just 13 race days, which ultimately means out of 15 opportunities to win something. 

He won the Race to the Sun at the first time of asking, decisively beating the man people think will be his biggest rival at the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard, in the process. He triumphed over David Gaudu in second by 53 seconds, and Vingegaard in third by 1-39. It is the largest winning margin seen at Paris-Nice, a normally tight race, since Richie Porte won the 2013 edition by 55 seconds.

Pogačar won the points jersey and the young rider's jersey at the same time, and won three out of seven completed stages. Of the four that he didn't win, three went to sprinters and one was lost in the team time trial. 

It is not just the results either, with the Slovenian just looking better than his rivals when he needed to be; when he attacked with 18.7km to go on Sunday, no one could match him, not even Gaudu, who looked almost on his level on Saturday's stage seven.

However, Pogačar does not think he is in as good a place in 2023 as he was last year. By the 12 March 2022, he had won the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche and was about to win Tirreno-Adriatico. This year, he has only won Jaén Paraiso Interior, the Ruta del Sol and now Paris-Nice. Only.

"Last year at this time I was really strong," he explained. "I was off altitude and this year without altitude in the first months of the season, so I still have a little bit to improve. Not too much."

One imagines that Vingegaard, Gaudu, and the rest, are fearful at the thought of an even stronger Pogačar. He refused to be drawn on the question of what this meant for the Tour de France, however, perhaps wisely. 

"There are many favourites for the Tour of course," he said. "There is still a long way to go, many races in between. We will see.

"Last year was pretty much the same in  Tirreno, so it’s nothing special, it’s just a race. This time I was better than him [Vingegaard], and we will see in the next races if he can perform and improve."

He is right, this time last year everyone was raving about the 24-year-old's form only for it not to hold up at the Tour, or at least, there was one better: Vingegaard.

While Pogačar sought to play down his achievements in his post-race press conference, one imagines it must be a psychological blow for Vingegaard to be beaten across this week.

Even if he is going well, at where he needs to be for this point in the season, it cannot be part of the plan to see his great rival heading up the road repeatedly.

"Last year, Jonas finished second or third in Tirreno, but Pogačar was way better than him, but now he finished third, he gave a good fight this week," his directeur sportif, Grischa Niermann, said on Sunday.

"Pogačar was clearly on a level better this week, but this doesn’t take away that we’re happy with where he [Vingegaard] is on his form curve. We go to every race to win, we go for victory, but we have to accept that Pogačar was better this week.

"Jonas also wants to win, but he also knows how many races Pogačar has won in the last years, especially in Spring. As soon as we knew he was coming to Paris-Nice, we knew it would be very very hard, we still came with ambition, but we knew that. Also we know that Jonas is not in his Tour shape."

While this week might have dampened Vingegaard's 2023 mood, it boosted Gaudu's.

The Frenchman, now 26, seemed to come into his own on the roads of southern France. Even if he could not hang onto Pogačar's wheel on Sunday, as he did on Saturday, it was a promising performance.

"I didn’t have the best legs in the world, certainly not the same legs I had yesterday," he said.

“Pogačar was stronger, I wasn’t on a good day, or at least as good a day as yesterday, but there are no regrets, from today or the whole week.” 

“It’s a great result," he added. "It’s not every day that you get the chance to stand on the podium at Paris-Nice, or any other WorldTour stage race. If you’d offer us this at the start of the race, we’d have taken it.” 

While the action turns to the Classics, which only Pogačar will take part in - Gaudu and Vingegaard will not race until Itzulia Basque Country in April - remember this trio as the calendar trundles on towards the Tour de France. Also remember that form is not permanent, but class is.

Paris-Nice marked the fifth ASO-organised stage race that Pogačar did not win at least three stages in, with only one bucking the trend: the 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné.

Anyone who doubts his class just needs to think about the Slovenian's collection of yellow jersey bears, which now must number well over 30.

Soudal Quick-Step team boss Patrick Lefevere has lashed out at the UCI, accusing the sport’s ruling body of being “short of cash” after his team leader Julian Alaphilippe was handed a fine of 500 Swiss francs for removing his helmet during Thursday’s fourth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

Writing in his weekly column in Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad, Lefevere was typically forthright. “Wind in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, but I notice that it’s also raining. The fines from the UCI are falling from the sky this year,” he declared.

“A fine of 500 Swiss francs for Julian Alaphilippe on Thursday… He briefly took off his helmet while he changed his clothing. How long did that take? A maximum of five minutes. That’s 100 Swiss francs a minute.”

He backed up his claim that the UCI is “short of cash” by pointing to other incidents that resulted in his riders being penalised by race commissaires. The Belgian team boss highlighted the disqualification of James Knox for drafting behind a car at the Tour Down Under after the Briton had had to undergo a concussion test protocol following a crash. He also referred to Alaphilppe losing the yellow jersey during the 2020 Tour de France for a time penalty imposed after he’d taken a bottle just beyond the point where feeding had ended.

Lefevere went on to suggest that the UCI itself should come under scrutiny for what he saw as dangerous road furniture on the finale of stage five of Paris-Nice. “I’m not going to say that the UCI should applaud when a rider takes off his helmet – we shouldn’t downplay safety – but should the federation also impose a fine on itself if a bollard suddenly becomes apparent in the road in the last kilometre of Paris-Nice? I didn’t see that in the official communiqué,” he affirmed.

Lefevere concluded his swipe at the UCI by suggesting that former riders would be much better suited to the role of the commissaires who ensure adherence to the sport’s rules during racing. “A former rider has a better feel for that than someone who has never raced… My advice to retired riders who want to ‘keep doing something in racing’: take a UCI commissaire’s course,” he said

A glance at the UCI rules suggests that Alaphilippe could have been handed a more severe penalty, including disqualification from the Italian stage race for removing his helmet. The regulations state that a 200 Swiss franc fine and elimination or disqualification for this infraction. But the Frenchman actually appears to have been charged under the section of the rules relating to ‘damage to the image of cycling’.