Primož Roglič might be a former-ski jumper, but the Jumbo-Visma rider says that he does not enjoy snow when he's on his bike, with bad weather forecast for Paris-Nice's ascent of the Col de Turini.
The Slovenian leads the general classification ahead of the final weekend, keeping control of the race on a testing stage six.
On Saturday, the peloton will climb the Col de Turini, where freezing rain and possibly even snow are forecast. The queen stage might therefore be affected by the weather, with reports earlier in the week that it might need to be re-routed.
Speaking after he stepped down from the podium, Roglič said "I love snow for sure, but not when I'm riding a bike. I do other things on the snow, I prefer now sun and warmth when I'm riding the bike."
Later at the press conference, he expanded: "No one really likes to ride in the snow in the bike... Going up should be manageable. It will be super cold, super hard, but it's the queen stage, a mountain top finish, so hopefully I will have the legs."
His teammate Wout van Aert came close to winning yet another stage on Friday, finishing third behind Mads Pedersen of Trek-Segafredo and Mathieu Burgaudeau of TotalEnergies.
Roglič described the day as "really hard". Riders raced into a headwind almost all day, heading southeast, and came in just ahead of the race organiser's slowest recorded time; they averaged 38.5km/h.
"Yeah today was really hard, going with the wind all day" he said. "It's the beginning of the season, every day here is hard racing. Again today it was really windy, super uncomfortable. One less, tomorrow is the big one. Hopefully I have the legs to go with the best ones."
Last year Roglič lead Paris-Nice from stage four but ended up finishing 15th overall after crashing on the final day of the race. He will be hoping for better fortune in the final days of this year's edition.
"I don't really think about [winning]," the Slovenian explained after Friday's stage. "I'll do my best, and it's all I can do."
As for tomorrow: "I expect full gas racing, hopefully I will have the legs to be with the best ones. The climb itself is super hard."
