Jonas Vingegaard doubled up on stage 4 of Paris-Nice, winning the stage and claiming the leader’s yellow jersey by surviving horrendous conditions. The Danish rider delivered a masterclass in adapting to adversity, turning a day of sheer chaos into a stunning personal victory on the Morvan hills.
A Day of Complete Carnage
The fourth stage barely began before the race exploded, as crosswinds created echelons and splits in the peloton. The stage from Bourges to Uchon transformed into a roller-coaster of eliminations, crashes, and brutal racing conditions. On a bitterly cold, rainy day through the hills of central France, an early echelon of 40 riders containing Ayuso, Vingegaard and Martínez already saw the race shattered into pieces long before the final climbs.
The weather showed no mercy. Crashes combined with atrocious weather conditions saw multiple high-profile abandons, from race leader Juan Ayuso to Brandon McNulty and Daan Hoole and no less than 9 other early exits. A major pile-up at 55 kilometres saw Ayuso fall heavily and abandon, whilst other top contenders badly affected included Brandon McNulty who abandoned with a knee injury.
The Yellow Jersey Changes Hands
Juan Ayuso abandoned Paris-Nice after crashing heavily with 47km remaining on stage 4 to Uchon. The Spaniard was in the yellow jersey after leading his Lidl-Trek squad to second place in Tuesday’s team time trial. Following his fall there was fear that there could be a fracture for the Spaniard which would end his spring campaign, but Lidl-Trek confirmed this was not the case. After crashing Ayuso got back on the bike but it was quickly evident he would withdraw from the race.
Vingegaard’s Ideal Scenario
Initially with four riders in a front group, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were able to push on with Vingegaard, who finally soared away unanswered by Martinez one kilometre from the rain-soaked summit. The crash had created the perfect storm for the Dane—while his rivals were scattered and suffering, Vingegaard was positioned perfectly to strike.
Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe had strength in numbers on the final climb up to the stage finish in Uchon, with brothers Mick and Tim van Dijke dragging team-mate Martínez the whole way up the 8km ascent, and Vingegaard sitting in fourth wheel. Under the red banner, Vingegaard launched his acceleration. Martinez had no reply.
The Damage Report
Ineos Grenadiers co-leader Kévin Vauquelin, previously third overall, was amongst those dropped early, while teammate Oscar Onley suffered after an earlier fall and then a mechanical and finished more than three minutes down. The early echelons proved devastating for GC contenders who weren’t positioned correctly when the race split.
Vingegaard also earned himself six bonus seconds after winning the intermediate sprint at Autun, just before the middle of the day’s three climbs, extending his advantage over second-place Martínez even further.
A Heroic Performance
Sports director Marc Reef called it a heroic victory, describing how Vingegaard showed that he was the best on the climb and praising his very strong performance.
A smiling Vingegaard said after the stage: “We did expect a crazy day but definitely not as crazy as it ended up. We had a plan to go on the second-last climb, but everything was just full-gas racing. I’ve been feeling good, but all day was just extremely hard.”
The Danish champion didn’t just survive the brutal conditions and crashes that felled the race’s previous leader—he thrived in them. By avoiding the pitfalls that claimed Ayuso and McNulty, and by sitting patiently in the final group before striking decisively on the climb to Uchon, Vingegaard turned Paris-Nice’s fourth stage into his own masterpiece. Having left Paris-Nice due to a crash last year, it’s great to be back with a stage win and the leader’s jersey, the Dane reflected, and indeed, redemption tastes particularly sweet on such a day.
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