Paris-Nice: Shorter stage, longer climb as snow forecast forces change to stage 7

Forecasts calling for a strong chance of snow in Auron, the hosts of Saturday's stage 7 of Paris-Nice, have led the organisers ASO to shorten the stage and move the finish south to the Madone d'Utelle.

The organisation announced the decision on Thursday, stating the decision had been made "due to the unfavourable weather conditions in the Alpes-Maritimes department and according to the weather forecast for the weekend, and to ensure the safety of the riders."

The race, "in agreement with the city of Nice, the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropole, the Alpes-Maritimes Prefecture and after consulting the panel of commissaires of the International Cycling Union (UCI), the representatives of the teams and riders (AIGCP, CPA), have decided to modify the route of stage 7", it continued.

The 2024 Paris-Nice route for the penultimate stage was due to be 173 kilometres long, starting in Nice and snaking through the mountains to the north.

The new stage will keep the first 89km of the originally planned route, heading over the category 2 Côte de Gattiéres before diverging from the planned route to head over the category 1 Col Saint-Martin La Colmiane and finish at the Auron ski resort at 1,614 metres.

The Auron resort forecast is predicting up to 10cm of snow between Friday and Saturday.

The new finish on the Madone d'Utelle will be 15.3km long and average 5.7% and come at the end of a 104km stage. While the stage is much shorter, the climb is longer than the previous two major climbs - the 7.5km Colmiane and 7.3km Auron ascent combined.

The Madone d'Utelle has been used once for a stage of Paris-Nice in 2016. Geraint Thomas took the lead on the climb and held it to the finish the next day.