At it happened: rain-shortened stage 7 of Paris-Nice ends in a bunch sprint
Further changes made to the penultimate stage of the race amid heavy rainfall
Bonjour and welcome to stage seven of Paris-Nice!
First things first, the new route. It was announced yesterday that, due to snow, the race will no longer be able to travel up to the planned summit finish at Auron, instead finishing earlier on at Isola. There has been talk all week that adverse weather might affect this stage, but the good news is that the stage is still going ahead.
So this won't be the mountainous, queen stage that it was designed as, but, in March, such bad weather is always a possibility. Instead it looks set to be an intense stage, with enough climbs to still potentially prompt attacks, albeit not big GC gaps.
The weather out there is bad, with the rain falling. There could yet me more route revisions.
⚠️ IMPORTANT - ETAPE 7 ⚠️Départ en convoi à 12h pour aller à un nouveau lieu de départ à 47km de l'arrivée. Le nouveau départ sera donné à 13h45 à cet endroit pour les 47 derniers km de la course.⚠️ IMPORTANT - STAGE 7 ⚠️We will depart in a convoy at 12:00 PM to head to a…March 14, 2026
It’s been announced that the route has been shortened yet more. The stage will instead now only be 27km long, with a finish at Isola.
The new planned start time is 12:45 GMT (13:45 local time).
That means that both of the other climbs that had been on the agenda, the category three climbs, Côte de Carros and Côte de Bouyon, have been scrapped.
This is the weather that has caused the additional revisions.
The new start will be 73km into what was the originally planned route, at Louis Nucéra bridge in Le Broc, and finish at Isola village, with the original summit finish at Auron scapped.
The situation remains in flux. It’s unclear what the appetite will be for any kind of racing in the peloton in such miserable conditions.
Jensen Plowright could at least see the funny side of things.
As things stand, the race will be a gradual uphill 47km from the start to the finish at Isola, from an elevation of about 200m above sea level to 800m.
An update on the new route.
Race leader Jonas Vingegaard.
Here was what Jonas Vingegaard had to say yesterday in regards to the threat of bad weather affecting today’s stage.
The riders are on their team buses now, making their way to the new start at Le Broc.
Not included among them are Pascal Eenkhoorn and stage two winner Max Kanter, both of whom have pulled out of the race.
They aren’t the only riders that have pulled out this morning. In total there are twelve. We’ll bring you a full list in a moment.
A list of the day's non-starters:
Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step)
Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
Nikias Arndt (Bahrain Victorious)
Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost)
Milan Menten (Lotto Intermarché)
Timo Roosen (Picnic PostNL)
Sven Erik Bystrom (Uno-X Mobility)
Aime De Gendt (Pinarello-Q36.5)
Frederik Frison (Pinarello-Q36.5)
Petr Kelemen (Tudor)
Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies)
It’s hard to convey just how nasty the weather is out there in France, but here’s a close-up detailing just how wet the road is.
Lidl-Trek’s bus, part of the convoy taking the race to its new start.
Although we have no action to report just yet from Paris-Nice, today's Tirreno-Adriatico stage is off and running. You can follow all the action with us here.
A reminder of what happened during yesterday's stage.
The scene from the team presentations in Nice earlier today.
Jonas Vingegaard earlier today. His lead on the overall classification looks even more secure now that the stage has been shortened and the climbs removed. What might have been a day for his Visma-Lease a Bike to control has become one that could be for the sprinters instead.
So it looks like we should have some racing in about a quarter of an hour, from the stage's new start at Pont Louis Nucera.
Now all the climbs have been removed, the first assumption would be that this will instead be one for the sprinters, but things might not be as straightforward as that.
First of all, there is the ongoing factor of the weather. So long as the rain keeps falling it’ll be difficult to control any rivers who are willing and eager to brave the elements and go out on the attack.
Then there is the stage length, which at under 50km, won’t be a ‘stage’ in the traditional sense. There’s no time for the usual pattern of a break forming at the start, and the peloton chasing it down. Instead, we’re poised for intense racing right from the off, as any attack at any moment could be the move that takes the win.
Finally, though the climbs have been removed, the parcours isn’t exactly flat. In fact, all 47km go gradually uphill, which could prove too much of a test for the pure sprinters, especially if raced at a fast pace right from the off.
The riders are assembled at the new start and ready to go.
They're on the move now, riding behind the neutral service car ahead of the official start.
Thankfully the weather has eased off somewhat, though the riders are all still decked in multiple layers to protect themselves from the cold.
There's been a crash in the neutral zone, three riders down.
The incident happened right at the front of the peloton. They’re all back up again, but Lennard Kämna tore his shorts.
For anyone unsure if they should be rising in such conditions, that incident will surely be seen as evidence against doing so.
Nico Denz looks more hurt, and is still making his way back to the peloton.
Denz is talking to his team car. The race start has been delayed while he remains out the back.
Arthur Kluckers was the other rider to fall, along with Denz and Kämna.
Denz is nearly back. We look set to start soon.
The riders a little earlier at the new unofficial start.
The start's been delayed some more, with Emmanuel Houcou having a mechanical.
The organisers didn’t wait for Houcou to rejoin the peloton, eager to get things going.
Conditions still don't look safe. The roads look wet and the riders tense.
Visma-Lease a Bie are leading the peloton, with no attack being made.
Houcou managed to get back into the peloton.
Flat tyre for Florian Dauphin, who has had his rear wheel changed.
Marsman made his move 34km from the finish.
He has a lead of about 7 seconds.
With Visma interested solely in keeping Vingegaard safe, the sprinters' teams will likely need to do some work at some point.
Marsman on the attack.
The gradually uphill nature of the route means that, mercifully, there are no descents for the riders to have to worry about.
Mechancial for Cofidis' Louis Rouland, who's having his wheel changed.
There's a train of Ineos riders formed at the other side of the road to Visma-Lease a Bike, looking after their leader Kévin Vauquelin. He would have hoped to have moved up from fourth overall, had it been possible to race the stage in full. Instead, he’ll have one more chance tomorrow to gain the 19 seconds he needs to gain on Georg Steinhauser to take his place on the GC podium.
20KM TO GO
Marsman's lead has gone up some more, to 35 seconds. It’s still going to be very hard for him to stay clear though, especially once the sprinter teams start their lead-outs.
Marsman leading the race.
It looks cold at the finish in Isola. There is snow on the roadside, although thankfully the road itself has been cleaned up and appears to be dry.
For the first time, the peloton is making inroads into Marsman's lead. It's come back to under 30 seconds.
UAE's Rune Herregodts has had a problem and is waiting for the team car.
Marsman is tiring now. He’s not looking so smooth, and is only 15 seconds ahead.
That's it, the catch has been made, 9.5km from the finish.
So who should we be looking out for in the bunch sprint? While some of the fastmen have left the race, including stage two winner Max Kanter, there are still plenty of big names here.
Luke Lamperti stands out visible in his green jersey. He’s seeking a second stage win, and should enjoy this uphill terrain.
Biniam Girmay is also still here, although his NSN teammate Lewis Askey has looked in better form. There's less ambiguity in Cofidis, where the withdrawal of Milan Fretin means Bryan Coquard is their clear leader for a sprint.
This isn’t yet guaranteed to come down to a sprint.
It's an XDS Astana rider who has made a move, liberated by the abandon of sprintering reammate Max Kanter.
Nicolas Vinokurov is the XDS Astana rider.
Crash in the peloton, a couple of riders down, including Lotto's sprinter Braet. They're not too hurt, but won't feature in the bunch sprint.
Visma, Decathlon are some of the teams riding at the front, with 3km left to ride.
Visma lead the bunch with Campanaerts, and lots of sprinter teams are assembled behind him, inclduing Girmay's and Lamperti's.
That's caused a split in the peloton.
Yesterday's winner Tejada is down and not back up yet.
Lamperti and Girmay are still in the front group.
Tarling and Watson are leading, with Godon on their wheel.
Watson takes over and starts his lead out.
Godon sprints...
Girmay finished second.
And Cees Bol is third.
The riders held up earlier are making their way to the finish. The 3km rule will apply, so no time gaps will apply.
That’s Godon’s first taste of victory since joining for Ineos Grenadiers for this season (discounting the team time trial he was a part of here earlier in the week). These kind of tough sprints are exactly what Ineos signed him up for.
It was an excellent lead out from Ineos, with Tarling and Watson proving to be a fearsome combo, that ensured Godon had a headstart over everyone going into the sprint.
Biniam Girmay finished fast for second place, but couldn’t quite pip Godon. That’s a much better showing than he has managed so far this week, but will still feel frustrating given the winning way he started the season.
Tejada managed to finish despite his crash. Fingers crossed he’ll be OK tomorrow, having climbed into the top ten on GC yesterday.
Jonas Vingegaard wasn't in total agreement with the organisers' decision today.
“I think it’s very important to do a stage”, Jonas Vingegaard tells the TV interview at the end of the finish. “I still think maybe there could have been something different. We could have stopped a bit earlier because…it was a bit slippery, it seems, with some big crashes. If we had stopped 10km earlier, made the finish line, there wouldn’t have been any problem at all.”
Conditions towards the top of the climb were very cold, as you can tell by the snow on the roadside.
One consequence of the stage today is that Dorio Godon has taken over the green jersey from Luke Lamperti, but just four points. Although tomorrow is more likely to be a GC day, that’s a small enough lead for intermediate sprints to come into play. Watch this space for an exciting sub-plot tomorrow.
Dorion Godon enjoying receiving his prizes on the podium.
Godon, in his new attire of the green jersey.
Thanks for joining us today, where the race just about went ahead, and thankfully it seems everyone managed to get through relatively unscathed.
Here’s hoping that Paris-Nice lives up to its ‘Race to the Sun’ moniker and for some better weather tomorrow, for the traditional, and reliably thrilling, finale in Nice. We’ll be bringing you live coverage again - see you then!
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
