A day after finishing second behind a late breakaway, Dorian Godon took his first victory for Ineos Grenadiers on a bizarre, shortened 47km stage into Isola, with snow-lined roads welcoming the riders after just over an hour of racing at Paris-Nice stage 7.
Racing kicked off 73km further down the road from where it was planned, with horrific weather forcing the organisers to make a second change to the route due to safety concerns, after already removing the planned summit finish on Friday night due to snow.
The new route was in favour of a bunch sprint, and it was Ineos who got the lead-out right best on a nervous run for home, with Josh Tarling and Sam Watson putting Godon into the perfect position to hit out for glory.
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He hit the front with fast men closing in on him, but neither Biniam Girmay (NSN) nor Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM) were able to come around the French champion at the line, holding on for the third WorldTour win of his career.
“I never thought I’d win a mountain stage on Paris-Nice! More seriously, I’ve been close all week long. We were really motivated today, with full focus, and it made the difference. We took one side of the road, Carlos [Rodriguez] pulled for 40 kilometres, everyone led me out in crazy fashion. I was sitting on the couch, and I just had to sprint for 30 seconds in the end. It was an amazing job from the guys. They deserved the win and I’m delighted," Godon said.
"I couldn’t show my French national champion jersey due to the weather, that’s a pity, but I’m very happy to win with the team. I’m part of one of the greatest teams in the world, and I win in one of the greatest races in the world."
Jonas Vingegaard voiced his concerns about the altered route, but he was kept safe by his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates well in the finale. He maintains his massive lead and will head into tomorrow's Nice finale expecting to bring home the Dutch team's third Paris-Nice title in a row.
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Snow lined the road on stage 7 (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
Visma-Lease a Bike teammates Victor Campenaerts and race leader Jonas Vingegaard try to stay dry as they walk to rider sign-in (Image credit: Getty Images)
Action on stage 7 of Paris-Nice started well before the actual beginning of racing on Saturday, with biblical rain at the start forcing the organisers to reduce the stage to just 47km, after snow in Auron had already forced them to shorten the route and remove the mountaintop finish on the eve of the race.
It was a confusing opening few hours, with riders unaware of exactly what was going to happen and where they would race, but the teams eventually departed on buses to complete the first 73km of the route, away from the horrid weather.
The new start was set to take place at the Louis Nucéra bridge, at Le Broc, with the finish in Isola-village remaining the same as after the initial shortening. 110 riders were due to start the day, with the effects of the tough opening six stages forcing 12 more to abandon.
Lennard Kämna (Lidl-Trek), Arthur Kluckers (Tudor) and Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) slid out and crashed on a roundabout even before the altered start was supposed to happen, forcing organisers to delay. And an Emmanuel Houcou (Pinarello-Q36.5) mechanical meant they needed three goes at it before the flag was waved to get things going.
Racing eventually kicked off at 13:58 local time, with Visma-Lease a Bike immediately taking over on the front to control and try to protect Vingegaard from any incident.
As those behind fought with their rain jackets and layers in the never-ending fight to stay dry and warm, Tim Marsman (Alpecin-Premier Tech) launched the first attack of the day with 34km to go.
The lone Dutchman stayed away into the final 10 kilometres, but the pace of the GC teams looking to keep their leaders safe eventually encouraged him to give up his effort and fall back into the bunch.
Tim Marsman (Alpecin-Premier Tech) attacks (Image credit: Getty Images)
Nicolas Vinokurov (XDS Astana) launched a counter to try and prevent a bunch sprint with 7km to go, utilising his local knowledge as a Nice native. With their sprinter Max Kanter leaving the race on Saturday morning, he was allowed the freedom, but not by the peloton, who quickly brought him back.
It was an understandably nervy final, with snow lining the side of the wet roads and those looking at winning the bizarre stage beginning to position themselves.
A small crash at the back of the peloton was an ominous sign that a bigger incident was coming, and come it did in the final 3km, with yesterday's stage winner Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) among those to hit the deck.
Ineos Grenadiers took control on the front in the final kilometre and powered Godon into the perfect position to sprint. The French champion launched first and was able to hold off all of the quick challengers who tried to deny him a first win in Ineos colours, able to celebrate in front of Girmay and Bol at the line in Isola.
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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