Almeida overtakes Vingegaard at the last moment after 'shivering' Paris-Nice stage

Joao Almeida of UAE Emirates-XRG won the fourth stage of Paris-Nice. Along the way, the riders were hit by hail and freezing rain, after which the Extreme Weather Protocol was activated to neutralize the race. Eventually, they raced the last 28 kilometers, including the final climb.

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) claimed victory in the first two stages, but for the GC, stage three was the most important. That was the day of the team time trial, which did not disappoint. At least for Visma | Lease a Bike, with its leaders Matteo Jorgenson and Jonas Vingegaard in a good position, thus putting them in a seat for the GC.

The first mountain stage was planned for day four, which could be even more crucial than previously thought. Throughout the stage, more and more rumors trickled in from France that the queen stage on Saturday could be in jeopardy, just like last year. The predicted weather conditions—with snow and so on—do not look promising.

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Visma | Lease a Bike takes responsibility, Buitrago abandons the race

From the start in Vichy, the race was on. In the opening phase, several riders attacked, and after 18 kilometers, the leading group finally created a gap. This group consisted of eight riders: Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers), Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa—B&B Hotels), Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X), Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis), Dion Smith (Intermarché-Wanty), Thomas Gagchinard (TotalEnergies), and Edward Planckaert of Alpecin-Deceuninck.

Visma | Lease a Bike took responsibility and placed Edoardo Affini and Per Strand Hagenes at the head of the large group. That duo maintained a lead of around three minutes. Meanwhile, things were already opening up for the stronger riders like Fabio Jakobsen at the back, while there was also a crash for Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain Victorious. The Colombian, an outsider for the day's and overall victory, had to abandon the race.

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Race suspended due to bad weather

The first duo attack came with fifty kilometers to go. Joshua Tarling launched INEOS teammate Tobias Foss. As a Norwegian, he is familiar with the harsh conditions (including hail and freezing rain) in the Massif Central. However, these conditions worsened, which led to the Extreme Weather Protocol being invoked. That is why the organization decided to neutralize the race until the conditions improved.

This led to dissatisfaction among the men at the front and part of the peloton, who complained that they would get even colder with such a slow pace instead of a fast one. 'Why?' was a recurring question to the neutral motor, while other drivers stopped immediately to dress warmer. In the end, everyone was forced to do so, some shivering from the cold.

Meanwhile, footage also reached us from the finish line in La Loges de Gardes, where it was snowing instead of raining. This improved within half an hour, and so the race was resumed with 28 kilometers to go. However, they had to wait until everyone from the back of the pack was back in position.

After all that, the race was back on. At the front, Leknessund immediately attacked, realizing he had a chance in these wintery conditions. Foss also continued to apply pressure from the chasing group. Meanwhile, Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek took charge of the peloton, while many of his colleagues, overcome by the cold, had to give up before they even reached the final climb.

As they began the final climb, Foss attacked from the front while fellow Scandinavian Pedersen took the lead of the peloton. The Dane impressed with his work, leaving a whole string of climbers in his wake. He was eventually caught with four kilometers to go in the first attack by Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. Jorgenson and Vingegaard countered.

The French rider bravely stayed on the wheel of the two-time Tour winner but had to let him go on a second attempt. And with that, it seemed all over, even though Thymen Arensman (INEOS) and Almeida, among others, tried to close the gap from behind. The latter succeeded at the finish line.

Results stage 4 Paris-Nice 2025

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