A big day for the breakaway and a collection of climbs all with their steep sections. The big challenge could be the wind, it’s forecast to howl today. Update 11.00am – the route has been changed, skipping the first 115km.
Update 1.00pm – the stage is cancelled because of the high winds which among other things have caused road blocks with fallen trees etc.
The prospect of a Tour de France rematch this week in Paris-Nice has its obvious attractions. Underneath this though is a trend among many stage races to mimic the grand tours which means they’ve become the preserve of only a handful of riders. Are we having too much of a good thing?
The first summit finish of the race and the place for the next round of Tadej Pogačar vs Jonas Vingegaard, this time the hard climb at the finish should tell us plenty.
The team time trial stage with that novel rule change that’s still a team time trial. How much of a lead can Jonas Vingegaard get on Tadej Pogačar today?
A sprint stage and a good chance for Tim Merlier to get another win. The course has been designed with crosswinds in mind but it looks like Mother Nature’s holding her breath and it’ll be a calm but cold day.
Tom Pidcock finally looks back. He’s been away for the best part of 50km and much of it solo. With 10km to go it seemed his time was up as his lead was reduced to around ten seconds. Only he didn’t give up and he didn’t even seem to look back, all while the chasers behind couldn’t commit between them.
Paris-Nice starts this Sunday and this year’s Race to the Sun has attracted two stars in Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. The pair duelled in the Tour de France last summer, now we’ll get to see if they can do it on a wet Wednesday in the Auvergne. Easier said than done in a high stress race with trapdoors in the opening days, a team time trial with a twist, and some rivals who will pounce if the two mark each other.
With the racing taking a brief lull, time to tot up the wins by team so far this season.
Also a quick glance at the promotion/relegation standings, it’s early but a regular reader request.
