As it happened: GC action on summit finish despite weather-enforced neutralisation

Hello and welcome to stage four of Paris-Nice.

This is the first day of climbing at the 2025 Paris-Nice, with five smaller climbs leading up to the big category one summit finish at La Loge des Gardes.

Yesterday’s team time trials saw lots of gaps open up between the GC favourites, but their climbing legs still haven’t been tested. We’ll get a real sense of who is in contention to win this Paris-Nice today.

The hot favourite remains Jonas Vingegaard. He’s the best climber on paper, and is in form having won Volta ao Algarve. And even before a mountain has been climbed, he finds himself ahead of all of his GC rivals following his Visma-Lease a Bike team’s success in the time trial yesterday.

Vingegaard’s main rival for the yellow jersey may even come from within his own team. Matteo Jorgenson currently leads the GC ahead of him thanks to the six bonus seconds picked up on stages one and two, and Visma has not stated that they’re backing one rider over the other. It will be intriguing to see how the two race together today.

We'll be racing soon - the riders are making their way through the neutralised zone.

Here's Matteo Jogenson at the start today, wearing the yellow jersey. 

There’s one rider absent from the start today - Julien Bernard of Lidl-Trek, leaving their GC leader Matthias Skjelmose down a domestique.

Make that two riders who have dropped out of the race. Uno-X Mobility’s Amund Grondahl Jansen is also out.

164KM TO GO

And they're off!

Tim Merlier at the start with Matteo Jorgenson, who he relinquished his yellow jersey to yesterday. He swaps yellow for green, as leader of the points classification.

The peloton remains together for now, with no break forming. 

All eyes are on Jonas Vingegaard today. Here he was at the start of the day, signing autographs.

Attacks are being made but for now none have been successful. 

A group of five has managed to gain a small gap of a few seconds.

More riders have attacked out the peloton in an attempt to join that quintet.

Eight have succeeded in joining them, meaning the leading group is now made up of 13 riders.

150KM TO GO

Three riders are setting off after the lead group. They are only a few seconds behind them, and only a few seconds ahead of the peloton. This is far from a settled race situation yet.  

Those riders have all been brought back, and the attacks continue.

Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), Marco Haller (Tudor Pro Cycling), Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ) and Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) are some of the latest riders trying to get up the road. 

Samuel Leroux (Total Energies) is struggling with this intense start. The Frenchman is clearly still in pain from the crash suffered two days ago, and has been dropped out of the peloton already.

A new lead group of four has formed, and has a small gap. 

They've been joined by four more riders, but the peloton isn't letting them go.

Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis), Dion Smith (Intermarché-Wanty), Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education - EasyPost), Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers), Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) are the 8 riders in the lead. 

This might be the break of the day. They've been allowed a gap by the peloton.

140KM TO GO

The 8 riders have a lead of just under one minute. It seems the peloton is content to let this one go. 

CÔTE DE LAVOINE

The break has formed, but the hard work isn’t done yet. They’ve just started climbing the first hill of the day, but long (7.6km) albeit shallow (4%) Côte de Lavoine.

Visma-Lease a Bike take responsibility for leading the bunch as they also take on the climb, but are happy to let the gap grow to 2-30.

Conditions out there are cold again, but no sign of rain or any strong winds. 

The breakaway riders are nearing the top. Who will go for the KOM points on offer?

130KM TO GO

As they near the top, the break's lead is up to 2-30 over the peloton.

Gachignard takes the three points on offer at the top of the climb, with Leknessund beind claiming two and Moniquet the final one.

Here’s the updated KOM classification:

1 Alexandre Delettre 12 points

2 Samuel Fernández 6 points

3 Jonas Abrahamsen 4 points

4 Matteo Jorgenson 3 points

5 Thomas Gachignard 3 points

With Delettre absent from the break today, and four more categorised climbs to come before the summit finish at La Loge de Gardes, there’s a chance for the riders in the breakaway to take the polka-dot jersey today.

120KM TO GO

The break has grown its lead to 3 minutes on the descent, the biggest it's been all day. 

There’s a long flat section now until the day’s second climb, Côte de la Bruyère, which is over 30km away. After that the climbs start to come thick and fast, but the riders can take it easy in the meantime.

Over in Italy, Tirreno-Adriatico is continuing today. You can follow all the action here for what is a horrible rainy day.

110KM TO GO

The gap's come down a bit, to closer to 2-30, as the peloton keeps matters under control on this flat section. 

News of a DNF, as Cofidis' Sam Maisonobe pulls out of the race. 

As things stand, Andreas Leknessund is the race’s virtual leader, having started the day 1-26 down on Jorgenson. He’s Uno-X Mobility’s top GC hopeful, and Visma-Lease a Bike and the rest of the peloton will have to be careful to contain him.

Here are the 8 riders in the break.

100KM TO GO

2-40 for the leaders, as they enter the final 100km of the stage.

Not long until the break will be climbing again, as they approach the foot of the Côte de la Bruyère. This one’s rated category three, lasts 3.9 km and averages 4.7%.

90KM TO GO

The gap's still about 3 minutes, as the situation on the road remains stable.

CÔTE DE LA BRUYÈRE

The leaders are on the climb now.

Here's the peloton earlier today, being controlled by Visma-lease a Bike. With both the yellow jersey and overall race favourite, the onus is clearly on them to chase the breakaway. 

At the top of the climb, Gachignard once again took maximum points, followed by Leknessund and Moniquet.

80KM TO GO

The break has also extended its lead on that climb, up to 3-30.

Here's the updated KOM classification:

1 Alexandre Delettre 12 

2 Thomas Gachignard 6

3 Samuel Fernández 6

4 Andreas Leknessund 4

5 Jonas Abrahamsen 4

70KM TO GO

Still a gap of about 3-30 for the leaders. That may start to come down in the following kilometres, as we enter the final hill-dense phase of the stage. 

There are four climbs in the final 60km, starting with the category three Côte de la Croix Bruyère which is about 10km away.

A couple of punctures in the peloton, as both Josh Tarling and Robin Froidevaux are held up. 

60KM TO GO

3 minutes for the break as we enter the final 60km. They will start climbing the Côte de la Croix Bruyère very soon.

CRASH

Crash for Santiago Buitrago. He's down and looks like he might struggle to continue.

The Colombian was returning to the peloton having dropped back with a mechanical.

Buitrago has abandoned the race. That’s a real shame as he would have been one of the favourites for the stage win today, as well as a high place on GC.

CÔTE DE LA CROIX BRUYÈRE

Up ahead the race goes on, as the riders climb Côte de la Croix Bruyère.

Gachignard again leads the break over the top of the climb to take the points uncontested. Albanese was 2nd this time, and Guernalec 3rd. 

Gachignard is nearing enough points to take the polka-dot jersey from his TotalEnergies teammate Alexandre Delettre. He'll overtake him if he's first over the next cimb. 

Here's the new KOM standings:

1 Alexandre Delettre 12 

2 Thomas Gachignard 9

3 Samuel Fernández 6

4 Andreas Leknessund 4

5 Jonas Abrahamsen 4

The peloton reach the top of the climb now, 2-45 after the leaders. 

No respite for the breakaway riders, who are climbing again already. The Côte du Canon is also the hardest they’ve faced today, its slopes of 6.5% over 3.5km enough to give it a category two classification.

Sean Flynn has a mechanical, just as the peloton begin this climb.

CÔTE DU CANON

Some riders are being dropped out of the peloton on the climb, including Fabio Jakobsen.

The pace isn't especially high in the peloton though, with no team upping the pace.

Up ahead, Smith has been dropped out of the break.

Attack in the peloton! 2 Ineos riders are going up the road.

It's Tarling and Foss.

That's increased the pace in the peloton as Visma try to keep it under control. More riders are being dropped, including Tim Merlier.

Foss is close on GC, in 11th at 39 seconds, and is a good climber, so will be considered a danger.

For the fourth time today, Gachignard goes over the climb first. He is now the virtual King of the Mountains.

The rankings at the top of the category 2 Côte du Canon:

1 Gachignard

2 Leknessund

3 Planckaert

4 Albanese

And the new KOM rankings:

1 Thomas Gachignard 14

2 Alexandre Delettre 12 

3 Andreas Leknessund 7

4 Samuel Fernández 6

5 Jonas Abrahamsen 4

50M TO GO

The gap between the break and the peloton is 2-25, while the Foss/Tarling duo is 30 seconds ahead of the peloton.

The weather is taking a turn for the worse. The rain is falling, and riders are dropping back to team cars to take jackets. 

Foss and Tarling have caught up to Swift, who was dropped out the break on the previous climb.

It's not just raining, it's raining heavily. Lots of uncomfortable looking riders on the road. 

RACE NEUTRALISED

The riders are coming to a stop, the weather is too bad.

Apparently the road is considered too dangerous, with ice forming on it.

Sleet has been falling.

Here's an idea of how bad the weather is out there.

There’s a race moto at the front of the peloton, with which a Visma rider, Lidl rider and Movistar is talking with. The talks look quite heated.

The riders appear to want more information as to what is happening. In summary, it seems the race was neutralised after the race jury deemed the roads dangerously slippy, but it will restart.

The riders in the peloton have all stopped now, but are scattered all across the road as they go to their team cars to get wet weather gear and the like.

Jonas Vingegaard is sat in his team car, keeping as warm as possible before we start again. 

Though the peloton are still stationary, the breakaway riders are back up and riding, albeit not racing. This is going to be hard for the organisers to determine when and where everyone will resume racing.

As for Tarling, Foss and Smith, who were in between the peloton and the breakaway, they're riding and have joined the break. 

The race is still neutralised though. The breakaway riders are following the race car.

While hailstones and sleet are no longer falling, it’s still freezing out there. In fact, it looks like it is snowing at the finish.

"What a day to be a bike rider" says Alpecin's Tibor Del Grosso to the TV moto camera, with a wry smile. 

Both the break and the peloton are moving, but the race remains neutralised as we await for a decision to be made as to how, or if, the race will continue. 

We can see clearly why the organisers were worried enough to neutralise the race. Some of the roads the riders are passing over now do look very slippery.

You can also tell how cold it is by the number of riders trying desperately to warm up by shaking their arms and bodies.

A problem at the moment is that most of the terrain since the neutralisation has been gently downhill. The organisers must be reluctant for them to race on downhill roads given the safety problems, but might be hoping things will be safer once the road goes uphill again.

Here was the scene earlier when the race stopped. This is Thomas Gachignard in the breakaway, trying to warm up.

Encouragingly, the weather does seem to be getting better. It’s still very cold (about 2 degrees apparently), but it’s not raining, and the sun is poking out from behind the clouds.

It looks like we’re going to have a race - the breakaway riders have just been told that they will race again soon.

The peloton has also been stopped. It seems the organisers are determining where each group will set off from.

The riders in the peloton are organising themselves ahead of what seems to be a restart. Sme stragglers from the back are returning to it, while others go to and from team cars.

The riders are being told that the will be racing again in two minutes.

It seems to have been decided that the size of the gaps when the race was neutralised will determine how they restart. So the leading 7 will set off first, then Tarling Foss and Smith 1-35 later, then the peloton 45 seconds after them.

RACE RESUMES

We're back racing again!

Only the breakaway are riding at the moment. The others are still being held up until the gap is as it was.

28KM TO GO

And now the peloton start.

Foss, Tarling and Smith are also riding in between the two groups.

The riders have an unclassified climb to ride up as they been racing again This could at least help them warm up again.

At the top of this uncategorised climb are bonus seconds, which Leknessund takes. That increases his lead as virtual GC leader.

Some riders will find it hard to get back up to speed after that delay, what with the debilitating effects of the cold. One of those riders appears to be Albanese, who has been dropped out of the break.

The break is breaking up. Leknessund is out on his own, Guernalec also alone behind him at about 5 seconds. 

There’s much more intensity in the peloton now than before the neutralisation. Lidl-Trek are leading it with Mads Pedersen. 

Scenes from earlier when the race was neutralised.

Leknessund seems to have sensed an opportunity here. He’s gone clear from the rest of the break, and still has 2 minutes on the peloton. Could he hold on for the stage win? These are such strange circumstances its difficult to know how riders’ legs will respond.

20KM TO GO

Still 2 minutes between Leknessund and the peloton. No sign yet of whereabouts Foss, Tarling and Smith are in between. 

The peloton is being thinned out as the pace is up. It's strung out in single file. 

Foss, Tarling and Smith are 1 minute behind the leaders, and 1 minute ahead of the peloton. 

Steff Cras has left the race. No sign of him being involed in a crash though. 

Four of the original breakaway riders have rejoined Leknessund.

Ben Swift is not one of the readers to rejoin Leknessund. He's dropped back to help pace his Ineos teammates Foss and Tarling.

Pavel Sivakov's having a rough time. He's been dropped out of the peloton.

As are many other riders one-by-one, as the Lidl set a fierce pace.

CÔTE DE LA CHABANNE

They're on the day's penultimate climb. This one's 2.7km long and averages 5.2%. 

UAE are also helping Lidl set the pace. No sign of Visma yet.

Lenny Martinez is struggling, barely able to stay in touch at the back of the peloton This is even worse news for Bahrain Victorious, who have already lost Santiago Buitrago.

The gaps between the groups are all coming down. 15 seconds between the leading quitet and the chasing Ineos group, and 25 seconds between the latter and the peloton.

The break has reached the top, and once again Gachignard takes the points, extending his lead in the KOM rankings.

The updated rankings:

1 Thomas Gachignard 17

2 Alexandre Delettre 12 

3 Andreas Leknessund 9

4 Samuel Fernández 6

5 Jonas Abrahamsen 4

Mads Pedersen is setting a fierce pace in the peloton for Lidl-Trek. Their leader Matthias Skjelmose must fancy his chances today, and are taking the race to Visma-Lease a Bike.

Tarling, Foss and Swift have caught up to the leaders, forming a new front group of 8.

10KM TO GO

Just 25 seconds between the leading 8 and the peloton as we enter the final 10km.

We’re approaching the final climb. Two years ago, Jonas Vingegaard was defeated by both Tadej Pogačar and David Gaudu, having burnt too many matches with an early attack. Will he redeem himself today?

The addition to the Ineos trio has given the break some new impetus. They’ve grown the gap up to 30 seconds.

Moniquet was dropped from the group, and is back in the peloton.

LA LOGE DES GARDES

Josh Tarling leads the break onto the final climb.

40 seconds behind, UAE Team Emirates bring the peloton to the foot of the climb.

Tarling's pace has seen himself and Foss go clear from the rest.

Now Tarling has finished, leaving Foss as the lone leader.

Riders being dropped from the peloton - including Powless. That's a surprise, as he's targetting GC.

The peloton is down to about 20 riders.

It's Mads Pedersen who's causing all the damage. Some effort by a non-climber.

5KM TO GO

Pedersen is also closing the gap between the peloton and Foss, which has come down to 25 seconds.

The other last remaining riders from the break, Leknessund and Gachignard, are being brought back.

Attack from Lipowitz.

Jorgenson is on his wheel, bringing with him the rest of the peloton.

The pace slackens. This could be good news for Foss if the race plays out in this stop / start pattern.

Pedersen is at last done. He's been dropped out the back.

Lenny Martinez attacks, followed by Vingegaard.

They have a gap of a few seconds.

Martinez is clearly feeling better, having looked on the brink of being dropped earlier.

They've been brought back.

Almeida accelerates at the front.

Still in this reduced peloton is Vingegaard, Jorgenson, McNulty, Lipowitz, Martinez, Arensman, Storer, Castrillo, Skjelmose, Van Wilder, plus only a few others.

Foss is only a few seconds ahead now, as they come to within 2.5km of the finish.

Martinez attacks again.

VINGEGAARD ATTACKS

A big move from Vingegaard! He's countered Martinez and the two are clear together. 

Vingegaard accelerates again in an attempt to drop Martinez.

The two have caught and passed Foss.

And now Vingegaard has dropped Martinez.

2KM TO GO

Vingegaard is all out alone and committed. 

Martinez is about to be caght by a chasing group led by Almeida.

10 seconds for Vingegaard, with 1500m to go.

Almeida leads the chase behind, with Jorgenson glued to his wheel.

1KM TO GO

Vingegaard has 7 seconds as he goes under the flamme rouge.

Almeida accelerates

Jorgenson,Martinez, Skjelmose and Lipowitz are with him.

McNulty joins them.

They have Vingegaard in their sights. Can he hold on?

Almeida is catching him!

JOAO ALMEIDA WINS

Almeida wins!

Vingegaard is 2nd, Skjelmose 3rd, Martinez 4th

Just as he did two years ago on this climb, Vingegaard is caught and defeated by a UAE Team Emirates rider having led on its lower slopes. 

The leaders came in dribs and drabs but only seconds separated them.

Vingegaard was 1 second behind Vingegaard, Skelmose and Martinez one second behind him, Lipowitz and Jorgenson four seconds behind them.

Other GC riders have had much worse days. We're only now seeing Ben O'Connor reach the finish, minutes down.

Vingegaard might not have won the stage, but he does take the yellow jersey from his Visma teammate Jorgenson.

That final climb turned out to be very selective, with only 13 riders finishing within a minute of Almeida.

Some GC candidates to have lost a heap of time today:

Iván Romeo at 1-07

Felix Gall at 1-56

Ben O’Connor at 2-10

Neilson Powless at 2-16

It also seems as though Aleksandr Vlasov has yet to make it to the finish.

Despite his great ride today, Almeida is still only 5th on GC, after the time he lost in yesterday's TTT. He’s still behind Vingegaard, Jorgenson, Skjelmose and Lipowitz.

Here's Vingegaard dropping the others earlier on the climb.

Then Almeida bridged up to him in the final few hundred metres.

Finally Almeida stormed past him to take the win.

Thanks for joining us today. And thank goodness we did get some racing despite the earlier neutralisation, as that last climb was a cracker. Jonas Vingegaard might have taken the yellow jersey, but Visma-Lease a Bike no longer look as in control of this race as they did, what with João Almeida defeating them today. 

With much more climbing to come this week, we have a race on our hands!