Paris-Nice stage 8 - Live: GC attacks start early on final day decider

Jorgenson has ridden away from Gall on the descent.

It's advantage Sheffield at the moment. He has a lead of 20 seconds.

The yellow jersey seems in the bag for Jorgenson. The big question now is who will win the stage?

Arensman, Champoussin and Storer are with Vlasov and Lipowitz, as they reach the top of the climb.

Sheffield is over the top of the climb, with a 20 second lead over Jorgenson and Gall.

Jorgenson is also growing his lead to Lipowitz. It's nearing 50 seconds now.

Jorgenson is back with Gall.

Vlasov has dropped back to help pace Lipowtiz. This has been Red Bull's plan for a while, but they'd have hoped to have Jorgenson behind them, rather than ahead.

Lipowitz has attacked out the peloton, and gone clear this time.

Jorgenson looks to be recovering a bit. He has Gall back in his sights. 

10KM TO GO

Thre's 25 seconds between Jorgenson and Sheffield in the lead, and 40 seconds between Jorgenson and the peloton.

Arensman attacks out of the peloton.

Jorgenson is visibly struggling on these steep gradients. Could the yellow jersey be back in play?

Gall is riding away from him.

Jorgenson's dropped!

Sheffield is hanging on well here. He still has a 22 second lead on the Jorgenson group, and could hang on for the stage win.

He's not managing to go clear though.

Lipowitz attacks

Pedersen has been dropped by the trio.

Ineos are leading the peloton. This climb is their last chance to get back into yellow jersey contention. They are 40 seconds down for now.

Jorgenson, Vlasov and Gall catch Pedersen.

Sheffield drops Pedersen.

COL DES QUATRE CHEMINS

Sheffield and Pedersen begin the climb, with a lead of 15 seconds.

It's a very steep one averaging 8.8%. It might only last 3.6km, but there's likely to be carnage.

They're about to start climbing again.

It's worth mentionning that Sheffield has lept from 6th to 4th on the virtual GC, ahead of Almeida and Storer.

Pedersen and Sheffield are growing their lead out again, to 16 seconds. That could come crashing down on the climb, though. 

Gall is back with Jorgenson and Vlasov.

With one last climb to come after this descent, a stage win could also be on the cards for Jorgenson, as well as the GC.

Jorgenson and Vlasov are bearing down on the 2 leaders. They're now just 8 seconds behind them.

Vlasov is back on Jorgenson's wheel, but Gall still has ground to make up.

20KM TO GO

Jorgenon's lead over the peloton is increasing, now up to nearly 40 seconds.

Pedersen gained 10 points at the intermediate sprint, giving him a 17 point lead ahead of Jorgenson:

1 Pedersen 62

2 Jorgenson 45

3 Zingle 36

4 Martinez 27

5 Kielich 26

Jorgenson has broken clear of Gall and Vlasov on the descent.

The peloton is disorganised and not chasing. This is looking good for Jorgenson!

Lipowitz is back in the peloton, who are 25 seconds behind.

Jorgenson now catches Vlasov and Gall on the descent. Pedersen and Sheffield are still ahead.

Jorgenson crests it just a few seconds behind.

Pedersen does it, he takes the points at the top. Chapeau!

The leaders are approaching the sprint now at the top.

Jorgenson's charge is also endangering Pedersen's green jersey. If he takes the intermediate sprint points instead, he could take the green jersey from him

Lipowitz has attacked out of the peloton, in pursuit of Jorgenson.

Jorgenson is catching the leaders already.

Meanwhile up ahead, Sheffield has joined the leading trio.

Having been isolated, Jorgenson is taking matters into his own hands.

He's gone several seconds clear of everyone.

JORGENSON ATTACK

Matteo Jorgenson attacks on Col d'Eze!

And, more importantly for Pedersen, green jersey points. That's primarily what he's now after in this break.

COL D’EZE

The riders have begun Paris-Nice's famous climb, Col d'Eze. It's not actually an official climb, but there are bonus second on offer at the top.

The peloton is now about 20 riders in size.

The pace had slowed after a few other attacks had just been brought back, and Alemida took advantage of the lull.

Almeida has attacked out of the peloton.

30KM TO GO

Up ahead, the leading trio are 21 seconds ahead of Sheffield, and 50 seconds ahead of the peloton. 

Jorgenson is leading, but isn't going deep. Sheffield's advantage has grown to 30 seconds, while more riders are joining the peloton from behind.

Sheffield's gap is growing. It's up to 15 seconds. 

Sheffield is 10 seconds ahead for now.

Jorgenson is indeed chasing.

Ineos are asking questions of Jorgenson. Will he chase? 

This is an interesting development, as Sheffield is a threat on GC - he's 2-54 down on GC.

Sheffield is out the front of the peloton.

Here were the KOM rankings at the top:

1 Vlasov

2 Gall

3 Pedersen

4 Foss

5 Arensman

Tim Merlier (and his Soudal teammate Bert Van Lerberghe) have abandoned. He'll go home happy, having won two stages.

Here was the peloton earlier on the climb.

A few riders return to the peloton, including Almeida.

40KM TO GO

Still it's Ineos who lead the peloton. They're 15 seconds behind the three leaders. 

There are about 12 riders left in the peloton as they near the top of the climb.

Almeida is still outside the back of the peloton.

Gall and Vlasov have joined Pedersen at the front of the race.

The yellow jersey group has gotten bigger, and there are Ineos domestiques to chase them down.

Felix Gall and Vlasov are the latest to try an attack.

Arensman accelerates, but Jorgenson is alert to it once again.

Alemida is not among them, he's been dropped.

Jorgenson brings Vlasov back, dragging about 7 other riders with him.

More riders bridge to them, including Vlasov, who counter-attacks. Red Bull are really taking the pace to Visma.

Jorgenson is on his wheel, followed by Jorgenson and Astana's Tejada and  Champoussin.

Lipowitz attacks again.

Only 4 riders are with Lipowitz.

Lipowitz has only a few riders with him, including Jorgenson.

He made his move after Vlasov and O'Connor had been caught.

Attack from Lipowitz

They're also bringing back Pedersen. He's now only 35 seconds ahead.

Vlasov and O'Connor have 12 seconds on the peloton.

O'Connor has joined Vlasov. He too is no longer in GC contention.

Vlasov is well down on GC, so not a threat to the yellow jersey. But he could be a useful man to help his Red Bull teammate Lipowitz later.

Attack from Vlasov!

Ineos lead the peloton onto the climb. They have multiple riders surrounding an isolated Jorgenson. The yellow jersey looks vulnerable.

CÔTE DE PEILLE

The descent is done, and the road immediately goes upwards again for the start of the Côte de Peille. They'll reach the top in 6.7km, having climbed at 6.7%.

This was Ineos Grenadiers leading the peloton on the climb. 

50KM TO GO

As the gradient of the descent has levelled off, so too has Pedersen’s lead. It’s stabilised at 1-10.

Here at Paris-Nice, the riders are finished with the steepest gradients, but are still going downhill.

Elsewhere in Italy, it's the latest leg of the Women's World Tour at Trofeo Alfredo Binda. We've got that covered too.

The final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico is also taking place today. You can follow all the action here.

The top five in the KOM classification remains as it was:

1 Thomas Gachignard 21

2 Michael Storer 20

3 João Almeida 20

4 Alexandre Delettre 17

5 Lenny Martinez 14

Tejada has sat up now, and is back in the peloton.

Over a minute now for Pedersen.

This was the result of the KOM at the top of the Col de la Porte. None of the candidates for the polka-dot jersey took any points ahead of the Ineos men. 

1. Tarling , 10 pts
2. Foss, 5 pts
3. Arensman, 3 pts
4. Sheffield, 2 pts
5. Pedersen, 1 pt

60KM TO GO

His lead continues to grow as they continue down this long, technical descent. It’s up to 47 seconds now, and they still have about 10km left to descend.

Pedersen is flying down this descent, not holding back at all. He’s 48 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Ineos are keeping Tejada in sight, with four riders leading the peloton.

Tejada is 10th on GC, at 3-36.

Actually, it turns out Tejada is off the front of the peloton, not the back. This is bold move by the Astana rider.

Pedersen at the front of the race, where he's spent most of this stage.

Tejada is also out the back. He's got a top 10 place on GC to defend.

Pedersen has 10 seconds on the peloton.

Pedersen attacked just after the summit, after Ineos had led the reduced peloton over it.

They've gone over the top of the climb, and Pedersen is back at the front again!

There are only about 30 riders left in the peloton, and Jorgenson is the only rider left from Visma-Lease a Bike. Ineos have already succeeded in isolating him.

Ineos' pace has proven to be too much for Pedersen. He's been brought back.

Ineos Grenadiers are leading the peloton. Are they hoping to attempt challenging the yellow jersey with Thymen Arensman, currently third overall at 1-20?

Pedersen's doing a great job for now, maintaining a lead of about 15 seconds over the peloton. Once again the Dane’s climbing is defying expectations.

A surprise in the peloton as Lenny Martinez is one of the riders dropped on the climb. Given his form this week, he was one of the favourites for the stage win today.

He is for now - the four chasers have been caught by the peloton, leaving Pedersen as the only rider left out front.

COL DE LA PORTE

Pedersen leads the race as they begin the first climb of the day, the Col de la Porte. This one's a proper mountain, averaging 6.9% for 7km. It will be very impressive if the Dane can out-climb the likes of Steinhauser and Haig on an ascent like this. 

Steinhauser's been caught, and now Pedersen has counter-attacked.

80KM TO GO

Steinhauser has a small lead of about five seconds, ahead of Pederen, Narváez, Sobrero and Haig.

Steinhauser has dropped Pedersen and Narváez.

Ben O'Connor and Ilan Van Wilder have been involved in a crash.

That chasing trio has been caught, but the five leaders have a gap of about 12 seconds.

Cavagna, Powless and Gachignard are chasing behind.

Jack Haig and Matteo Sobrero have joined Pedersen, Narváez and Steinhauser at the front of the race.

Four riders are chasing that leading trio.

Pedersen is with Narváez and Steinhauser.

Another group now trying its luck. It goes without saying that Pedersen is involved.

That was a promising group, but it too has been shut down.

Paret-Peintre is the highest ranked rider on GC present in the group, at 4-50.

Here's a full list of the 13 riders who are in the lead:

Dries Van Gestel (Soudal-Quick Step)

Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek)

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)

Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla)

Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)

Callum Scotson (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)

Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL)

Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar)

Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor)

Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)

Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost)

Ed Plancakert (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)

The road is currently going uphill, on a long drag that bring them to the foot of the first climb of the day, Col de la Porte.

90KM TO GO

This lead group also features Julian Alaphilippe, and has a lead of about 10 seconds.

More riders have joined them. There are about a dozen in the lead group now.

They've been joined by - guess who? - Mads Pedersen.

Lorenzo Milesi and Edward Planckaert are the latest riders to try and attack. 

Here's a glimpse of what it's like at the moment on the road, with attacks going clear but none getting much of a gap. 

UAE Team Emirates have confirmed that McNulty is indeed ill.

Brandon McNulty had abandoned the race. We can only assume he’s come down with some kind of illness, as he had been going well all week and was poised for a top ten finish. 

100KM TO GO

Still attacks are firing off the front of the peloton, but still no group has succeeded in forming the break.

Mads Pedersen earlier, during one of his multiple attempts to get up the road.

Max Walker of EF Education-EasyPost has also pulled out.

Adrien Petit (Intermarché-Wanty) is another rider to have dropped out of the bunch, and he’s abandoned the race.

Some riders are being dropped out of the peloton already, including Brandon McNulty. That’s a surprise, as the American is up in 7th on GC.

Pedersen has 7 other riders with him.

110KM TO GO

For a third time, Pedersen is on the attack. He's in a small group trying to get a gap

Pedersen's been brought back once again.

Matteo Jorgenson at the start. Will he still be in yellow come the end of the day?

Correction from earlier - it's actually Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling), not Cavagna, who has pulled out of the race. 

After being caught, Pedersen is on the move again! Clearly the Dane is in the mood today, having been in great form all week.

Pedersen's been brought back.

Mads Pedersen wastes no time in attacking straight away.

120KM TO GO

And they're off!

A welcome sight for the riders - the sun is shining today! After a week of miserable weather, Paris-Nice has at last lived up to its name as Race to the Sun.

Two riders have pulled out of the race before the start today - Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ) and Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (Intermarché-Wanty).

The scene at the start.

The riders are off from the unofficial start, and will be racing soon.

One rider who won’t be threatening Jorgenson is Mattias Skjelmose, after he crashed out of the race yesterday. There was good news today though, as it was confirmed that he has not sustained any fractures. 

Could this year see another last day yellow jersey coup? Visma-Lease a Bike have controlled this race comfortably ever since taking the yellow jersey for Matteo Jorgenson on stage three’s time trial, and haven’t ever come under real pressure. But Florian Lipowitz remains just 37 seconds behind him on GC, and the terrain is there today for him to gain that.

It’s time for what is often one of the most exciting days of the season - the Paris-Nice finale. Every year this race ends with a short, intense day of climbing, and almost always produces thrilling racing, with the GC lead often changing hands at the last hurdle.

Hello and welcome to the eighth and final stage of the 2025 Paris-Nice.