DISCUSSION | Tirreno-Adriatico & Paris-Nice - Vingegaard resists INEOS, after Red Bull, the iron man Van der Poel, Del Toro & Pellizzari fight for seconds for the yellow jersey

Mathieu van der Poel won Stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico after surviving the selection on the steep ramps of Tortoreto and finishing with a powerful sprint in a reduced group of favourites, while Jonas Vingegaard delivered a dominant solo performance to win Stage 5 of Paris–Nice and strengthen his lead in the general classification.

Stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico turned into one of the most aggressive days of the race, with constant attacks in the rain before the decisive showdown on the extremely steep climb of Tortoreto.

An early breakaway of twelve riders animated the 207 kilometres from Tagliacozzo, with Tibor Del Grosso, Ivan Garcia Cortina, Liam Slock, Laurenz Rex, Dries De Bondt and Jonas Abrahamsen among those who gained an advantage. The group never had more than three minutes, while UAE Team Emirates controlled the peloton to protect race leader Isaac del Toro.

The breakaway lost cohesion in the rolling middle part of the stage, and the last survivor, Jakub Otruba, was caught shortly before the decisive climb to Tortoreto, where the fight for the stage truly began.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike drastically increased the pace at the front of the peloton. After work from Timo Kielich, Matteo Jorgenson set a high tempo on the first slopes, immediately reducing the group to a small selection of contenders. Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Filippo Ganna, Primož Roglič and Ben Healy managed to stay at the front, while several big names were dropped as the pace increased.

Race leader Isaac del Toro then attacked on the steepest part of the climb, forcing Van der Poel to react immediately, with Van Aert also able to follow. The selection left only the strongest riders in contention, with the group cresting the climb still compact.

The race remained aggressive after the climb. Giulio Pellizzari tried to surprise on the descent, Jorgenson launched another acceleration, but Del Toro always responded. Andrea Vendrame and Jan Christen later returned to the front, setting up a tactical duel between a reduced group of favourites.

Inside the final kilometre, Christen launched the sprint early, followed by an acceleration from Ganna, but neither move created a gap. Van Aert briefly increased the pace before Mathieu van der Poel launched his sprint at the perfect moment, winning convincingly after one of the most selective finishes of this edition.

The result confirms Van der Poel’s excellent start to the season, while Giulio Pellizzari took the race leader’s jersey after sprinting to second place on the stage.

At Paris–Nice, Jonas Vingegaard delivered the most dominant performance of the race so far, with a long-range attack from the finish of Stage 5 and taking a clear solo victory.

The Dane attacked on the steep slopes of the Côte de Saint-Jean-de-Muzols, around twenty kilometres from the finish, shortly after the favourites’ group caught the last survivors of the day’s breakaway. Victor Campenaerts, who had been in that move, dropped back to help his leader before the decisive acceleration.

As soon as Vingegaard attacked, Lenny Martinez reacted immediately and tried to follow, but quickly began to lose ground. The race leader crested the climb alone and increased his advantage over the chasers on the descent.

Behind Vingegaard, the race split into several chasing groups. Kevin Vauquelin, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Harold Tejada and Georg Steinhauser tried to organise the pursuit, while Daniel Felipe Martinez was later absorbed by a second group as the gaps grew.

On the final climb to Côte de Saint-Barthélemy-le-Plain, Vingegaard increased his advantage again, also collecting points for the mountains classification. Behind him, his rivals hesitated and attacked each other instead of working together, allowing the yellow jersey to extend his lead.

Valentin Paret-Peintre eventually went clear from the chasing group in the final kilometres to secure second place, while the fight behind was only for minor podium positions.

With the race fully under control, Vingegaard entered the final kilometres with a large advantage and finished more than a minute ahead of his closest rival, while the group arrived over two minutes later.

The emphatic victory not only gave him the stage, but also firmly reinforced his control of the Paris–Nice general classification.

At Paris–Nice, Visma once again showed how to fully capitalise on the value of Jonas Vingegaard. If yesterday he was put under pressure by the Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe armada, in terrible weather conditions with rain, wind and cold, before going on to win the stage with an attack inside the final kilometre, today the script was different, but the ending felt very similar.

This time the opponents were not the same, yet the outcome was identical. Vingegaard attacked again on the hardest climb of the day, just when INEOS Grenadiers had been pushing the pace, a clear sign they were preparing something. Visma did not have strength in numbers, but they had the strongest rider in the race.

The Dane looks in excellent shape, showed no signs of fatigue after yesterday’s effort and, with a 20-kilometre solo victory, he has most likely put one hand on the overall title ahead of the race finale on Sunday.

Over in Italy, at Tirreno–Adriatico, the stage came alive early thanks to that breakaway, although everyone knew it was unlikely to make it all the way to the finish. Movistar Team had three riders up the road, and I have to say I’m enjoying this version of the Spanish squad, very different from what we have seen in recent years.

Things really heated up towards the finish, with a strong group entering the final kilometre all with a realistic chance of taking the stage. And plenty of them tried. From Jan Christen, to Filippo Ganna, to even a tentative acceleration from Wout van Aert, everyone had their moment.

But that launch from almost 300 metres out by Mathieu van der Poel was something else entirely. Incredible power, pure explosiveness, the kind of move that gives you goosebumps.

And almost unnoticed, Giulio Pellizzari slipped through in the final metres and stole the race lead from Isaac del Toro, sprinting against all those heavy hitters to take second place on the line.

It will be fascinating to see how the race develops now, with Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe defending the yellow jersey in a general classification battle that is extremely tight and very likely to be decided by seconds.

A spectacular day of cycling at Tirreno-Adriatico once again proved that extreme difficulty in a route is not necessary for the sport to deliver excitement.

Jakub Otruba animated the race from the breakaway, offering a welcome spark for Caja Rural, a team that had been largely absent from the action so far and is finding it difficult to shine in the WorldTour races to which it has been invited.

As for the finale, it was once again a strategic miscalculation from Wout van Aert that Mathieu van der Poel exploited perfectly. The Dutchman likely would have won regardless, as he currently appears stronger than his long-time rival, but Van Aert chasing moves inside the final kilometer effectively handed him the victory after the impressive work done by Matteo Jorgenson.

Regarding the overall lead, UAE made a major mistake by trying to play two cards. Isaac del Toro attempted to support Jan Christen in the closing phase and spent valuable energy responding to a couple of moves for his teammate. Giulio Pellizzari capitalized on that perfectly, taking the bonus seconds and the maglia azzurra.

At Paris-Nice we've had the Vingegaard show, not unexpected I should say but honestly I did not think at all the stage would play out like that. It was a day well suited to a breakaway and the front group was incredibly strong, so firstly for there to be strength and commitment in the peloton to bring it back was already surprising.

But once the peloton hit the climbs it became apparent Visma wanted to destroy it for the race leader. Makes sense, less riders to fight for positioning, less risks of crashing throughout the rest of the stage, it is always safer to ride alone (the Mathieu van der Poel cyclocross tactic, let's call it).

But he was vastly superior climbing, which isn't a surprise with this field, but the climbs weren't very long so the differences he made are to be noted - he has a very high level. The tactic was also to race hard and from far, mimicking what the current 'aliens' do, getting used to these hour-long climbing challenges instead of just racing defensively despite knowing he's got the GC in the bag.

Well the gap is now of over 3 minutes, and the Paris-Nice gaps are perhaps the highest in modern history with only five stages races so far...At Tirreno-Adriatico the situation is completely different. It was another exciting stage, well suited to a breakaway but with a peloton moving at ungodly speeds all day long.

It was left for the final climb and a tactical flat finale, the most exciting outcome let's say. Visma started off playing it brilliantly, nailing positioning which would on paper be Wout van Aert's weak spot... The pace was high enough that attacks were prevented and the super Matteo Jorgenson showed once again what he does best.

Jorgenson did the perfect job really, attacking on the flat section, covering where needed, and Van Aert also covered the wheel of Mathieu van der Poel there instead of responding to attacks. Hence why I was surprised to see the pressure got to the Belgian's head in the final kilometer.

I personally like Van Aert and value the underdog stance against van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar, but his loss was fully his fault today and can't be excused - a tactical disaster of massive dimensions.I assumed Vendrame or van der Poel would win from a sprint, but as it turns out, only one rider had legs to sprint out of all the fast men.

Ganna burned his chances with the late attack, although it was an understandable one. Vendrame had no legs, he followed Ganna perfectly but couldn't sprint afterward.Wout van Aert must've had God on the radio and told the path to heaven was in the wheel of Jan Christen and closed down the attack despite having no responsibility to do so, and then closed Ganna as well.

All good if you're in a group of 3, not 15. He didn't even sprint in the end, because he did so twice to close attacks when he didn't have to.

Van der Poel also started his sprint incredibly early which I thought was not ideal but legitimately the gap he got and then sustained to the finish line told a different story: He had the legs regardless of the situation.

Behind Isaac del Toro also hit the wind super early and burned his legs, whilst the riders who came from behind in the final 100 meters had twice the speed. That is why, despite not being a good sprinter, Giulio Pellizzari looked like he was flying in the final meters and actually managed to jump and take 6 bonus seconds which puts him in the race lead.

On paper Del Toro was a much stronger sprinter, but all of a sudden the GC has changed hands. 2 seconds is nothing, but the Italian is now in front and on the defensive all of a sudden.

The fifth stage of the 2026 Paris–Nice was expected to be one of the most demanding days of this edition.

The route, covering just over 200 kilometers between Cormoranche-sur-Saône and Colombier-le-Vieux, included several mountain climbs and accumulated a significant amount of elevation gain, making it likely that the race could become animated among the riders competing for the general classification.

In the context of the race, the stage was also marked by what had happened the previous day. The Spanish rider Juan Ayuso, who had been the leader after the opening stages, withdrew from the race after crashing in rainy conditions during the fourth stage.

Although medical examinations ruled out serious injuries, his withdrawal changed the competitive landscape of the race. As for the development of the stage itself, the day was defined by its considerable length and by terrain that became progressively more demanding in the final part of the route.

After the start in Cormoranche-sur-Saône, the race continued for many kilometers with breakaway attempts while the peloton controlled the time gaps before entering the decisive section of the course. The sequence of climbs in the final forty kilometers, including those at Sécheras, Saint-Jean-de-Muzols and Saint-Barthélemy-le-Plain, gradually increased the pace and reduced the size of the main group.

In this context, the Visma | Lease a Bike team maintained an active presence at the front of the peloton. With the race already reduced to a smaller group, Jonas Vingegaard launched an attack about twenty kilometers from the finish on one of the climbs in the final section.

His acceleration allowed him to open a gap over the other favorites, who were unable to organize an effective chase at that moment in the stage.From that point on, the Danish rider maintained his advantage until the finish in Colombier-le-Vieux, a finish line located on a slight uphill.

The move ultimately consolidated his position at the head of the race and strengthened his lead in the general classification with several stages still remaining.