General classification Paris-Nice 2026 stage 4 - Jonas Vingegaard the new leader; Ayuso out; Martínez and Steinhauser on the podium

Jonas Vingegaard is back wearing the yellow jersey at a pro race. The last time that happened was 12 months ago, where he was wearing the race leader's jersey also at Paris-Nice, but crashed out. Today on stage 4 of the Race to the Sun, the curse fell on Juan Ayuso who abandoned under similar circumstances.

It was a stage that had many twists and turns, with plenty GC contenders caught out in an early split just in the first kilometers of the stage. Kévin Vauquelin and Lenny Martínez, the French riders, were both caught out but both finished strong on the stage, not suffering from major cracks in the final climbs unlike several others who did make it onto the front group of about 35 riders.

Juan Ayuso crashed with just over 40 kilometers to go and was forced to abandon the race, a tragic ending to a race that had so far been near perfect for the Spaniard. He had also made it onto the front split, but his crash meant the yellow jersey was once again up for grabs, whilst Brandon McNulty and Iván Romeo were also involved in the crash. The gaps were massive, with many out of contention before even the first climb of the day.

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe had the men to keep the pace high until the final climb, where Jonas Vingegaard launched the winning attack, taking the victory ahead of Daniel Martínez. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider is the new leader of the race and has 52 seconds over the BORA leader, who is the only rider who can realistically still challenge for the overall win - although that would require abnormal conditions, as the differences climbing today were big.

Georg Steinhauser had a very strong stage and managed to catapult himself into third place in the overall classification, 3:20 minutes back. Kévin Vauquelin, David Gaudu and Lenny Martínez follow, with the French still having the chance to put someone on the final podium. Tim van Dijke is 7th after his masterful work for Martínez today; Marc Soler is 8th, the sprinter Jensen Plowright thrived in the crosswinds and rain to maintain himself in ninth position whilst Ion Izagirre has ridden into the Top10.

Oscar Onley cracked in the finale and is now only in 14th place after a crash and mechanical ruined his stage. Valentin Paret-Peintre, Steff Cras, Aleksandr Vlasov, Harold Tejada, Nicolas Prodhomme and other climbers are out of GC contention now.