'Hypothermic' Jonas Vingegaard takes on yellow jersey at Paris-Nice but is furious at organizers: "We should never have ridden this finale"
CyclingThursday, 13 March 2025 at 09:19
Paris-Nice saw one of it's toughest possible days today weather wise and many riders were unhappy that the race continued after a neutralization during a snowstorm. Jonas Vingegaard attacked and was close to winning today, but despite taking on the yellow jersey he did not hold back when criticizing the decision to continue the stage.
“I have mixed feelings, although… I’m just not happy at all. We should never have ridden this finale. It was freezing and no one in the peloton felt any warmth. After the restart, I didn’t get warm anymore and even now I still feel hypothermic," the Danish rider said in a post-race interview.
The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider did not skip a beat. It was possible to see when the race was neutralized that he got in the team car to avoid the hailstorm. Afterwards, throughout a whole 17 kilometers, the riders moved through the course individually until they were stopped again to resume the race.
Vingegaard, despite being a northern rider, was one of the many that brutally suffered in the temperatures that went as cold as 2 degrees together with the hail and rain that felt throughout hours. Snow even fell at the summit finish in La Loge des Gardes, but with the weather having improved slightly and the finale being an uphill one, the organizers chose to resume the race.
Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson looked to be in control of their rivals throughout the final ascent, and Vingegaard responded to the attacks of Lenny Martínez before launching his own and going solo off the front. He looked to be going towards a stage win, but then João Almeida and his traditional pacing saw a comeback in the very last meters of the stage which led to Vingegaard finishing second.
“Well, that’s very disappointing, but that’s part of cycling, I think. I just felt good today and we also did well in the chase for Foss.” The Dane did move into the race lead, overtaking teammate Jorgenson who is now 5 seconds behind him in the GC. But all-in-all, it wasn't the best of moods for the new yellow jersey at the podium.
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🇫🇷 #ParisNice
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) March 12, 2025
A change at the top of the standings. 🐝 pic.twitter.com/3LgSOYED4D
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Without a doubt, if Paris-Roubaix, Flanders, etc, are wet races, they need to be cancelled immediately!
That made me smile Suipedali. Nice one!
This trend of neutralizing parts of races or even cancelling them, is increasingly worrying for the sport. Over time, they will want to cancel for weather that is less and less 'severe'. It is an outdoor sport on roads. It will ruin the sport if it continues.
I think neutralisation was correct, there was sleet on the road, an official motorcycle and a team car crashed. They should however give clear instructions when they will restart and give enough time to each team to change clothes, warm up, etc
Neutralising was ok, there needs to be more discussion and guidance about it coming from UCI though so everyone more or less knows when and under which conditions it’s likely to happen. Obviously far more needs to be done with regards to communication. Can’t be that in an era where every rider has an ear piece, they don’t see the obvious practical solution.
Really Jonas! Maybe stay home with your kids next time the weather gets tough! And maybe not attack your GC leading teammate as you also did in Vuelta with Kuss !
somewhere Andy Hampten is chuckling thinking "toughen up Jonas".
Along with 1980 L-B-L winner Bernard Hinault.
You mean the guy who once refused to race a Tour stage because the start was too early? Real guts yeah. Respect for a lot he said and does but let’s ask him first and then remind him of it according to his attitude.
One thing Jonas Vingegaard has in common with Hinault is that they are moaners, although I couldn't see Jonas giving a demonstrator a right hander!
In that sense, those two have less in common than the link you could make between demonstrators, right handers, Hinault and Merckx.