'Hypothermic' Jonas Vingegaard takes on yellow jersey at Paris-Nice but is furious at organizers: "We should never have ridden this finale"

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.