“I thought that road looked like the one where I crashed” - Jonas Vingegaard puts old ghosts to bed with dominant Paris-Nice solo

Jonas Vingegaard delivered one of the most commanding performances of the 2026 Paris-Nice so far, launching a long-range attack on Stage 5 that left the rest of the general classification contenders scattered across the Ardèche hills.

The Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader attacked with around twenty kilometres remaining on the steep slopes of the Côte de Saint-Jean-de-Muzols. Within moments, the race was torn apart, with only Lenny Martinez briefly able to follow before the Dane rode clear alone.

From there, the yellow jersey never looked back. Vingegaard crested the final climbs with a growing advantage before powering through the rolling final kilometres to seal a dominant solo victory.

After the finish, the two-time Tour de France winner admitted that one moment during the stage unexpectedly brought back memories of a crash on the same roads.

“It’s funny. During the stage, I thought that road looked like the one where I crashed last year, but I didn’t know we were going to ride there,” Vingegaard said in quotes collected by TV2. “It was nice to get some revenge and to win on such a beautiful day. The weather is beautiful, and it’s a beautiful area. It has been an incredible day for me and for the team.”

The victory was not simply the result of Vingegaard’s attack, but of a carefully executed team strategy that had been mapped out from the morning briefing.

“We had a plan from the morning to win the stage,” he explained. “We wanted to attack from far out to try to take as much time as possible. It worked, and I owe a huge thank you to my teammates. They were fantastic today, and they made it possible.”

Visma controlled the race for much of the day, keeping a dangerous breakaway group within reach before the decisive climbs in the final forty kilometres.

“I really wanted to win, but the team wanted that as well,” Vingegaard said. “The team did an incredible job. They made sure that a good breakaway group was established, and they kept them on a short leash. We wanted to win and take as much time as possible. Now I took a good amount of time. I have to thank the team. They deserve the champagne tonight.”

Even with a clear strategy, the race situation forced Visma to adapt more than once during the stage. The early breakaway briefly gained more time than expected, leading to discussions about whether Vingegaard should move earlier than planned.

“We had to adjust the plan a couple of times,” he said, “Originally, the plan was to attack where I did. But the breakaway got a bit too much of an advantage. We thought that I should try to ride up to them already on the first climb. But then suddenly they were close again, and we thought it was better to go back to the original plan.”

When the decisive moment came, it was teammate Victor Campenaerts who delivered the final setup. “I got a gap before my attack because of Victor,” Vingegaard said. “He did an incredible lead-out, so I didn’t have to go over the limit to drop the others. That meant I could stay within my limits.”

Despite strengthening his grip on the general classification with the victory, Vingegaard was quick to warn that Paris-Nice is far from finished.

The race still faces several decisive stages before the traditional finale on the Côte d’Azur. “It’s not over yet,” he said. “There are still three stages where a lot can happen. We have to stay focused all the way to Nice.”

For now, though, Stage 5 delivered both a statement victory and a personal moment of redemption for the Danish leader, who turned a road that once held painful memories into the scene of one of the most dominant performances of this year’s Race to the Sun.

The partnership between Vingegaard and Victor Campenaerts is quickly becoming the defining tactical story of the 2026 spring. While Vingegaard provides the raw climbing power, Campenaerts—a specialist in aero-efficiency and pacing—is acting as a 'tactical shield.' By positioning the Yellow Jersey perfectly at the base of the Saint-Jean-de-Muzols, Campenaerts effectively removed the 'chaos factor' of the climb, allowing Vingegaard to start his solo effort with fresh legs while his rivals were already panting to stay on the wheel.