INEOS' Kévin Vauquelin furious; Romeo reports 'scary' crash'; Martínez running out of energy amidst chaos - A day to remember at Paris-Nice

Stage 4 of Paris-Nice is a day that will stay in the memory of many in pro cycling, fans and riders alike. The brutal weather conditions, the importance of the riders who have crashed, Jonas Vingegaard's clothing... There were dozens of stories to be told from the stage. We take a look at those from Iván Romeo, Daniel Martínez, Kévin Vauquelin and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe sports director Sven Vanthourenhout.

The most eventful moment of the day perhaps was Juan Ayuso's crash, as the Spaniard led the race and crashed at high-speed in a seemingly regular bit of road, away from TV cameras. Several riders were involved in the fall, in the leading group, and have abandoned. Brandon McNulty, Torstein Traeen and Movistar duo Raul García Pierna and Pablo Castrillo amongst them...

For Movistar it was absolute disaster, as the Spanish team got all their main men in the front group, and then saw them all go down at once. Romeo was a rider who was perfectly suited to the conditions out on the road, but went down in the rainy wet roads. “One of them fell and we all went down behind him. It was really hard..."

“It was a really, really nasty crash, to be honest. It was scary. I'm glad it wasn't on TV, because it would have been tough watching it from home," Romeo told CyclingPro.net. “There must have been something on the road, because then riders in the group also crashed in the same place. It was a straight stretch, not even a curve.”

Romeo was stunned with the crash but, as said by Visma's Edoardo Affini, it happened at high speed and with large consequences. The Spanish team could not believe their eyes as one by one, the TV broadcast showed each of their riders in the front group involved in it.

“We stopped for quite a while afterward. I just hoped there wasn't anything on the road that had stopped us. The injuries are fine, it's not too serious. My teammates are fine too. Nothing is broken.” However, the overall classification is over, his two teammates were forced to withdraw and there are no guarantees that the Spanish national champion himself will recover in time to obtain results in the race.

Kévin Vauquelin was sixth on the day, a strong ride which has him still in contention for the final podium, but was perhaps one of the angriest riders at the finish line in Uchon. He was one of the riders who missed the early split in the first kilometers of the stage. But this was not due to bad positioning.

“Imagine you’re riding on the front and another rider pushes you into the field, and suddenly you end up at the back of the peloton because the echelons start immediately,” he shared in a rather passive-aggressive Instagram story. “No, I’m joking… but just imagine it anyway (Rider from Soudal)".

Vauquelin did not name the rider, if he knows who it is, but was very evidently angry at the situation that unfolded. It was a hellish day for the white jersey, who began the day in second place overall - and INEOS as a whole.

The British team had Oscar Onley in the front group alongside several teammates, and they did not wait for Vauquelin as the Scottish climber had good chances of performing on his own. However he not only crashed but then also suffered a mechanical at a key moment of the race, and cracked in the final kilometers.

Vauquelin and a few other riders from the peloton behind flew past the Onley group late in the race, but as it was possible to see from TV broadcast, Vauquelin was isolated and forced to work before the riders even got to the hilly part of the stage. In the final climb he showed stellar legs, but was already minutes behind the front riders by that point.

After the end of the stage, TV footage showed a visibly angry Vauquelin gesturing at an INEOS Grenadiers van, after hours of racing. The Frenchman was certainly irate from the several bad situations he and his team endured throughout a hellish day.

Those who would have been happier at the finish might have been the riders from Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, who dominated the echelons on both occasions that mattered the most. They had absolute numerical superiority in the final kilometers and dragged Daniel Martínez - as well as Jonas Vingegaard - away from the rest of the competition.

But the Colombian admits he had nothing left in the final climb to try and match Vingegaard. “From kilometre zero, it was very hard, with crosswinds, we tried to be at the front all day. I think the team did a fantastic job. In the end, I was running out of energy," he admitted in words to CyclingPro.net.

Team DS Sven Vanthourenhout explained the team was ready for all scenarios on the day where the forecast promised spectacle. “Was this the plan? It's easy to say “yes” no, but I had already said this morning that we expected war. Then you can do two things: watch or make one yourself,"he shared with Sporza.

Nico Denz, Callum Thornley and the van Dijke twins did a perfect job for the team, virtually securing a second place for Daniel Martínez in the overall classification. Despite the large numbers, the Belgian doesn't believe more could've been done in the finale against the new yellow jersey Vingegaard.

“When you start the final climb with him there, you know it's going to be very difficult – even though we didn't know how he was feeling after that chaotic day. Should we have played a more tactical game? Well, after a day with a wind chill of around three degrees, there weren't many options. Second place was already certain, victory would have been a dream.”

However with four days and a few difficult stages remaining, Vanthourenhout was more concerned with being able to have the riders available to work again the following days: “But chances are it won't be pleasant when they wake up tomorrow. They'll think: wow, we've been through a battlefield.”