Paris-Nice 2026 stage 7 preview, profiles, favourites & predictions - Jonas Vingegaard takes on mountain finish in the yellow jersey

The 2026 edition of Paris-Nice will be taking place from the 8th to the 15th of March and is, as every year, one of the key pro cycling events of the spring. It features opportunities for the climbers, sprinters and classics specialists alike. We preview stage 7, which is estimated to start and finish at 11:40 and 14:55 CET.

The race was first held in 1933 and won by Belgian Alfons Schepers. Due to the race's nature, as the name says, from Paris to Nice in the Mediterranean sea, it is often called the 'Race to the Sun', and on the road, that is quite literally often the case. It is an event, with 8 days in duration, that has crowned some of the sport's very best over the generations. Jacques Anquetil, Tom Simpson, Eddy Merckx, Raymond Poulidor, Joop Zoetemelk, Seak Kelly (the record holder, winning every single edition from 1982 to 1988), Miguel Indurain, Laurent Jalabert...

The list goes on and on, and in recent years, the race hasn't lost any of its meaning. Modern legends such as Alberto Contador, Tony Martin, Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas, Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar have all inserted their names into the history books. In 2025, it was Matteo Jorgenson who took the overall win, defending it successfully with a performance that spanned great stages in all terrains.

Stage 7 could be called the queen stage, but it is not as simple as that. Last year, the peloton had a stage finishing in Auron, but it didn't prove to be a meaningful challenge for the overall classification. Whereas the race typically features a high mountain stage, this time around, it is considered the toughest of them all.

However, the stage is short, having only 138 kilometers on the menu out of Nice, with two categorized climbs in the opening kilometers. Most of the day, then, is flat. Now surely, the riders go up from 150 to 1100 meters of altitude up to the base of the climb to Auron, which isn't pan-flat, but unless the pace is seriously pushed, it's not terrain that will make for very fatiguing racing - mostly because the stage is also short.

The final climb is 7.4 kilometers long at 7%, enough terrain to make some differences, but nothing overly dramatic, as such a climb will be tackled at over 25Km/h, and at speeds where slipstreaming matters. It is a climb where the pure climbers may struggle to make a difference against the more explosive riders, but it will nevertheless be important for the overall classification.

There is a big if, which is the heavy snowfall in the area, very, very heavy, and negative temperatures at the top, as low as -7Cº during the night in Auron. Safe to say that at the time of writing this, my belief that the stage will go through in the first place will be low.

But let's assume it will, it is a mostly flat stage where nothing is expected to happen before the final climb, the riders just have to withstand the cold in the lead-up to the final ascent, whilst the breakaway can succeed like last year on this ascent, where it was Michael Storer who won. Ordinarily, this climb would not see many differences because it is not steep enough over 7 kilometers, at this point in time, the speeds are so high that slipstreaming does actually become very important.

But Jonas Vingegaard is head and shoulders above the competition, and so if he wants to attack he will. Although honestly, the race is more than won, it's not a long effort or a replica of any Grand Tour stage he will find due to the weather, so I would not risk illness from extreme effort and the extreme cold and podium duties right after the finish line - they will certainly have that into consideration.

Not much to predict on that side, honestly, because if it goes down to a peloton fight, Vingegaard will win, and the GC won't change much either because of the massive gaps behind. Kévin Vauquelin will certainly try to attack Georg Steinhauser if he can to try and jump onto the podium, whilst Lenny Martínez is the only other rider who seems to have the legs to attack and already did very well on this climb last year. Harold Tejada and Valentin Paret-Peintre can do well as they have in previous days, and have GC freedom at the same time.

The question is whether a breakaway can succeed or not. Aleksandr Vlasov, Igor Arrieta, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, Nicolas Prodhomme and Andreas Leknessund are riders who can potentially succeed from the front if they find themselves there.

*** Jonas Vingegaard, Nicolas Prodhomme
** Lenny Martínez, Kévin Vauquelin, Aleksandr Vlasov, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda
* Harold Tejada, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Daniel Martínez, Georg Steinhauser, Ion Izagirre, Igor Arrieta, Andreas Leknessund

Pick: Nicolas Prodhomme

How: Breakaway win