Paris-Nice | Michael Storer wins snowy finish in Auron; Matteo Jorgenson defends yellow jersey into final stage
Cycling
Stage 7 of Paris-Nice was shortened due to the cold temperatures and rain, but the peloton still had to face another cold (and even snowy day in the mountains. The victory was for the breakaway here as Michael Storer succeeded from the breakaway, whilst in the peloton Matteo Jorgenson maintained his yellow jersey.
The stage had been shortened due to bad weather, cutting the Col de la Colmiane from the route and leaving a mostly flat run-in to the final climb in Auron under the rainy weather. The short stage led to a very fast start, with a group of 15 riders going up the road including Michael Storer as a minor GC threat; Julian Alaphilippe, Stefan Küng, Joshua Tarling and more.
The peloton rode through all day long but with an extending gap to the peloton. It looked to be a calm approach to the finishing climb on paper but not for everyone, as Mattias Skjelmose crashed, hitting his head hard on the ground and abandoning the race whilst sitting third.
In the first half of the ascent to Auron, in front, Michael Storer kept pushing the pace hard as he aimed to climb up the GC ranks, and also being potentially the strongest climber of the group. Mauro Schmid matched him, whilst behind UAE and then INEOS set a strong pace. With 2.7 kilometers to go Storer's high pace was enough to drop Schmid and the Australian set off on his own for stage victory. Behind, Felix Gall and Lenny Martínez attacked from the GC group.
The Tudor Pro Cycling Team rider net a huge win in the middle of the snow, also climbing up the overall classification, with Mauro Schmid and Georg Steinhauser completing the podium. The main favourites arrived mostly together at the finish line, with no big gaps to note.
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What in this dripping planet is going on in Mads Pedersen's mind? Mattias Skjelmose crashes out and in the next 5 minutes sprinter Mads decides he's a GC rider and finishes first in the group of GC favorites at the top of the final climb of 10k at 7%! Was that a typo in the results list?
? MP is more than just a sprinter. Won a Vuelta stage with 2 such climbs, did a top ten in last years’ TdF Stage 1 and more. GC riders Storer, Martinez and Lipowitz arrived before and he was still beaten by Champoussin on the line, did they make corrections since you looked or you saw what is still showing?
I mean the yellow jersey group of GC guys, like Jorgensen and Almeida.
Ah, but Jorgenson is probably recovering/saving himself for 2moro and Almeida seems like he got satisfied by his win so hard to know how hard everyone was trying. As said, he’s surprised many on the slopes a number of times now.
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- Is this a joke?Jkolner12316-03-2025
- He has declined leadership though in the past? Lack of confidence? Hedging your bets works sometimes, at other times it is better to commit and go in big.Cyclingsbestfan16-03-2025
- Pidcock is starting sound like a more mature rider. It may be the media reports when he was at ineos skewing things, but he starting to sound like a defferent person.Cyclingsbestfan16-03-2025
- Yep If he could just get some consistency going with his form, he would be a rider to be reckoned with in any gc race. As it is he blows hot and cold.Cyclingsbestfan16-03-2025
- I was watching the race live, and it seems like this crash could have been avoided. A pre-race course inspection and appropriate signage.yuckly16-03-2025
- Jonas won T-A last tear and wanted to do P-N this year. Jorgensen also wanted to do it, he declined every si gle opportunity to be a solo leader, eevry stage race Jonas doesn't do, Girovappaxbipmv16-03-2025
- I agree, he either needs a surprise attack in the final, win a sprint or just somehow overpower everyonevappaxbipmv16-03-2025
- Did old man Bruyneel make this point before Jonas crashed out?Renz16-03-2025
- Good win for Ayuso. He has appeared a bit inconsistent on mountain stages in the past; absolutely brilliant on some but then cracking on others.Cooldude16-03-2025
- A little caution is understandable. Just ask Roglic.Cooldude16-03-2025