"Pure race-falsification" - Patrick Lefevere blasts Paris-Nice organizers over flawed neutralization

Paris-Nice is a race that usually sees bad weather, but this year it once again became exceptional. Whilst no stage thus far has been cancelled, one has been shortened and stage 4 was infamously neutralized. The neutralization didn't go to perfection however and Patrick Lefevere was staunchly critical of it in his weekly column.

With 45 kilometers to go on the day, the race was neutralized due to a hailstorm. A few minutes after, as it stopped, riders began to move again under the order of the race organization. For 17 kilometers it remained like that, and a few riders actually accelerated during this period - where many riders restarted riding at different times, without it being clear what exactly was happening. Eventually, the peloton was stopped again, and the race resumed with the gaps it had before.

The stage went on to be raced until the finish, but it wasn't without it's criticism. “It was pure race-falsification. Let me start by saying that I thought the decision itself was wrong. If you neutralize the race at that moment – ​​really in the middle of nowhere – all those frozen riders have nowhere to go," Lefevere said in his Het Nieuwsblad column. "The buses were at the finish, there was no room for seven people in the support vehicles and there was not a house to be seen anywhere". However it must be said, the neutralization happened due to a hailstorm, and continuing the race under such conditions would've likely been a more controversial decision.

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However the Belgian manager's opinion is clear: “The chaos on Wednesday is unworthy of a race at WorldTour level. You would think that organizations at that level would have sufficient know-how to ensure a proper restart. Not so. Movistar was in the front row, Vlasov and Vingegaard were still in or between the cars.” It ended up being a chaotic situation, and on that day TotalEnergies' Stef Cras abandoned with hypothermia, whilst several others includign Jonas Vingegaard himself were critical of the race having continued.

Soon after, the organizers decided to cut this Saturday's stage into Auron due to the snowy and dangerous conditions. “Too bad, but predictable if you choose to drive inland away from Nice and the Côte d’Azur. Auron is a ski resort, they usually pay good money to host the race, but you shouldn’t be alarmed if the weather there is actually unsuitable in mid-March. In the words of Oliver Naesen: it remains racing, not giant slalom.”

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