Results Paris-Nice 2026 stage 8 | Lenny Martinez outsprints Jonas Vingegaard in Nice but Visma leader seals dominant overall victory
Cycling
Lenny Martinez sprinted to victory on the final stage of Paris-Nice 2026 after outsprinting Jonas Vingegaard in a two-rider finish in Nice, while the Danish rider comfortably secured the overall title.
The Bahrain Victorious climber was the only rider able to follow Vingegaard when the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader attacked on the steep slopes of the Côte du Linguador earlier in the stage. The pair quickly distanced the rest of the contenders before cooperating on the descent and final run towards the finish.
With the chasing group unable to organise a meaningful pursuit, Martinez and Vingegaard approached the final kilometres with a decisive advantage and began preparing for a sprint to decide the stage.
Martinez launched his effort first in the final few hundred metres and held off the race leader to take his first victory of the 2026 season.
Paret-Peintre animates early racing
Earlier in the stage, Valentin Paret-Peintre lit up the racing with a long solo effort in pursuit of the mountains classification.
The Soudal - Quick-Step rider attacked on the early climbs and crested both the Col de la Porte and the following ascent first, collecting valuable points in the polka dot competition.
However, his move came to an end before the final climb when the peloton closed the gap as the race prepared for the decisive ascent of the Côte du Linguador.
Crash complicates Martinez defence of second place
The fight for the overall podium had already taken a dramatic turn earlier in the stage when second placed Dani Martinez crashed after being accidentally brought down by a team mate.
The Colombian was forced into a chase and entered the final phase of the stage more than a minute behind the group of favourites.
Despite the setback, Martinez managed to limit his losses and held onto second place in the general classification.
Steinhauser completes podium as Vauquelin falls short
Behind the leading duo, a chase group formed containing Kevin Vauquelin, Georg Steinhauser, Harold Tejada, Ion Izagirre, Alex Baudin and Mathys Rondel.
Vauquelin attempted to distance Steinhauser on the run towards the finish in an effort to claim the final podium place, but the German rider held firm to secure third place overall.
Vingegaard’s second place on the stage completed a dominant week for the Danish rider, who leaves Paris-Nice with the overall victory after controlling the race following his decisive long range attack earlier in the week.
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Carlos Silva is a writer for CyclingUpToDate.com, where he contributes race reports, interviews, analysis pieces, and live coverage of the international cycling calendar. Holding a degree in Sports from the Jean Piaget Institute, he combines academic knowledge of performance, training, and competition with hands-on journalism experience in professional cycling.
Throughout his career, Carlos has conducted interviews with leading figures in the sport, including Alberto Contador, Joaquim Rodríguez, Óscar Pereiro, João Almeida, Isaac del Toro, Derek Gee, John Degenkolb and Geraint Thomas. These conversations reflect direct engagement with Grand Tour winners, Classics specialists, and emerging talents.
He has provided on-site coverage at major events ranging from the Vuelta a España to the Tour de France, alongside stage races such as Vuelta a Andalucía, Volta ao Algarve, Volta a Portugal and O Gran Camiño. Covering the mythical climbs of the Giro d'Italia remains one of his professional ambitions.
Carlos is responsible for liveblog coverage of all major WorldTour races and beyond, including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. His reporting integrates verified data from ProCyclingStats to ensure statistical accuracy, contextual depth, and analytical precision.
A lifelong cycling enthusiast, he approaches storytelling across written, photographic, and video formats with a focus on credibility, tactical insight, and informed race interpretation.
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- Great win.However will the world champions jersey be simply a domestic for the season which will some what tarnish the jersey. I hope he is given free rein to try and win some races.paultryan200206-11-2026
- Gretsky wow how old are you lol. Classy sportman though.🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hope it is a good as the one they made on Mark Cavendish.paultryan200206-11-2026
- Literally the perfect RedBull athlete.anonymouscyclist06-11-2026
- And well understood in the CX community.anonymouscyclist06-11-2026
- "Anatomy of a G.O.A.T." OK, that's great!!! I've been saying all along: Tadej Pogačar-Pogi is the G.O.A.T... period. Not only in cycling... but he's the greatest sportsman that ever lived !!! But let's take a look of what real foolishness is. We have many many fools, also on this site, saying that Pogi is "boring,"... he's making cycling "boring"??? I can't believe what's comming out of their deteriorating bad breath mouths. So I guess Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Fasto Coppi and Anquetil were also boring at their time!?!? I guess Michael Jordan, Le Bron, Gretzky, Messi, Ronaldo, Shumacher, Novak Džoković, Federer, Rossi, Marquez, Phelps, Michaela Shiffrin, Venus Williams, Bolt, Lewis Hamilton... etc. were all boring. PS: Many cycling fans that think that way, have to get a brain scan. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans06-11-2026
- ridiculous. a normal racing incident. how lame do you have to be to complain about that?Ketterechts06-11-2026
- Rubbing is racing.
santiagobenites06-11-2026 - Throws an elbow, but crashes afterwards and he's upset.
Front24206-11-2026 - There should be nothing but praise for them: 1. Trying to make things safer, and 2. Trying something "new".acem8206-11-2026
- And a bit of a malcontent on top of it all that doesn’t help.mij06-11-2026
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