Tom Boonen disagrees with Paris-Nice neutralization: "The riders got even colder and it became even more dangerous"
Cycling
The brutal weather conditions yesterday at Paris-Nice led to a neutralization that turned into absolute chaos. For around half an hour the race was either stopped on it's tracks or moving with the peloton split to bits and unsure of what exactly was going on. Classics legend Tom Boonen believes that neutralizing the race made things worst due to the cold, since the stage wasn't cancelled.
“By not continuing the race, the riders got even colder and it became even more dangerous," Tom Boonen argued in the Wielerclub Wattage podcast. "Moreover, those men could not warm up in the team bus. With that neutralization, they actually created the opposite of what they wanted to achieve".
The neutralization came to be due to a hailstorm, and it was not safe to continue racing under such conditions, besides the extreme cold and wetness that affected the riders. But then the problems in communication when moving again also affected the stage quite a bit. “Why is it never possible to get the riders on the same page? Because the stakes are so high. It is then up to the jury to ensure that the entire peloton is together at the restart.”
However aside of Boonen's point, the main question is if the stage should've continued after having been neutralized. Many riders, including new race leader Jonas Vingegaard, were unhappy with what had unfolded and admits that he never managed to warm up even on the final climb - whilst Steff Cras abandoned the race with hypothermia.
“There was melting snow that you could ride through perfectly, but there had also been an accident with a motorcyclist. And a team car from Decathlon-AG2R had crashed into something," Jan Bakelants pointed out. "I think the organization took the leap forward because they thought: Something might happen, a crash for example.”
The chaos then ensured most likely due to the speed at which the riders were told to start riding again, and the Belgian understands how this couldn't be contained: “The riders and the team leaders could not properly discuss with each other what the plan was to follow. Everyone rode a bit all over the place.”
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🇩🇰 Danish connection #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/ziiv63pN2h
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 13, 2025
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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