"When there's snow, it's a bit different..." - Jonas Vingegaard opposed to Paris-Nice finish in the middle of the snow

This year's Paris-Nice is leaving its mark in the professional calendar due to the bad weather conditions. The rain, wind and snow have not only exploded the race beyond expectations on stage 4; but have also forced the organizers to cut stage 7 which headed into the Alps almost fully. Whilst there was reasoning behind holding a stage, Jonas Vingegaard wasn't happy with the location in which it ended.

The reason was quite simple: Snow. As the yellow jersey and race leader he understood the organizers' positions when it came to still holding a stage despite the freezing conditions, rain and risk of snowing.

The very same weather conditions forced the stage to be cut twice, and all that was left were 47 kilometers of racing, allowed by the fact that there was previous preparation; no descents and a very straightforward patch of road which was initially going to take the riders to the base of the climb to Auron.

But in the final kilometers, the riders entered the snow line. “We were, and still are, very much in favor of the idea of ​​racing. You have to understand that Paris-Nice is one of the biggest races in the world; there are many sponsors, and they want to organize their own stage, so we were on board. But when the finish line is located here, then perhaps it's not possible," Vingegaard said in a post-race interview.

Whilst not technical, the finale was not neutralized and featured a fast-moving peloton through roads where the snow had been cleared recently, however where the sides of the road were packed with it. For the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider, the solution was not hard: "It would have been better to place the line 10 kilometers earlier".

"For us riders, rain is part of the job, but when there's snow, it's a bit different. There were a few crashes at the end, probably because it was very slippery," he believes. "In that situation, it would have been better to say, ‘Let's put the line a little earlier.’ That's what we wanted, actually".

Nevertheless, the stage finished safely for the climber who has the overall classification won baring disaster during tomorrow's stage in Nice, however the forecast still points to rain and so the job is anything but done until he crosses the finish line tomorrow.