Paris-Nice Queen stage in jeopardy due to heavy snow and temperature forecasts

The stage currently under threat is the penultimate stage. As it stands, stage 7 is set to be 138.7km in length, beginning in Nice, taking on the climbs of the Côte de Carros and Côte de Bouyon in the first half, before a summit-finish in Auron, which is 7.3km in length with an average gradient of 7.2%

However, current forecasts suggest that the temperature in Auron on Saturday will reach a low of -2°C, and with heavy snow showers, which puts the penultimate stage of the 2026 edition in jeopardy.

Paris-Nice is no stranger to weather conditions impacting the race in recent editions, and in particular stages that were set to finish in Auron.

The ski station located in the Alpes-Maritimes region was set to host a stage finish in the 2024 edition, but the stage had to be completely re-altered due to adverse weather conditions. 

Bad luck struck once more in 2025, when the penultimate stage, finishing atop the summit at Auron, was slashed in distance. The stage was still able on the climb, where Michael Storer claimed the stage win, and Matteo Jorgenson defended the yellow jersey en route to winning Paris-Nice for the second year running.

The riders are seemingly braced for a potential alteration on the route, as illustrated by Juan Ayuso, who, when speaking ahead of stage 3’s team time-trial, highlighted the importance of the stage, with the context that the weekend’s stages could be hindered by weather conditions. 

"Also, now we’re seeing that maybe in Nice there’s really bad weather, so we will see what we can and what we can’t race,” Ayuso told CyclingProNet ahead of stage 2. “So I think tomorrow [stage 3] has, I don’t know what percentage, but I think more than 70% of the general classification can be decided tomorrow [stage 3].”

After the third stage, Ayuso now leads the GC with the Ineos Grenadiers duo Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley within three seconds of the Spanish rider. Jonas Vingegaard sits in 7th overall, 17 seconds behind Ayuso. 

The 2026 season has already seen plenty of racing impacted due to weather conditions, mainly due to the wind in Spain

For example, the time trial at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana saw GC times neutralised due to high winds, whilst the Queen stage of the Setemana Valenciana was cancelled. Both stages of the Vuelta a Murcia were impacted, with the first stage cut in distance, before the second stage was neutralised amid storm conditions.