Vingegaard strikes at Paris-Nice as Ayuso crashes out on day of rain and chaos

Vingegaard dropped Daniel Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) with a kilometre of the category 2  haul remaining to win by 42 seconds, but that climb was only part of the story on a day of driving rain, echelons and crashes.

The race splintered into shards shortly after leaving the start in Bourges, with Ayuso and Vingegaard among the grandees in a 40-strong leading group that built a lead over a minute over the rest of the peloton.

That status quo remained in place over the first climb of the Côte de la Croix des Cerisiers, but Paris-Nice would take on a different guise over the other side when Ayuso was among the fallers on a slippery corner with 47km remaining. 

The crash created another split, and Vingegaard suddenly found himself off the front in a group of seven with just Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and five Red Bull riders for company. Vacek and Red Bull’s Callum Thornley would soon drop back, leaving Vingegaard to be towed along by Martinez, Nico Denz, Tim van Dijke and Mick van Dijke.

Although Vingegaard didn’t have time to rid himself of his bib tights amid the chaos, his race craft was altogether sharper than his wardrobe, and he picked up six bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint with 30km remaining.

Denz swung off at the foot of the Côte de la Liberation, where Vingegaard was again content to follow Martinez and the Van Dijke twins, while the gap to the chasing groups now yawned out beyond two minutes.

After his brother Mick swung off, Tim van Dijke led Martinez and Vingegaard as far as the steepest ramps of the climb with a shade over a kilometre to go. And inevitably, Vingegaard lifted himself from the saddle with a kilometre to go to claim stage victory and the yellow jersey.

In the overall standings, Vingegaard now has a lead of 52 seconds over Martinez, with Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) third at 3:20.

This was a Paris-Nice stage straight out of central casting, with wind, rain, echelons, crashes and a demanding finale. With Saturday’s summit finish to Auron in doubt due to the weather conditions at altitude, there was perhaps an additional sense of urgency to proceedings on Wednesday.

The tension and pace were certainly high from the moment the flag was dropped in Bourges, with the peloton quickly splintering into echelons amid the brisk crosswind. Ayuso and his Lidl-Trek team were well represented, as were Vingegaard and his Visma squad, but Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos) was among those to miss out on making the front group of 40.

The first two hours of racing were run off at a blistering case, and the Vauquelin group couldn’t get any closer than within a minute of the leaders. Ineos would suffer another setback after the first climb, when Oscar Onley was a faller, and the Scot’s pursuit would prove to be a doomed one.

There was further drama to come, however, when Ayuso, Brandon McNulty, Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Iván Romeo and Raúl García Pierna (Movistar) crashed on a rain-soaked bend with 47km to go.

Ayuso was in evident pain, but the Spaniard attempted to restart before giving best to his injuries and lying down in a verge on the roadside. He would be taken to hospital by ambulance, his race over and his 2026 schedule now decidedly unclear.

Paris-Nice waits for no man, of course. Ayuso was just behind Vingegaard when he fell, and the Dane was now the virtual race leader, propelled towards the finish by the Red Bull train. By day’s end, Vingegaard would be in the yellow jersey and in pole position to claim overall victory in Nice.