'We expected war' - Red Bull's strength in depth shines in apocalyptic Paris-Nice battle

Of the front seven riders following the echelon chaos and crashes, five were in the colours of Red Bull, Nico Denz, Daniel Felipe Martínez, Callum Thornley, Mick van Dijke, and Tim van Dijke, alongside Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike).

This wasn't a coincidence, as Sports Director Sven Vanthourenhout had drilled an aggressive racing mentality into the riders ahead of the action with the knowledge that it could potentially be an all-action stage.

“Was this the plan? It's easy to say “yes” now,” Vanthourenhout told Sporza after the finish. “But I had already said this morning that we expected war. Then you can do two things: watch or make one yourself.”

Ultimately, Vingegaard punched his way clear under the flamme rouge and would win by a convincing 41 seconds and take the yellow jersey in Uchon. Red Bull packed out the standings, finishing 2nd with Martínez, and 3rd and 4th with Tim and Mick van Dijke, respectively. 

“From kilometre zero, it was very hard, with crosswinds, we tried to be at the front all day. I think the team did a fantastic job. In the end, I was running out of energy,” Martínez told CyclingProNet.

Despite missing out on the stage win, it was a team performance that Red Bull and Vanthourenhout could be proud of, with the Sports Director understanding the challenge of trying to overcome Vingegaard in such conditions.

“When you start the final climb with him there, you know it's going to be very difficult – even though we didn't know how he was feeling after that chaotic day,” explained Vanthourenhout. 

“Should we have played a more tactical game? Well, after a day with a wind chill of around three degrees, there weren't many options. Second place was already certain, victory would have been a dream.”

Vanthourenhout also had plenty of praise for the Van Dijke brothers for their work as two of the MVPs. “Daniel Felipe Martinez was pretty frozen,” said Vanthourenhout. “If the Van Dijkes weren't there anymore, he would probably have been dropped much earlier. But now he probably didn't dare because the boys had supported him so much.”

Recent performances dull the shock of the performance of the Dutch twins. Tim van Dijke has enjoyed the best start to a season in his professional career, having finished 2nd at Omloop Nieuwsblad behind Mathieu van der Poel, and 13th at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne before his Paris-Nice exploits. 

Meanwhile, Mick van Dijke was also strong on Opening Weekend and has evidently carried good form to France.

Even Vingegaard himself paid respect to the performance of the German team. “Yes, it may well be that I owe them a bottle of wine or a beer or something,” Vingegaard told TV2. “They were extremely strong today, and they rode extremely well.”

Despite being toppled by the Dane in the finale, Martínez has set himself up in a strong position to finish on the podium of Paris-Nice for the second time in his career. 

The Colombian finished on the third step of the podium in 2022, and now holds an advantage of 2:47 over fourth-placed rider Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers), with Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) sandwiched in between at 2:28 behind Martínez. At 52 seconds behind Vingegaard, Vanthournehout knows there is still a long way to go until the final stage in Nice.

“We are indeed going to focus 110% on recovery. The lads are proud of their performance, and that will help,” said Vanthourenhout. “But chances are it won't be pleasant when they wake up tomorrow. They'll think: wow, we've been through a battlefield.”