Blood, sweat and echelons in Paris–Nice: Ayuso abandons as Vingegaard and Red Bull land huge blow

🤍🤜🤛 💛 #ParisNice

11:12 AM · Mar 11, 2026

Vauquelin and Lenny Martinez run into trouble in the wind

Ayuso, who has lost time in crosswinds before, was kept safely in the front echelon by Lidl-Trek, just as Vingegaard was by Visma | Lease a Bike. Kévin Vauquelin, meanwhile, was one of the main losers for INEOS Grenadiers, stuck in a third echelon at 40 seconds.

Once the damage was counted, around 40 riders were left at the front. Vingegaard had only Edoardo Affini with him, while Ayuso was surrounded by Jakob Söderqvist and Mathias Vacek. Other major names to make the split included Daniel Felipe Martínez (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Oscar Onley (INEOS Grenadiers), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Iván Romeo (Movistar).

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Paris-Nice

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🏁 174km 🚴🏻‍♂️🚴🏻‍♂️<25''<🚴🏻‍♂️🚴🏻‍♂️<45''<🚴🏻‍♂️🚴🏻‍♂️ ⏱️ Le 3e groupe, où figurent notamment le 2e du classement général Kevin Vauquelin et l'ancien porteur du @MaillotjauneLCL Luke Lamperti, est à 45'' de la tête de course. The 3rd group, which includes overall runner-up Kevin Vauquelin and

11:41 AM · Mar 11, 2026

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Front echelon with Ayuso and Vingegaard pushes on, Hoole crashes out

Because several team leaders still had strong teammates around them, the decision was made to keep driving. That quickly put riders such as Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) into difficulty as well. At an average speed of more than 51 km/h, the front group had already opened a gap of 1:20 with 150 kilometres still to race.

That advantage remained intact for a long stretch and even grew by a few more seconds. Then, with around 100 kilometres to go, a nasty crash hit the front group, involving Onley and Daan Hoole among others. Hoole, who had been enjoying an excellent race, was eventually forced to abandon, while Onley managed to return to the leaders with help from his teammates.

By then, the climbing had started. The pace remained extremely high, partly because of the pressure from behind. Vauquelin and Lenny Martinez had taken responsibility in the chase and shattered the peloton, while a small group of pursuers continued to chip away at the gap.

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Eurosport Nederland

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🚴🇫🇷 | Het blijft chaos in #ParisNice. Klassementsleider Juan Ayuso is gevallen en hij heeft veel pijn. ☀️ Wielrennen 👀 HBO Max

2:32 PM · Mar 11, 2026

Race leader Ayuso crashes and is forced to abandon

But the drama was still not over. Roughly 50 kilometres after Hoole’s crash, more riders hit the deck at the front. This time Romeo and McNulty were involved, but most importantly so was race leader Ayuso. The Spaniard initially tried to continue, but a short while later he collapsed in pain and had to abandon. It was a major blow: McNulty also left the race. The crash had split the lead group to pieces, and suddenly five Red Bull riders were up front together with Vingegaard and Vacek.

Once Vacek dropped back, the Dane was left alone against the Red Bull block, but the second group was still trying to claw its way back after the crash. Up front, Nico Denz and brothers Tim and Mick van Dijke did enormous turns for Martínez, while Onley and company once again had to close a gap. Vauquelin and his group were beaten by then: they lost sight of the front entirely, even if they did move closer to the chasers behind them.

Vingegaard then picked up a few bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, but soon after the road tilted upward again. The gap to the chasers stretched to a minute, thanks to superb work by the Van Dijke brothers. They were the final domestiques left for their Colombian leader, who was distancing his rivals more and more — with one exception: Vingegaard.

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Eurosport Nederland

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🚴🇫🇷 | Jonas Vingegaard maakt het even helemaal niks uit hoe hij eruit ziet. Hij heeft zijn lange broek over zijn tenue aan... Vermoedelijk had hij niet verwacht dat hij zijn jasje nog uit moest doen. ☀️ Wielrennen 👀 HBO Max

2:56 PM · Mar 11, 2026

Battlefield in the pouring rain

The front men crested the penultimate climb with a healthy advantage. Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) was the first rider in pursuit, but on his own. Behind him sat a group including Onley and Gaudu, already two minutes down. They were later joined by the returning Vauquelin group, but by that point the stage had become complete carnage.

The leading four started the final climb with a margin of one and a half minutes over Steinhauser, and more than three minutes over the larger chasing group. Mick van Dijke was spent, but Tim van Dijke kept pounding on for as long as possible. Only on the final rising section did the team leaders take over. Vingegaard accelerated, Martínez had no answer, and the Dane immediately opened a decisive gap.

Vingegaard continued to increase his lead on the steepest ramps and soloed to a commanding stage victory. Martínez finished second at 40 seconds, ahead of Van Dijke, who came in just a few seconds behind his leader after a massive day of work. Behind them, the time gaps were huge: Vauquelin, the best climber among the pursuers, lost 3:40. Results were listed through FirstCycling after the finish.

Eurosport Nederland

@Eurosport_NL

🚴🇫🇷 | Jonas Vingegaard wint een etappe in Parijs - Nice waar nog lang over nagepraat gaat worden! Daniele Felipe Martinez eindigt als tweede voor de geweldige broers Tim en Mick van Dijke. ☀️👏 Wielrennen 👀 HBO Max

3:41 PM · Mar 11, 2026