French GC leaders miss Paris–Nice echelon split as Vauquelin blames Soudal Quick-Step rider

From kilometre zero, it was mayhem in France. With a strong crosswind, the peloton quickly stretched into a long line and then split. Before long, a front group of around forty riders formed, including Vingegaard and Martínez, but also riders such as Oscar Onley (INEOS Grenadiers) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ). Missing the move were Martinez and Vauquelin, who had been caught on the wrong side of the split.

That meant a full-on chase. At first, their teams tried to organise the pursuit, but pretty quickly the two Frenchmen were left to do much of it themselves. On the first climb of the day, the pair helped drag the rest of the unfortunate group into action. A large chasing group did form, but it proved too late: the leaders had already built a huge advantage.

On the final climb, they still fought back to sixth place (Vauquelin) and seventh place (Martinez) on the stage — an impressive damage limitation job given the time they had lost. Still, it was hardly a day to celebrate. “It was incredibly hard,” Martinez said afterwards to Cycling Pro. “That’s it, I’m completely done. I had no strength left in my legs. I was dead — I think we all were. It was a really tough stage. This one is going to stay in my head for a long time.”

While the young Frenchman Martinez could still find a small smile — however forced — Vauquelin clearly could not. He did not speak to the media and climbed into the team car visibly angry. He lost the white jersey to the strong Georg Steinhauser (EF Education–EasyPost), though he remains just 19 seconds off the German and the podium positions. Still, Vauquelin will feel he had to spend good legs simply limiting the damage.

And now, an explanation has emerged. According to the INEOS Grenadiers rider, he was obstructed at the moment the echelons formed. “Imagine you’re riding on the front row and a rider pushes you back into the bunch, so you suddenly end up at the rear of the peloton — and then the echelon splits immediately,” he wrote sarcastically on Instagram. Vauquelin even said the rider involved was from Soudal Quick-Step.