Heavy snowfall leads to further course reduction: 47-kilometer stage in Paris-Nice

In 2024, Paris-Nice was supposed to finish in Auron for the first time, but snowfall forced the organisers to switch to another route. As early as Thursday, the decision was made to move Saturday’s finish to La Madone d’Utelle instead.

That stage, which also started in Nice just like this Saturday’s edition, was ultimately won by Aleksandr Vlasov, who held off Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic with a late attack.

Last year, the stage did finish in Auron as planned, but the course had to be revised along the way. The Col de la Colmiane and the Côte du Belvédère were removed, partly because of the risk of riders freezing on the descents. As a compromise, the final climb remained on the route. Michael Storer of Tudor won the shortened stage from the early breakaway, in the snow.

In 2026, it now looks highly likely that the stage to Auron will once again be subject to change. The forecast for Saturday is far from encouraging, with heavy snowfall, temperatures around freezing, wind chill dropping even lower, and winds expected to strengthen during the day.

Course designer Thierry Gouvenou confirmed to Sporza that alternative options are being discussed. “At the moment, we are in talks with the French authorities, the regional government and the municipalities to see whether we can put together a Plan B. We want to avoid ending up in a situation where we would have to cancel the race.”

“The most likely Plan B is to shorten the stage and look for a finish location at a lower altitude. That is what we are currently examining,” Gouvenou said. For now, it remains unclear what that alternative route would look like. On Friday evening, it was confirmed that the finish in Auron was no longer feasible. The mountain stage was shortened to 120 kilometers, with the finish in Isola, at the foot of the climb to the ski resort.

It meant that the stage would no longer be suited for the mountain goats: as Michael Storer pointed out last year, we likely wouldn’t see that again. A sprinter with stamina would have a better chance, provided the stage could be completed as planned. That remained to be seen: it’s snowing heavily in Isola, and whether it’s safe to ride remains to be seen.

According to Daniel Benson, the representatives will meet at 11 AM local time, before the start of the penultimate stage, to decide whether any further changes will be made. According to the sports journalist, it currently looks like the race will be only 50 kilometers long. Later, Paris-Nice confirmed that the race will cover just 47 kilometers. The finish line remains in Isola.