Jonas Vingegaard takes second consecutive stage win after long solo in Paris-Nice

Jonas Vingegaard won the fifth stage of Paris-Nice as well, following his victory in the fourth stage. After strong teamwork from Visma | Lease a Bike, the Danish yellow jersey launched a successful solo attack with 21 kilometers to go.

On day five of Paris-Nice, the longest stage of the race was on the menu. The 205-kilometer stage also featured the most elevation gain: over 3,000 meters. Although the riders didn’t face any extremely long climbs, they confronted a series of steep, punchy ascents. In the finale awaited the Côte de Sécheras (3.9 km at 7%), the Côte de Saint-Jean-de-Muzols (2.2 km at 11%), and the Côte de Saint-Barthélemy-le-Plain (3.2 km at 7.6%). After that last climb, there were still nine kilometers to the finish line. The final four and a half kilometers gradually ascended at three to four percent.

The opening phase saw a barrage of attacks. But precisely because everyone wanted to be in the move, it was hard to break away for good. Stefan Bissegger and Jasha Sütterlin briefly rode ahead of the pack together, but even they didn’t get the peloton’s approval in the end. Meanwhile, the peloton was moving so fast that David Gaudu – fifth in the GC – was dropped on the Côte de Lentilly (2.4 km at 4.3%). He would abandon shortly after.

A breakaway finally forms
On the plateau after the Côte de Lentilly, after nearly eighty kilometers of racing, a breakaway finally took shape. Aleksandr Vlasov, Joshua Tarling, Rémi Cavagna, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, and Nicolas Prodhomme joined forces and earned about a minute and a half advantage over the peloton. Visma | Lease a Bike initially controlled the group but then sent Victor Campenaerts on the counterattack. The Belgian managed to bridge up to Lorenzo Milesi and Iván Romeo (both Movistar).

Although Visma now had someone upfront with Campenaerts, they kept the attackers within striking distance. The eight started the Côte de Sécheras with a lead. There, Cepeda proved the best climber of the group. He crested alone and continued his solo effort, while the other escapees were swallowed one by one by the peloton, where Bruno Armirail spent kilometers pulling at the front for Vingegaard. Later, the dropped Campenaerts also contributed significantly.

Campenaerts leads Vingegaard’s attack
Under Campenaerts’ leadership, the greatly reduced peloton reeled in Cepeda on the Côte de Saint-Jean-de-Muzols. Valentin Paret-Peintre attempted to break away afterward, but Campenaerts didn’t let the slender climber go. Then Oscar Onley took over in service to Kévin Vauquelin, but again Campenaerts passed him. The Belgian dropped Daniel Felipe Martínez with a final surge, after which Vingegaard launched his own attack with 21 kilometers to go.

The Dane immediately opened a significant gap. Behind him, a group formed containing Vauquelin, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Lenny Martinez, and Harold Tejada. Later, Martínez, Georg Steinhauser, and Mathys Rondel joined the first chasers. They fought for second place, as Vingegaard kept extending his lead on the Côte de Saint-Barthélemy-le-Plain and beyond. His advantage climbed to over a minute and a half.

Vingegaard wins by a wide margin
Vingegaard was able to celebrate well before the finish. He won by a huge margin and extended his lead in the general classification. Paret-Peintre, who escaped from the chasers’ group, finished second at a respectful distance. Tejada sprinted to third place nearly two and a half minutes behind.