Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) will play no further part in Paris-Nice 2025 after losing the yellow jersey in the race yesterday following a crash.
His withdrawal is a major blow for the Dane as he sees his early season hopes of coming back to top form after a major crash last year interrupted.
At the same time, his main rival, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), for the Tour de France in July is romping through the early season.
"Unfortunately, Jonas Vingegaard will not start in today’s stage of Paris-Nice," Visma Lease a Bike said in a statement on Friday morning, meaning the Dane misses the final three stages of the race.
"Our medical staff has decided that it is best for him to recover from yesterday’s crash at home and focus on his next goals for the season."
Advertisement
Related News
Vingegaard crashed early on yesterday's stage 5 and though it initially looked like a minor incident, he had blood on his lip and had injured his hand, though there has been no mention of any fractures.
And though he stayed in the front group, he looked like he was in some pain. He began to slide backwards in the final 1km, which was uphill on Côte de Notre-Dame-de-Sciez. He lost 26 seconds to stage winner Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious).
That time loss resulted in Vingegaard losing the yellow jersey, to his team mate Matteo Jorgenson. After the stage, Visma Lease a Bike said the Dane had suffered a "contusion" to his hand, adding his condition would be kept under review.
That crash, and now his withdrawal from the race, follows on from an under-par finish to stage 4 for Vingegaard. He attacked in the final and pulled clear, only to be caught and beaten into 2nd place by João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Though his 2nd place on the stage put him into yellow, at the expense of team mate Jorgenson, Vingegaard complained after the stage the final should not have been raced after action was stalled earlier due to the poor weather.
More to come.
