Nicolas Roche looks a little chilly during today's third stage of Paris Nice which was cancelled midway through. The organisers called a halt to proceedings after 96 kilometres due to the snow that had fallen on the road, making conditions treacherous.
By Brian Canty
On another dramatic day at Paris-Nice, today's third stage was cancelled midway through because of heavy snow and dangerous conditions the organisers deemed unsafe to continue racing on.
Riders have been voicing their discontent at the conditions they’ve been forced to race in already this week, with Classics specialist Tom Boonen one of those particularly aggrieved.
The Etixx-QuickStep man felt conditions on Monday were so bad they warranted an intervention based on the UCI's Extreme Weather Protocol but his protestations fell on deaf ears.
However, that wasn’t the case today as first, the stage was neutralised after 96 kilometres before later being cancelled, with the top of the general classification staying the same as it was starting out this morning.
Advertisement
“The road was very slippery and safe conditions could not be assured,” the ASO’s Christian Prudhomme said, explaining the decision to first neutralize and then cancel the stage.
It was only the third time in a quarter of a century that such a measure was taken but few were complaining.
“Cold and rain are one thing, but snow on the road is another level of severity. They made the right call,” said Sky’s Ian Boswell.
“We don’t want to see races cancelled, but today they made the right call,” said Dimension Data’s Tyler Farrar.
“We are glad they took mercy on us, but it would be nice to find a way in the future to have an alternative route, if possible, so at least we can have some sort of result on the day.”
It had been mooted that the riders would have to be transported 30 kilometres up the road to start again but that never materialised.
An alternative route was another suggestion but it proved too big of a logistical nightmare and eventually, the decision was taken to resume tomorrow with the 195.5 kilometre stage 4 from Julienas to Romans-sur-Isere.
Related News
Forecasters are calling for more cold and wet weather, but the course heads further south and remains at relatively low elevation, so it’s unlikely to be impacted by snow.
General Classification
1 Michael Matthews, ORICA – GreenEDGE, in 9:41:46
2 Tom Dumoulin, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, @14secs
3 Patrick BEevin, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, @19secs
4 Jon Izaguirre Inxausti MOVISTAR TEAM, @s/t
5 Geraint Thomas, TEAM SKY, @s/t
6 Lieuwe Westra, ASTANA PRO TEAM, @24secs
7 Dries Devenys, IAM CYCLING, @25secs
8 Arnaud Demare, FDJ, @25secs
9 Rafal Majka, TINKOFF, @27secs
10 Richie Porte, BMC RACING TEAM, @s/t
112 Nicolas Roche, TEAM SKY @4:52 secs
163 Matt Brammeier, DIMENSION DATA, @11:07secs
Take a look at how bad things were today
It's not looking one bit pretty at the one kilometre to go sign on Mont Brouilly where the riders were supposed to battle it out for stage glory.
That is the Orica-GreenEdge car at the feed zone...
Still wanna be a pro cyclist?
Known as the race to the sun, maybe Paris Nice should be renamed 'the race from the snow'?
Topics
