Race of the hailstorm, Rainy day in Tuscany

 

Commissar neutralizes stage 4 along with controversy.

Wednesday's fourth stage of Paris-Nice was temporarily stopped after 120km due to hail, and then restarted under neutral conditions before racing resumed. Matteo Jorgenson said communication was lacking, leaving some riders unaware when they were meant to start riding again.

“They stopped us and all the cars came up and we started putting on different clothes like more jackets because it was really raining hard. We really stopped at the coldest moment I think. Suddenly when I was at the back of the team car I saw the red car with a bunch of riders behind it just take off, no explanation, so I jumped on my bike and chased for 10k and then when we got back they had stopped again. Then they decided to restart us, so it was really like big ups and downs and a lot for the body to take in. I just pushed for like 10k just to get warm again, I didn't even know if we were racing."

-Matteo Jorgenson

"A lot happened in this stage, and we had some snow on the course. I was feeling quite good. Of course, to be honest I'm not the best guy with the cold temperatures. I was suffering with that, but I never gave up. The climb wasn't steep enough and it was hard to make the group smaller. Jonas attacked and I wasn't in the best position, but I gave my best."

-Joao Almeida

 

"This was a very hard stage, first because of the length and the weather but also because of the overall situation. It was really cold and rainy, my teammate Johannessen (Staune-Mittet) who's fighting for GC crashed and went down. I hope he's ok. Then in the final I knew I had a good burst of speed and the form was good, so I could get the win. I had this stage as a possible one for me, but only in part. My director told me I could go for the sprint today and he was right."

-Andrea Vendrame

Derek Gee crossed the line as best IPT rider on stage 3 after a wet day in the saddle. 

He is fourth on GC!