The summit finish of today’s queen stage of Paris-Nice has had to be scrapped due to heavy snow.
Late last night, race organiser ASO said the finish at Auron resort was “inconceivable” as a mix of rain and heavy snow forecast for the high-altitude finish.
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The cancellation was not entirely unexpected as the weather forecast had looked unfavourable for several days and ASO said it had been “monitoring the weather conditions in the Alpes-Maritimes department throughout the week”.
It added it had consulted with the sport’s governing body the UCI, teams representative the AIGC and rider union the CPA before making its decision.
Race director Yannick Talabardon told l’Equipe: “Fifteen centimetres were expected in Auron, which made it difficult to maintain the course.”
He added: “Isola-Village is at the foot of the climb to Isola 2000, so it won’t be a summit finish as the profile might suggest. It’s more of a long, false flat uphill.
He had seen the change coming. On Friday afternoon, he told l’Equipe: “It’s rather worrying, the weather isn’t going to be good, there’s going to be snow. For the organisers, it’s very difficult to make this decision; we all would have liked to go as far as Auron. I haven’t checked the weather forecast yet, but it might not be possible to finish the stage tomorrow.”
The Dane will now just have to navigate defending his lead over Sunday’s traditional final lumpy stage around Nice, which includes three first category ascents: the Col de la Porte, the Côte de Châteauneuf-Villevieille and the Côte de Linguador.
