Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) will not start Friday’s stage 6 of Paris-Nice with the team announcing in a brief media statement that the decision had been made to sit the two-time Tour de France winner out for the rest of the event to allow time for recovery.
Visma-Lease a Bike had said on Thursday that the rider “sustained a contusion of the hand after a crash in Paris-Nice” and that its medical staff would decide on Friday if he was fit enough to continue the race.
“Unfortunately, Jonas Vingegaard will not start in today’s stage of Paris-Nice,” was the statement that came from the team on Friday morning. “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.”
Vingegaard had been leading Paris-Nice at the end of stage 4 but handed the top spot back to teammate, and last year’s winner, Matteo Jorgenson after his stage 5 crash. He was, however, still in second place overall at the end of the stage.
Vingegaard came off early in the stage, in what initially looked to be an innocuous fall. He had a bloodied lip but teammates rallied around as he changed bikes and rejoined the peloton. Though, it then became evident that he was in pain, having hurt his hand, so he made clear to Jorgenson that the weight of the team’s hopes may now have to rest on his shoulders.
“It’s not nice that Jonas crashed,” said Jorgenson on Thursday after the stage. “When he returned to the peloton he told me to race for myself today. That’s what I did then. As a team we tried to make the best of it.”
Vingegaard remained near the front of the race until the final kilometres of stage 5, though had to leave it to Jorgenson – who came third – to finish if off. He started slipping toward the back of the lead group on the final climb, at around 2km to go. He fought to hold on for some time but with just under 800m left started falling prey to the opening gaps.
Vingegaard finished in 16th, 26 seconds behind stage winner Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and 23 seconds behind his third-placed teammate. After that, Vingegaard had a 22 second deficit to Jorgenson on the overall, with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) in third, 36 seconds behind Jorgenson and 14 seconds behind Vingegaard.
Lipowitz, now of course will be Jorgenson’s nearest competitor, with stage 4 winner João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) next in line at 40 seconds behind Jorgenson.
