Jumbo-Visma sweeps Paris-Nice podium for second time in four days

Paris-Nice got down to the GC fight on Wednesday with a 13.4 km time trial and once more Jumbo-Visma swept the Race to the Sun’s podium spots. The team still has the top-3 spots on GC. Wout Van Aert took the victory with a time of 16:20, two seconds faster than Primož Roglič and six quicker than Rohan Dennis. Van Aert has raced five days this season and has two wins and three podiums. Hugo Houle was top Canadian at 24th and is back in the GC top-20.

You can watch the 80th Paris-Nice at FloBikes.

The Course

The 13.4 km route from Domérat to Montluçon wasn’t flat by any means, and there was a final 800 meters at 7 percent up to the finish.

#ParisNice ??

The stage is underway in France and @cammy_stew1 and @lucashamilton8 are both out on the road.

Here's a look at the 13.4km course the riders are facing today ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/uDMNw3eZRS

— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) March 9, 2022

Jumbo-Visma’s new signing Rohan Dennis bumped Thomas De Gendt off the top of the table with 16:26.

European champion Stefan Küng was going great guns on the course, just a second behind Dennis’ intermediate time but would ultimately fall four seconds short. Another Swiss Stefan, Bissegger, was a favourite, and he would set the fourth fastest split time before slotting into fourth on the day. Simon Yates surprised everyone by cracking Dennis’ time but was five seconds slower in Montluçon.

#ParisNice ??

That's a superb ride by @SimonYatess as he goes into third spot at the finish with a 16'31" ?

Now we wait to see how the final riders and times shake out ⏱ pic.twitter.com/qBVM37cqvi

— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) March 9, 2022

Primož Roglič had Stage 3 winner Mads Pedersen to chase and teammate Wout Van Aert chasing him. Yet another Jumbo-Visma rider, Stage 1 winner Christophe Laporte, was the last to start as race leader. Roglič was six seconds slower than Simon Yates at the intermediate check, while Van Aert lagged 1.6 seconds behind.

Roglič broke Dennis’s time by four seconds. One minute and 58 seconds later Van Aert triumphed.

There are three Cat. 1 climbs among Thursday’s five ascents.

2022 Paris-Nice Stage 4
1) Wout Van Aert (Belgium/Jumbo-Visma) 16:20
2) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) +0:02
3) Rohan Dennis (Australia/Jumbo-Visma) +0:06
24) Hugo Houle (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +0:48
138) James Piccoli (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +2:55

2022 Paris-Nice GC
1) Wout Van Aert (Belgium/Jumbo-Visma) 11:51:05
2) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) +0:10
3) Christophe Laporte (France/Jumbo-Visma) +0:28
20) Hugo Houle (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +2:04
128) James Piccoli (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +26:16