Stage 4 of Paris-Nice, the Race to the Sun, delivered chaos as rain and slippery roads ended Juan Ayuso’s hold on the yellow jersey. Early crosswinds split the peloton, leaving Jonas Vingegaard in a strong front group with one teammate. He would eventually taking the stage win and the overall lead. Vingegaard took the win in memorable fashion–with his bibs over his jersey, as he never got time to take them off.
In fact, that really sums up the nature of racing on Wednesday, as Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Que.’s Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) said.
The former national champion had a memorable day, spending a whopping 159 km in the break before finishing 13th and moving up to 18th overall.
“It was a crazy, crazy day,” Zukowsky said. “From kilometre zero it was full gas, echelons everywhere. It basically became an elimination race. My goal was just to avoid crashes, survive the climbs, and keep my nutrition and body temperature in check.”
One rider that didn’t avoid crashes was race leader Juan Ayuso of Lidl-Trek. After hitting the deck the Spaniard was forced to abandon.
He admitted the final kilometres were tough. Very, very tough, and he felt it.
“I was running on fumes in the last 10–15 km, kind of creeping to the finish,” he said. “There might have been a bit more left on the table, but I’m just happy I got through the day and avoided the big crashes.”
Looking ahead, Zukowsky is already focused on the remaining stages. “Excited for the next few days—keen to see what we can do for the rest of the race.”
There are four stages remaining, and a few very, very tough days. Thankfully, gritty and brutal racing is where Zukowsky excels. The weather, thankfully, will be a little better as they head toward Nice.
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