Sun King Vingegaard rules the Riviera
March 15 th 2026 - 16:58
A year after crashing out of Paris-Nice 2025, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) claimed emphatic revenge in the 84th edition of the Race to the Sun, concluded on Sunday at the Allianz Riviera stadium. The Danish star had to settle for second place on the day, behind Bahrain Victorious’ Lenny Martinez - the only rider able to follow him on the final climb of the race and the first French winner of the final stage since Arthur Vichot in 2014 -, but he increased his margin in the overall standings to historic proportions. His gap of 4’23’’ to Dani Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is the biggest recorded between winner and runner-up of Paris-Nice since 1939 and the fourth biggest in the history of the race. Vingegaard also secured the polka-dot jersey, as the winner of the KOM standings, and took the green jersey, as the winner of the points standings. Third in the overall standings, Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) also stepped on the podium to receive the best young rider’s white jersey.
The riders are in Nice, but it doesn’t mean they’re done with the 84th edition of the Race to the Sun! Stage 8 sees the peloton take on a 129.2km loop starting and finishing at the Allianz Riviera stadium. The day is packed with climbing (2,300m of elevation gain), with three cat.1 ascents including the unprecedented Côte du Linguador (3.3km at 8.8%, with gradients up to 14%) to enter the last 20 kilometres of the stage.
All out from the start
The final battle starts frantically, as many attackers want to seize their last opportunity to shine. Fabio Van den Bossche (Soudal Quick-Step), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) and Tim Marsman (Alpecin-Premier Tech) get away at km 9. But the peloton drive a strong chase.
The gap never gets higher than 1’15’’ (km 21) and it drops down as the road rises towards the Col de la Porte (cat. 1, summit at km 50.7). Both the peloton and the breakaway explode on the ascent, and the race situation is totally reconfigured.
Paret-Peintre’s solo
After he bridged the gap to the early attackers, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) attacks 6 kilometres away from the Col de la Porte. At the summit, the French climber is 25’’ ahead of Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates XRG). Visma-Lease a Bike drive a reduced peloton with a gap of 45’’.
Paret-Peintre keeps pushing on the downhill, while Marc Soler is caught by the bunch as they get back on the valley. The French climber begins the ascent of the second categorised climb of the day, Côte de Châteauneuf-Villevieille, with a lead of 45’’.
Martinez vs Vingegaard
Ineos Grenadiers up the ante to try and propel Kevin Vauquelin to the overall podium. On the ascent, Dani Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is involuntarily taken down by a teammate. The Colombian is in pain but he gets back on his bike and starts chasing 1’30’’ behind his GC rivals. At the front, Ineos Grenadiers and then Visma-Lease a Bike maintain a strong pace. Paret-Peintre is eventually reeled in just before the final climb.
Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) sets a brutal pace to launch Vingegaard’s attack 21 kilometres from the finish. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) manages to follow the Dane all the way to the summit (18.5km to go). The duo collaborate until the final kilometre, where the French youngster narrowly edges his Danish rival. Vingegaard is the overall winner of Paris-Nice 2026.
