One of the most anticipated stages of this year’s Paris-Nice was cancelled due to heavy snow as the riders were unable to complete the 168km route to the top of the Mont Brouilly. After 97km of racing nd with a five-rider breakaway up the road, the organizers threw in the towel and after a brief neutralization, the decision was taken to call off the race. Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) retains the lead.

The entire cycling world were eagerly looking forward to the first uphill finish in a European WorldTour race as the peloton was set to tackle the Mont Brouilly at the end of today’s third stage of the race. Unfortunately, the cycling fans were denied the opportunity to watch the best climbers in action as they only managed to cover 97km of the 68km course before the organizers had to cancel the stage due to heavy snow.

It was already raining at the beginning and with a low temperature of just 6 degrees, it was always going to be tricky when the peloton headed into hillier terrain later in the stage. As the riders hit the climbs at the midpoint, they were greeted by heavy snow but still managed to tackle three ascents before the organizers decided to first neutralize the stage.

At that point, it had been a hugely exciting race with an initial 16-rider breakaway dominating the first half of the race and Movistar splitting things on the climbs, briefly distancing race leader Michael Matthews. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Laurent Didier (Trek) and Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r) emerged from the breakaway and were joined by Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) to form a strong quintet.

The group had an advantage of 3.30 at the 97km mark where the organizers finally made the decision to neutralize the stage and take the riders by car to the 125km mark. They were still hoping to be able to do the two passages of Mont Brouilly but it soon became apparent that the conditions made it impossible to race. Hence, the decision was made to cancel the race.

The riders did contest one intermediate sprint and three KOM sprints and the commissaires made the decision that the first three of those will all count, with only the final KOM sprint being cancelled.

With the cancellation of the stage, Michael Matthews of course retains his overall lead and still holds a 14-second advantage over Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) as he goes into the fourth stage. It includes two category 3 climbs and a category 2 climb but as the final challenge comes 32.5km from the finish, it is expected to be potentially the final opportunity for the sprinters.

A tough summit finish

After two days in flat terrain, it was time for the first serious climbing test in Paris-Nice as the riders were set to cover 168km from Cusset to the top of Mont Brouilly. After a lumpy start, the riders were set to tackle five category 3 climbs in the middle part of the race before heading to Mont Brouilly for the first time. After the first passage, a 32km rolling finishing circuit was on the menu and it ended at the top of the final 3km ascent which averaged 77% and had a very step final kilometre.

Illness prevented Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Pierrick Fedrigo (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) from taking the start and so only 170 riders were present as they headed out for their neutral ride. Heavy rain was already falling and the temperature was only six degrees.

14 riders get clear

That didn’t hold the peloton back though and after Quentin Pacher (Delko) had launched first unsuccessful attack, the pace was very fast from the beginning. As a consequence, both De Gendt and an ill Arthur Vichot (FDJ) were dropped.

The aggressive racing resulted in the formation of two separate 7-rider groups at the 11km mark and they merged to form a 14-rider move. The peloton sat up and so Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Luka Pibernik (Lampre-Merida), Ben Swift (Sky), Gougeard, Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEDGE), Yury Trofmov (Tinkoff), David de la Cruz (Etixx-QuickStep), Kevin Reza (FDJ), Herrada,  Lutsenko, Dylan Van Baarle (Cannondale), Didier, Alexandre Pichot (Direct Energie) and Delio Fernandez (Delko) already had an advantage of 2.40 at the 15km mark. Roy Curvers (Giant-Alpecin) and Paul Martens (LottoNL-Jumbo) had taken off in pursuit and were one minute adrift.

Martens and Curvers make the junction

The slower pace allowed Vichot and De Gendt to rejoin the peloton which was 3.30 behind at the 16km mark. It had gone out to 4.35 after 22km of racing where Curvers and Martens still found themselves 1.05 behind. At this point, Vichot surrendered and left the race.

With the big gap, the cooperation in the break got worse and so both the chasers and the peloton got closer. Curvers and Martens rejoined the group at the 31km mark and the peloton had reduced the gap to 3.35 at the 35km mark.

KOM points for De La Cruz

The riders covered 43.5km during a fast first hour but the break was clearly losing speed. At the 50km mark, they were only 1.45 ahead of the peloton. At this point, Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data) left the race.

The riders now entered the hillier terrain where snow was falling and it as De La Cruz who won the first KOM sprint ahead of Herrada and Fernandez. The peloton crested the summit at the 59.5km mark 1.35 behind the leaders.

Gougeard attacks

The climb took its toll as Reza was dropped from the break but he could latch onto Fernandez’ wheel when the Spaniard suffered a mechanical. The pair made it back to the group as they approached the second climb.

At the 66km mark, Gougeard attacked from the front group but he was already back in the fold four kilometres later. At this point, the gap was down to just 1.15.

Movistar split the peloton

Gougeard was clearly frustrated by the lack of cooperation and so he went again at the 72km mark. This time he got some company as Lutsenko and Didier joined him and they reached the 73km mark with an advantage of 30 seconds over the chasers and 1.30 over the peloton.

After 75km of racing, the gaps had gone out to 50 seconds and 1.45 respectively but now things were heating up in the peloton. Movistar split the field and Matthews suddenly found himself in the second group.

Vuillermoz abandons

As they hit the Cote de Chateauneuf, Arnaud Demare (FDJ) was one of many riders to get dropped from the peloton which reached the top 1.20 behind the leaders. Gougeard was first across the line, followed by Didier and Lutsenko.

Herrada used the climb to attack and he made the junction with the leaders at the 80km mark. Meanwhile, Alexis Vuillermoz (Ag2r) crashed on the descent and after a brief attempt to continue, he was forced to abandon.

De Gendt makes the junction

After 82km of racing, the 12 chasers were caught by the peloton and Matthews again made it back to the bunch which slowed down significantly. Meanwhile, Lutsenko beat Gougeard and Herrada in the first intermediate sprint.

The slowed pace allowed De Gendt and Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) to take off in pursuit at the end of the second hour during which 37.7km had been covered. The Frenchman fell off the pace but the Belgian made the junction after 89km of racing.

The gap was growing quickly and after reaching 2.10 at the 91km mark, it was already 3.10 two kilometres later. De Gendt led Herrada and Lutsenko over the top of the third climb where the organizers made the decision to neutralize the race. The plan was to resume racing at the 125km and with a gap of 3.30 but it soon became evident that it was impossible to avoid cancellation.