Between kilometres 45 and 29 before the finish, the race was neutralised after heavy rainfall made it too dangerous to continue. The race organisers declared the UCI's Extreme Weather Protocol. The riders were stopped, given time to get warm clothing and then continued on with slowed-down foam. Later, the riders were stopped again and sent off again with the time intervals that existed before the neutralisation.

However, this no longer had any influence on the immediate outcome of the stage. After 164 kilometres from Vichy to the ski station in La Loge des Gardes through the Massif Central, Almeida (UAE Emirates - XRG) had enough time on the last kilometre of the final climb to bridge the small gap between Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), who was still in the lead at the time, and a chasing group, ride up to the Dane and overtake him in the last 250 metres.

Almeida was thoroughly satisfied after his first win of the season. "A lot happened today, from the snow to the final. We deserved to win," he said in the finish interview. "I felt good, even if I can't quite cope with the cold temperatures. There was a small setback for us yesterday, but things went well today. Things don't always go according to plan. But I want to do my best to win this stage race," said the 26-year-old. To do so, however, he would have to make up at least 37 seconds on Vingegaard, who ousted his team-mate Matteo Jorgenson from the leader's jersey by five seconds.

Strong Lipowitz now fourth in the overall standings

Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) also gave his best. It was enough for a strong fifth place. He was always part of the leading group in the finale, only had to let a small gap open up in the very last metres and finished six seconds behind Almeida, Vingegaard (+0:01 second), third-placed Mattias Sjkelmose (Lidl - Trek/+0:02) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious/+0:02) in fourth place. The 24-year-old German climbed to fourth place in the overall standings, but had to cede his white jersey to Skjelmose.

Nevertheless, he moved up in the overall classification because, in addition to his team-mate Aleksandr Vlasov, Ben O'Connor (Team Jayco - AlUla) and others were unable to get back up to speed after the long break in the cold and had to abandon at the start of the final climb at the latest. But even immediately after the restart, some of the pros had not regained their temperature and the peloton was broken up.

Paris-Nice 2025 - Results of the 4th stage

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>> The race report for stage 3

How the 4th stage of Paris-Nice 2025 went

With a fresh seven degrees at the start in Vichy for the section across the Massif Central, it took around 20 kilometres for a leading group of eight to break away from the peloton. Led by Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), who had already demonstrated his climbing qualities in the past with a few days in the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia, the breakaway riders managed to pull out a lead of up to three and a half minutes.

The group worked well together, but then had to fend off an Ineos attack on the climb to the 2nd category with a good 50 kilometres to go. Tobias Foss and Josh Tarling went on the offensive. However, the gap was sufficient for the breakaway rider Thomas Garchignard (TotalEnergies) to score the most points, as he did on the three mountain classifications in the 3rd category, thus temporarily driving his team-mate Alexandre Delettre out of the mountain jersey.

Race neutralised and resumed

But the pros didn't get much further - at least not at race pace. Heavy rain, mixed with snow and hail in places, set in. As a result, the UCI regulators activated the Extreme Weather Protocol, whereupon the race was neutralised 45 kilometres before the finish. The riders rolled on slowly and were stopped again at the 29-kilometre mark - just before the intermediate sprint. The race resumed with the original gaps after three quarters of an hour.

However, not everyone was immediately able to go full throttle again when the race resumed. In the leading group, Leknessund quickly left his companions behind. And the peloton was also split into several groups. Not all GC riders made it into the first group.

Even before the penultimate mountain classification of the day was reached with 12 kilometres to go, Leknessund was caught again. First by his chasers, so that Gachignard was able to take the points, and shortly afterwards by the group around the favourites. The group went into the final climb with a 40-second lead. Foss immediately set off on a solo ride.

Vingegaard is still intercepted

But that wasn't going to be enough. Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) did an incredible job in the chase and brought the favourites up to four kilometres from the finish, holding off the climbers O'Connor and Felix Gall (Decathlon - AG2R La Mondiale). After a few tentative increases in pace from Lipowitz and Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Vingegaard attacked 2300 metres before the finish. At first, only Martinez was able to follow him, but that remained a snapshot.

However, the Dane's gap never grew to over ten seconds, leaving him with eight at the devil's cloth. This was mainly due to Almeida, who brought the group, which only included defending champion Jorgenson, Skjelmose, Martinez and Lipowitz, back to the front. However, the Portuguese rider proved to be clearly the strongest on the final steep section. Not only did he leave his companions standing - he also closed the gap to Vingegaard in the last 250 metres, but didn't stay there for long, passing him and securing victory for the day.

And in the end also the mountain jersey, because the victory on the final climb was worth a whopping 20 points.