{"id":534269,"date":"2026-03-11T23:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T23:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534269\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T23:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T23:08:11","slug":"ayusos-fall-vingegaards-opportunity-%f0%9f%87%aa%f0%9f%87%b8-%f0%9f%87%a9%f0%9f%87%b0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/534269\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayuso\u2019s fall, Vingegaard\u2019s opportunity \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Jonas Vingegaard follows the Red Bull train. \ud83d\udcf8 Photo courtesy of A.S.O.\/Billy Ceusters.<\/p>\n

Hi Subscribers, <\/p>\n

Today I travelled to Paris-Nice, and I\u2019ll be on the ground from tomorrow morning ahead of stage 5. I\u2019m staying in Macon this evening, the place where my journalist colleague, Jean Fran\u00e7ois Qu\u00e9net, has reminded me that Viatcheslav Ekimov won a stage of the 1991 Tour de France<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Stage 4 of Paris-Nice was an epic affair, and to mark the occasion, we have a guest post from Editor in Chief at Domestique, Barry Ryan<\/a>, who has brought today\u2019s events together in this excellent piece. <\/p>\n

Early tomorrow morning, we\u2019ll run our exclusive interview with Sarah Gigante, and then it\u2019s straight to the start of stage 5 in Cormoranche-sur-Sa\u00f4ne for more reactions to today\u2019s events, and plenty of behind-the-scenes and in-depth coverage. <\/p>\n

Daniel \ud83e\udef6<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a cruel sport, cycling. We already know it, of course, but that doesn\u2019t make the periodic reminders any less bracing. Stage 4 of Paris-Nice to Uchon promised a tense duel between Juan Ayuso and Jonas Vingegaard. Instead, it produced a stark contrast in fates.<\/p>\n

Their paths diverged on a bend in the road outside Saint-L\u00e9ger-sous-Beuvray, where they were both in the front group of 40 or so riders that had formed when the race splintered into echelons in the opening kilometres of a stage of driving wind and rain.<\/p>\n

Follow me on: Twitter<\/a> \ud83d\udfe2 \u2014 Instagram<\/a> \ud83d\udd34 \u2014 Bluesky<\/a> \ud83d\udd35<\/p>\n

The intensity never abated all day, and by Vingegaard\u2019s teammate Edoardo Affini\u2019s reckoning, they were barrelling along at 80km\/h when the crash happened. Vingegaard was sitting behind a cadre of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe riders at the front of the group, with Ayuso tucked in just behind him.<\/p>\n

The first seven riders all swooped safely through that bend, but just beyond the view of the television cameras, Ayuso\u2019s wheels slipped from under him. We hear a lot of talk about fine margins in modern cycling, but some of those millimetres can\u2019t be calibrated and they certainly can\u2019t all be controlled. A film of water on the road here. A tap on the brakes there. Chance plays a part in this sport too, more than anyone wants to believe. This time, Vingegaard made it through the bend safely, while Ayuso ended up in the ditch, as did Brandon McNulty, Iv\u00e1n Rom\u00e9o and Nils Politt.<\/p>\n