Paris-Nice stage 8 LIVE – Jonas Vingegaard defends the yellow jersey on hilly final day

It’s all still very close on the road. Paret-Peintre leads Soler by 20 seconds, and the peloton by 30 seconds.

2026-03-15T13:47:11.863Z

Soler has gone clear from the other three and is chasing Paret-Peintre.

2026-03-15T13:46:42.229Z

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-15T13:44:43.635Z

Paret-Peintre has attacked the others, and now leads the race alone.

2026-03-15T13:43:21.293Z

This is a big move from Soler – he’s 6th on GC, and clearly looking to rise.

2026-03-15T13:42:06.679Z

Marc Soler and Will Barta jumped out of the bunch earlier on the climb, and have now joined the leaders.

2026-03-15T13:39:48.121Z

Visma-Lease a Bike take control of the peloton on the climb, where there are only beteen 30 or 40 riders left.

2026-03-15T13:38:05.758Z

Van den Bossche has been dropped by the other three on the climb.

2026-03-15T13:36:11.097Z

They’ve begun climbing the 6.9% slopes of the 7km Col de la Porte.

2026-03-15T13:35:44.965Z

Prodhomme, Cepeda and Paret-Peintre have gone clear from all of the original break, save for Van den Bossche. They are the new leading group on the road.

2026-03-15T13:34:44.674Z

And Movistar have done the same, with their climber Cepeda, who has now joined the leaders.

2026-03-15T13:33:58.672Z

That explains what Decathlon were riding for – two try and bring the break back and set their own man up, Prodhomme, to attack and get to the front of the race on his favoured terrain of the mountains.

2026-03-15T13:32:55.335Z

Nicolas Prodhomme and Valentin Paret-Peintre have jumped out of the peloton and joined the five leaders.

2026-03-15T13:29:32.379Z

As well as sprinters like Luke Lamperti, Caper Pedersen is among those dropped from the peloton. That looks likely to end his chances of winning the Mountains Classification.

The peloton is fast approaching the break. They’re only about 20 seconds behind, and the catch is imminent.

2026-03-15T13:26:53.243Z

Decathlon, Movistar and Visma-Lease a Bike are the three teams doing the work at the front of the peloton.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-15T13:25:27.508Z

The pace in the peloton is up on the foothills of the Col de la Porte, with the peloton starting to thin out.

2026-03-15T13:21:28.609Z

The five riders in the day’s break.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-15T13:15:34.700Z

Race leaders Visma-Lease a Bike have taken over control at the front of the peloton.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The leading five’s advantage has been kept at just over a minute, at 1:10. They’ve been going gradually uphill, and will continue to do so until the gradient ramps up yet more for the start of the day’s first climb, the category one Col de la Porte.

2026-03-15T13:09:42.249Z

Here at Paris-Nice, Movistar and Decathlon are leading the peloton, rather than Visma-Lease a Bike – curiously, teams without GC positions to defend or chase.

2026-03-15T13:07:36.533Z

Not only that, we’re also bringing you the Trofeo Alfreda Binda, which has a typically stellar line-up featuring Lotte Kopecky, Marianne Vos Elisa Longo Borghini, among others.

This is looking good for the break – they’re lead is up to one minute.

2026-03-15T12:58:19.686Z

Matteo Trentin leading the five escapees.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-15T12:57:59.638Z

Vauquelin appears to be back in the bunch, following his mechanical.

2026-03-15T12:53:52.149Z

Those chasers were on a hiding to nothing, and have been brought back by the peloton, but the five leaders remain clear.

2026-03-15T12:52:37.140Z

Three riders are behind these five leaders and striving to bridge up to them.

2026-03-15T12:51:10.678Z

Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Fabio Van den Bossche (Soudal Quick-Step) are two of the riders in this new lead group (which has five riders rather than four), having attempted to go clear in the previous move too. They’re accompanied by Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) and yesterday’s attacker Tim Marsman (Alpecin-Premier Tech).

2026-03-15T12:49:09.235Z

Kévin Vauquelin has had a mechanical and is off the back of the peloton. The Frenchman has been down on his luck at this race.

Now that those moves have been shut down, four more riders are trying to go clear.

2026-03-15T12:46:13.235Z

But they’ve now all been brought back, and the peloton is together again.

2026-03-15T12:45:47.622Z

Those four riders have been joined by about eight more riders.

2026-03-15T12:42:31.771Z

Fabio Van den Bossche (Soudal Quick-Step), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility) and Jonas Rutsch (Lotto Intermarché) are the four riders with a small lead.

2026-03-15T12:40:42.841Z

Four riders have a small lead.

2026-03-15T12:40:16.481Z

The jersey wearers at the start – Godon in green, Vingegaard in yellow and Pedersen in polka-dots.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-15T12:36:21.972Z

Attacks are flying out of the peloton right from the flag.

After a brief delay, they’re off!

2026-03-15T12:29:46.891Z

We’re down another six riders this morning – Ewen Costiou, Guillaume Boivin, Cees Bol, Callum Scotson, Alex Kirsch and Josh Giddings are all absent from the start.

2026-03-15T12:27:51.508Z

The parcours is tough and intensive, with three category one climbs packed into just 128.6km. The racing is likely to be on right from the start, with plenty of scope for attacks.

2026-03-15T12:26:16.830Z

The riders are on their way to kilometre 0, making their way through the neutralised zone in Nice.

2026-03-15T12:23:16.255Z

With a start and finish in Nice, this is the traditional finish of Paris-Nice, albeit with a twist. Rather than finish at the usual Promenade des Anglais, local elections have forced them to move to the Allianz Riviera instead.

2026-03-15T12:18:45.056Z

Visma-Lease a Bike at the start, ready for more day of defending the yellow jersey.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-15T12:10:20.688Z

After yesterday’s apocalyptic rain and freezing snow, today the cyclists are being greeted by mercifully dry and mild conditions, here in Nice.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-03-15T12:07:43.918Z

We’re all set for the traditional Paris-Nice race finale in Nice. And unlike yesterday;’s heavily-truncated stage, it appears the weather is good enough for this one to go ahead as planned.

2026-03-03T16:27:38.036Z

Bonjour and welcome to the eighth and final stage of the 2026 Paris-Nice!