Paris-Nice 2026, March 8-15

[carton]

We're going down a rabbit hole and you're leading. Columbia doesn't rank in the top ten of wettest spots. Those honors go to Indian regions, Cameroon (African continent), Maui, HI, Kauai, HI-both US....Here's a real comparison: Washington State's Olympic peninsula averages 200-255 inches of rainfall a year. The Olympic Mountain range isn't tall but it's an effective barrier. Poulsbo, Washington is on the East toe of those hills and get 35 inches of rain. Seattle, a mere 20 miles East averages 35 inches of rain and they are at the same elevation. Humbolt County, CA gets 180 inches a year but we regularly trained West of there and seldom got wet after late Spring. You just don't ride on the wettest time of day in the wettest place. Rider's birthplace doesn't determine their ability unless they are exclusively riding there.

Another reality: if it's cold in either early season or key training segments most pros will do serious intervals indoors. They can gain actual strength rather than burning calories merely to keep from freezing. They will/should ride in inclement weather just to understand the impacts and preparation. This discussion began with speculation on Martinez's tough finish on that stage. He looked worn out from riding in the cold/wet and was likely both underfed and underdressed. I doubt he'll make that mistake again.

I'm not getting the repeated uncontrasted references to the US geography and climate. Do you think Daniel Felipe Martinez is from Columbia, SC?

Anyway, here's my source for Colombia ranking as the wettest country in the World:
World Bank

But yeah, I agree to disagree, there's no need to go any further on this.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

im quite surprised it came to this

conditions remotely similar to last year should be perfectly fine - all you need is to clear the roads before the race

It will still be snowing at the summit throughout the stage, albeit not as intensively as in the morning. I understand why they need to change it, I don't understand why this is the best they can do.

 

[Peyresourde]

I am not too familiar with the local wheather but from what I am seeing it might not even snow in Auron in the afternoon, probably similar temps to last year. So they should be able to finish there no problem.

The organizations give up preventively now without even trying to stick to the plan, which is really unfortunate. In the worst case they could just finish a bit further down on short notice if Auron is snowed in.

 

[Netserk]

I am not too familiar with the local wheather but from what I am seeing it might not even snow in Auron in the afternoon, probably similar temps to last year. So they should be able to finish there no problem.

The organizations give up preventively now without even trying to stick to the plan, which is really unfortunate. In the worst case they could just finish a bit further down on short notice if Auron is snowed in.

my fear is that the damn riders want to ruin the race again and somehow forced their hand

 

[Heston]

This definitely sucks. Now its just a borderline sprinters stage.

 

[aphronesis]

I'm not getting the repeated uncontrasted references to the US geography and climate. Do you think Daniel Felipe Martinez is from Columbia, SC?

Anyway, here's my source for Colombia ranking as the wettest country in the World:
World Bank

But yeah, I agree to disagree, there's no need to go any further on this.

I had no idea that weather in Seattle was like Bogota. Weirdly enough though, people can ride/train in multiple conditions.

 

[Peyresourde]

my fear is that the damn riders want to ruin the race again and somehow forced their hand

Yeah, the the organization fears the riders will boycott and just cancels preemptively. In general, I like having a Plan B, but sometimes you also have to be able to react on short notice instead of canceling early. Riders also have no idea aout the weather.

They might look at a webcam picture in the morning and see one snowflake and conclude that they can't go there in the afternoon, although it will be warmer by then.

Last year they had a harder stage planned, so they could at least take out one climb to appease the riders, now they only have one climb to take out...

 

[Sciatic]

It's definitely the right call to cancel Auron, it's meant to get 30 centimetres of snow tomorrow in the ski station itself. Admittedly it might have worked, but if it doesn't you have to finish in the valley and the stage is immediately ruined.

However, it's a shame that they aren't trying to go all the way up to Madone d'Utelle. Yes, at a predicted snowline of 1000 to 1300 metres (depending on which forecast you look at) it's not guaranteed you can make it work, but with the snow mainly in the morning and the temperature slightly rising in the afternoon you could always opt to move the finish down to where it is now as a plan C if things look bad in the morning.

Just an aside: snow will fall at elevation that is 300 meters below the freezing level, though I don’t know if snowline in the forecast is the same as freezing level.

 

[Oldman]

I had no idea that weather in Seattle was like Bogota. Weirdly enough though, people can ride/train in multiple conditions.

Yeah. Y'all missed the point. People that want to race can always find weather conditions that aren't heinous for training and aren't necessarily acclimated to those conditions.
They don't need to ride at altitude, in freezing rain or in rainforest deluges because part of the country has those attributes. Seattle is a very short drive from a world class rainforest region. We had race series on the opposite side of the mountain, in the sun in the Spring. Assuming Colombians can ride in cold rain and not suffer also assumes they are stupid enough train those conditions for no reason
Belgians, Dutch, Scandinavian riders might need to tough that out when it's winter cold; but they usually know where it rains less.

I have to ask: have any of the posters questioning this ever trained or raced in serious weather? If so; did you like and succeed in those conditions?

 

[aphronesis]

Old man and clouds?

All those conditions. Sorry my data doesn’t post. Let it go.

Can AI get the trebly voice for “we trained in Malibu”?

 

[Potomac]

Your weather battles are seriously tiresome.

 

[Cookster15]

Weather again. A spring curse. I am guessing race organizers routinely plan for an alternative route in the case of such weather?

 

[Rob5091]

Can the race be renamned "The Race to the Snow"?

 

[Extinction]

I am not too familiar with the local wheather but from what I am seeing it might not even snow in Auron in the afternoon, probably similar temps to last year. So they should be able to finish there no problem.

The organizations give up preventively now without even trying to stick to the plan, which is really unfortunate. In the worst case they could just finish a bit further down on short notice if Auron is snowed in.

And this is the problem. So much emphasis is now placed on rider safety that they don't even attempt to stick to the plan. Ten years ago, more or less, Quintana won on Terminillo while it was snowing in TA. I'm not saying the Gavia in the 88 Giro should be the standard, but this sport was made by hard men in difficult weather conditions.

 

[Netserk]

And this is the problem. So much emphasis is now placed on rider safety that they don't even attempt to stick to the plan. Ten years ago, more or less, Quintana won on Terminillo while it was snowing in TA. I'm not saying the Gavia in the 88 Giro should be the standard, but this sport was made by hard men in difficult weather conditions.

just last year storer won in the snow on this very climb

 

[Bolder]

And this is the problem. So much emphasis is now placed on rider safety that they don't even attempt to stick to the plan. Ten years ago, more or less, Quintana won on Terminillo while it was snowing in TA. I'm not saying the Gavia in the 88 Giro should be the standard, but this sport was made by hard men in difficult weather conditions.

Given how much the bike industry is pushing expensive tech clothing and gear and gravel bikes, this is a missed opportunity. You could let the teams have the option to change to bikes with knobby gravel tires if the weather turns bad.

 

[Extinction]

Given how much the bike industry is pushing expensive tech clothing and gear and gravel bikes, this is a missed opportunity. You could let the teams have the option to change to bikes with knobby gravel tires if the weather turns bad.

I've raced for hours in freezing cold rain, with much climbing and decending, decended the Passo Falsariga while it was snowing, so I can't accept their timorousness.

 

[pastronef]

forecast for tomorrow in Nice is rain in the morning with some strong winds https://meteofrance.com/previsions-meteo-france/nice/06000

 

[pastronef]

Benson on twitter reports of a meeting with riders-ASO at 11 a.m.

for now the last 50 km of the stage should be raced

 

[Devil's Elbow]

So the peloton is once again throwing a temper tantrum about riding in cold rain? Great.

 

[Heston]

So they have removed the climbs at the start too and only doing the flat middle section? Come on now

 

[Extinction]

Why watch, not me.

 

[RedheadDane]

So, every once-in-a-while weather means there'll be changes.
Guess that's part of a sport that takes place outdoors.

Why watch

Because it's still cycling.

 

[Red Rick]

Christen yeets Van Gils into the hospital - no safety issue

A little bit of cold? STOP IT RIGHT THERE

Spoiler

 

[Red Rick]

So the peloton is once again throwing a temper tantrum about riding in cold rain? Great.

Every single time once they start changing a route due to weather conditions riders suddenly get together and cancel everything.