From the first kilometer out of Sisteron, it was full gas racing to get into the breakaway of the day. Wilco Kelderman, among others, tried, but it was only after more than an hour of racing that a leading group was allowed to stay ahead for a while. "It was to be expected that there would be such hard racing”, Jorgenson said. "As a team, we wanted to control the breakaway and that worked out because of the hard work of my teammates. I was able to enter the final climb in good position."

On the decisive and final climb of the day, the steep Côte de La Colle-sur-Loup, the attacks were there again. Jorgensen climbed with the best and squeezed out an attack. In the descent towards the finish line in La-Colle-sur-Loup the pace was increased again and Brandon McNulty and Mattias Skjelmose joined the American rider. The Dane triumphed after a sprint uphill among the three escapees.

Succesfull attack

"I waited for the other gc riders to hesitate. I took advantage of that and had a nice gap right away”, indicated Jorgenson, who now leads the young riders classification. "With Brandon and Mattias, two strong guys joined. I mainly chose to grab some more time for my place in the classification. I'm happy with my performance today. It can still go either way this final weekend, but I'm in a good position."

In Jorgenson's shadow, Kelderman placed himself in the top ten of the GC. "The cold does play a big role in this race”, the Dutchman said. "I wasn't completely fit when I started Paris-Nice, but I get through the stages pretty well. Matteo is our leader, so I'm trying to help him get a good place in the GC. He is very strong. I think he's going to be very good in the next few days."

Snowfall

Saturday, the peloton will race along a modified course. The original route had to be changed due to snowfall in the mountains. The finish is now after 104 kilometers on the ascent of the Madone d'Utelle. "It's a good decision by the organization to change the course because of the snow”, Kelderman further indicated. "It's better that that decision has already been made now, rather than when it only happens on the day of the stage. They still made something nice out of it for the climbers and classification riders."