Paris-Nice: Jumbo-Visma sweep podium again in stage 4 time trial

By Rosa Betancourt March 9, 2022 27 mins read 469 Views

Paris-Nice: Jumbo-Visma sweep podium again in stage 4 time trial

For the second time in four days, Jumbo-Visma swept the podium at Paris-Nice. Wout van Aert won the stage 4 time trial and took over the general classification lead from his teammate Christophe Laporte.

“Until now it is of course the perfect week,” Van Aert said at the finish. “Especially with the team, I think we really attacked this race and showed what we are here for. And also today everyone was motivating each other and it resulted in a nice podium.”

A nice podium indeed. Primož Roglič, who will likely lead the team once the race heads into the high mountains, finished second on the stage, two seconds down on Van Aert. Jumbo-Visma’s new signing Rohan Dennis finished third on the day, six seconds behind.

“It was a hard effort to manage because it was always up and down and I could not really find one steady rhythm. Especially the last steep part, you really needed something left,” Van Aert said. “I managed to save a little in the downhills, make myself as aero as possible and then full gas on the climbs.”

Van Aert leads his teammate Roglič in the fight for the yellow jersey by ten seconds while Laporte slipped down to third overall, 28 seconds behind. Simon Yates had a stellar ride to move into fourth overall 49 seconds down on Van Aert. The Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider is the first non-Jumbo-Visma rider in the general classification ahead of stage five.

“I hope to wear [the leader’s jersey] as long as Primož doesn’t take it over from me, that’s my only goal,” said Van Aert. “The hardest stages are coming now and for me a lot of nice things coming afterwards, so we will start tomorrow and really enjoy this yellow jersey and then we will see day by day.”

Stages 5 and 6 are both hilly, with the first summit finish of Paris-Nice coming on stage 7. Van Aert’s goal of holding on to the yellow jersey for a few days is definitely possible.

Paris - Nice (2.UWT) Domérat → Montluçon

Full results

VAN AERT Wout Jumbo-Visma