WorldTour
Martinez second at half-time at Paris-Nice
Half-time at Paris-Nice. The 4th stage produced an impressive team performance, which ended with second place in the daily and overall results for Daniel Felipe Martinez.
The first mountain arrival at Paris-Nice promised to be spectacular even before the first hills of the day. In the cold, with rain and crosswinds, a group of 40 riders had formed just a few kilometres after the start, including six riders from Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe.
From then on, the team could be seen at the head of the front group. And this was to pay off above all when a series of crashes occurred around 50 kilometres before the finish, which completely tore the lead apart.
Together at the front of the race in the rain on stage 4 of Paris-Nice
© Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
As a result, Dani, Nico Denz, Callum Thornley, Tim and Mick van Dijke were left alone at the front with Jonas Vingegaard. The team gradually sacrificed themselves to maximise Dani's lead over the pursuers. In the day's classification, Dani finished second, Tim third and Mick fourth - the fact that it wasn't enough to beat Vingegaard didn't really matter.
United in the wind
"I'm really incredibly proud of the team today, they did such a fantastic job. Really unbelievable," said Dani after he had given his all at the finish and was now second in the overall standings, 52 seconds behind. Lead over the rest of the competition: two and a half minutes.
Tim van Dijke leads the peloton through the wind and shines in the finale
© Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
"This is Paris-Nice!" said Tim after his race. And he wasn't just referring to the weather, but also the tough battle on the stage. "We were at the front of the group all day and were in control. And then we pushed as hard as we could to maximise the gap for the overall standings. That was suüer painful, but really important. I think that was perfect teamwork."
I think it was perfect teamwork.
Sporting Director Sven Vanthourenhout could not fail to pay tribute to the team's performance. "The team put in a really, really good performance. They did everything they had to do. We're really very proud," he said, while also pointing out that this was, in a way, the planned route for the day.
Team time trial also contributes to good GC result
"We expected a war today and yeah, we made one. This was also what we asked this morning in the bus: 'Don't hesitate. Take it on from kilometre zero.' We knew it was a hard day. It was cold and rainy. In the end, we didn't win, but we're happy with the result, just like with the overall standings. So we can look back on a really, really good day."
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe in the Paris-Nice team time trial
© Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
The basis for the good intermediate result in the classification for Dani was the team time trial the day before, which Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe had finished in fifth place. In the Tour de France mode, in which the time is taken after the first rider of a team, Dani stopped the time after exactly 27 minutes for 23.5 kilometres, after his colleagues had already ridden sacrificially for their captain.
Laurence Pithie's second place on stage 2, when the New Zealander was able to leave the majority of the sprinters behind, also contributed to the good results of Paris-Nice 2026 so far.
