After the observation of disastrous weather conditions, the route of the 7th stage of Paris-Nice was modified, ensuring the safety of the riders. However, on Friday, rain had already made an appearance on the roads of the Race to the Sun, visibly weakening some riders. This was the case for Arnaud Démare: the French sprinter did not start on Saturday. His team Arkéa-B&B Hotels explained that their rider “showed signs of a slight cold last night (Friday).” In any case, the intense weekend ahead was not going to showcase the sprinters.
This announcement marks the end of a challenging and disappointing Paris-Nice for Arnaud Démare. On the first day, he was unable to feature in the final sprint in Montargis (13th place) and similarly on Thursday in Sisteron, the 32-year-old from Picardie could only manage a 14th place. Far from his desire to open his victory tally, which remains at zero. If he had to withdraw on Friday morning, Démare would not have had the opportunity to improve his performance for the week by Sunday, given the difficulty of the upcoming route planned for the weekend.
