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The third stage of the Paris-Nice race has been cancelled due to snow, meaning that Australian rider Michael Matthews will retain his 14-second lead on the rest of the competition for another day at least.
The 168-kilometre stage from Cusset to Mount Brouilly was halted after just 75 kilometres of riding.
The stage will not affect the overall times, but points earned through sprints and climbs will be carried forward.
Alexis Gougeard (AG2R), Alexy Lutsenko (Astana), Laurent Didier (Trek-Segafredo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) and Jesus Herrada (Movistar) were leading the race by three and a half minutes when the decision was made to call the stage off.
“The road was extremely slippery and the safety was no longer guaranteed. We are sorry. That’s Paris-Nice. We promise we’ll come back to Mont-Brouilly. It’s a pity but the riders will start again tomorrow from Julienas,” said race director Christian Prudhomme.
Matthews, racing for Orica-GreenEDGE, won both the second stage and the prologue, and finished fifth in first stage.
Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) sits 14 seconds behind Matthews, and there is another pack of riders including New Zealander Patrick Bevan (Cannondale), Jon Izagirre (Movistar), and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) 19 seconds back.
Tomorrow’s stage will take the peloton from Julienas to Romans-sur-lsere, with the race to conclude in Nice on Sunday.
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