Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) defied the wintry conditions to take a fine solo victory on the penultimate stage of Paris-Nice, a success that moved the Australian up to fourth place in the general classification. Part of what had been a 15-rider breakaway that formed very quickly after the start of the weather-shortened stage, Storer made his winning move with 2.7km remaining, going clear of Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), and secured his first WorldTour success since he won two stages of the Vuelta a España four years ago.
The yellow jersey of race leader is still held by Matteo Jorgensen (Visma | Lease a Bike), who will go into the final day 37 seconds ahead of his closest rival Fabian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe). Wearing the white jersey of best young rider, the German gained three seconds on the American rider on the final run-up to the line. Mattias Skjelmose, who had been third overall, abandoned the race after crashing heavily on his right side.
It was Schmid who instigated the breakaway, going clear as soon as the stage started. After an initial sort-out of the escapees and some counters, the Swiss champion was joined by his teammate Kelland O’Brien, Storer and his Tudor teammate Julian Alaphilippe, Georg Steinhauser, Neilson Powless (both EF Education-EasyPost), Clément Izquierdo (Cofidis), Alexandre Delettre, Jordan Jegat (both TotalEnergies), Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), Iván Romeo (Movistar), Johan Jacobs, Stefan Küng (both Groupama-FDJ), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale).
Following the race organisers’ decision to shorten the stage to 109.3km by removing of two climbs that had seen significant snowfall, the peloton kept the break on a relatively short leash, the gap reaching a maximum of 3-15.
Just beyond the halfway mark, Skjelmose crashed heavily on his right side having hit a lane divider in the centre of the road. After receiving treatment from medical staff while still lying in the road, the Dane was taken to hospital.
Approaching the final 7.3km climb to Auron, the 15-strong breakaway was still 1-55 ahead of the peloton, largely due to the work that Alaphilippe had been doing for Storer. Once on the climb, the front group splintered quickly. Delettre was the first to lose ground, rapidly followed by Alaphilippe, and the whittling process continued in the attritional conditions.
With 4km to the line, Storer and Schmid were on their own at the front, their lead still 1-25, the peloton now too far behind to reel them in. The Australian was setting the pace, but kept urging his rival to come through. It soon became apparent why the Swiss champion wouldn’t when he slipped away from Storer’s wheel with 2.7km left.
As the Tudor rider climbed towards victory, there were late attacks from the peloton by Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), but they came too late to threaten Storer, who gave his Swiss team their first WorldTour success of the season.
Results
Paris-Nice 2025, stage seven: Nice to Auron (109.3km)
1. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling Team, in 2:43:31
2. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Jayco-AlUla, +20s
3. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost, +30s
4. Iván Romeo (Spa) Movistar, +45s
5. Jordan Jegat (Fra) TotalEnergies, +50s
6. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, +57s
7. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain-Victorious, +1:04
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:11
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS Astana Team, +1:14
10. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl_Trek, same time
General classification after stage seven
1. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 23:37:42
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +37s
3. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:20
4. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling Team, +1:25
5. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates XRG, +2:40
6. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:54
8. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates XRG, +3:05
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS Astana, +3:22
6. Tobias Foss (Nor) Ineos Grenadiers, +3:28
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +3:36
