João Almeida stormed to victory on Stage 4 of Paris-Nice, delivering a devastating late attack that saw him overhaul Jonas Vingegaard in the final moments. The win also meant Almeida snatched the overall lead—overtaking none other than his own UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, Matteo Jorgenson, who struggled in the cold and chaotic conditions.

Vingegaard had looked like the stage winner, launching a move with 2km to go and riding clear of the elite group. But Almeida, who had been pacing his effort, steadily reeled him in. By the time they hit the final meters, the Portuguese rider surged past a fading Vingegaard to take the win.

"I have quite mixed feelings today um or not even mixed feelings I'm just not really happy at the moment because yeah I think in my opinion we should never have raised this final and we should never have have continued uh when we did..." said Vingegaard of the stage that was stopped for some time due to hail and heavy cold rain.

"I wouldn't say too dangerous but it was more that we were riding more than 10 12K in the downhill where we were going super slow and and everyone was freezing nobody could feel their brakes and then then we have I don't know 5 10 minutes to to heat up again but yeah you don't really get the heat and I still haven't gotten the the heat back in my in my body and I'm still cold..."

"I think it affects everyone that yeah that the weather is like this.

He said of the finish, "We we had a super good how do you say it working together we were working super well together on the last climb covering the attacks together and and yeah I was feeling pretty well so yeah I also had the freedom to to go for it then of course unfortunately for for me I was passed in the last 25 meters and that's that's cycling but yeah also disappointing for me as well."

Jorgenson Battles Through Brutal Conditions

Matteo Jorgenson, the leader coming into the stage, endured a nightmare day. The American described the stage as a “roller coaster” of body temperature swings, worsening as the race saw repeated neutralizations due to sudden hail.

"I don't know if it affected me more than affected others but I just had a roller coaster of an internal body state,” Jorgenson explained. “I was quite warm and in the race and really focused when it started hailing and then um yeah they neutralized us and when we stopped then I started to really get cold again and then they just started going without any explanation. The red car just started driving and then I just pushed for like 10K just to get warm again. I didn't even know if we were racing and then they stopped again and that's when I really got cold along with I think most of the peloton probably.”

His struggles continued onto the final climb, where he fought to hold position but simply lacked the legs to stay with Almeida.

“...I didn't really have just didn't have a good feeling at all,” Jorgenson admitted.

Despite his disappointment, Jorgenson credited his team for playing the situation well:

“Jonas was really smart and actually got his head back in the game more than I did it looked like which is great to see and uh just in the end João was the strongest one and clearly the warmest in the group and uh was super strong so congrats to him.”

Drama in the Visma Camp

Visma-Lease a Bike had controlled much of the race, with Jorgenson defending yellow and Vingegaard launching his own bid for the overall lead. At one point, it looked like Vingegaard had delivered the winning move, breaking clear on the final climb.

But Almeida timed his effort to perfection. The UAE rider rode down the Dane, who was visibly struggling in the final moments, and snatched the stage win in dramatic fashion.

Jorgenson, now displaced from yellow by Almeida, remained positive about their team’s approach.

“Tactically, we played it pretty well,” he said. “I think we're just going to have to reassess and hopefully get warm again, reset and then I think uh Jonas and I will have a bit more control.”

The American also pointed out that Visma had lost teammates in the chaos, leaving him and Vingegaard isolated in the final kilometers.

Stage 4 Results:

• João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 3:37:06
• Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – +0:01
• Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – +0:02
• Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – ,,
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – +0:06
• Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – ,,

General Classification After Stage 4:

• Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 11:50:59
• Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – +0:05
• Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – +0:33
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – +0:36
• João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – +0:37
• Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) – +0:56

Four Stages Left – What’s Next?

With four stages remaining, the battle for yellow is wide open. Vingegaard holds the jersey, but his lead over Jorgenson is razor-thin. Almeida, after his show of strength, is just behind in fifth, with the momentum clearly on his side.

The coming days will be crucial. Vingegaard and Jorgenson will need to work together to fend off Almeida, but UAE has the upper hand in numbers. The next summit finish could be decisive—will Almeida strike again, or can Jorgenson recover to reclaim the lead?

Paris-Nice is far from over.