Denmark's Paris-Nice contender Mattias Skjelmose quit the race in an ambulance after hitting a traffic island at full speed on Saturday.

The Lidl-Trek rider was third in the rankings of the eight-day race, which has been contested in near-freezing temperatures with daily downpours of rain.

Mattias Skjelmose's Crash Ends His Paris-Nice Campaign

The 24-year-old hit his head on the tarmac in the fall and was lying under a cover before his team and race doctors sent him to the hospital.

"Last year it was just cold, now it's raining too, we can't prepare," Skjelmose said at the start.

Rain was falling as the 109km seventh stage left Nice's Promenade des Anglais on Saturday morning, with heavy snow awaiting riders at the mountain finish in Auron.

Matteo Jorgenson And Florian Lipowitz React To Harsh Conditions

Race leader Matteo Jorgenson of Visma said Saturday that "anything can still happen" because of the unpredictable weather.

Meanwhile, second-placed German rider Florian Lipowitz of Bora remained unfazed, saying at the start, "I come from winter sports, so cold conditions don't bother me."

Michael Storer Wins Paris-Nice Stage In Snow

Australian rider Michael Storer won the seventh stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race on Saturday, outpacing a pursuing peloton on a steep final climb through the snow.

The 28-year-old from Perth was part of a 12-man breakaway that only splintered in the closing stages of the 109km run from Nice to Auron, where it was snowing at the 1,600m altitude finish line.

Storer shook his head in disbelief as snow fluttered around him at the line of the "Race to the Sun," which finishes on the Riviera on Sunday.

Benefiting from teammate Julian Alaphilippe's work during the breakaway, Storer then went it alone with 2.5km to go and picked up his eighth career win.

The performance also lifted Storer from 13th to fourth overall, giving him a good shot at the podium on Sunday's final mountain run and fast descent to downtown Nice.

He is also second in the King of the Mountains standings after collecting 20 points.

Matteo Jorgenson Closes In On Paris-Nice Title

Rain was falling as the 109km seventh stage left Nice's famous Promenade des Anglais, with much of the talk this week focused on the dreadful weather.

Thirteen riders abandoned during stage seven, among them Dane Mattias Skjelmose, who had been third overall but left the race in an ambulance after hitting a traffic island at full speed.

It was a good day for German Florian Lipowitz, who climbed to second, just 37 seconds behind race leader and defending champion Matteo Jorgenson.

Former cross-country skier Lipowitz also extended his lead in the best young rider standings in the eight-day race.

"I come from winter sports, so cold conditions don't bother me," said the Bora rider.

Another Dane, Mads Pedersen, retains the green points jersey, two points ahead of Tim Merlier but only seven ahead of Jorgenson.