The China Mail - Martinez climbs to Paris-Nice stage win, Jorgenson takes lead

Martinez pulled away in the closing metres to finish three seconds ahead of compatriot Clement Champoussin and Jorgenson after the hilly 203.3km ride from Saint-Just-en-Chevalet to La Cote Saint-Andre.

"On the final climb, I wanted to go for it at 150 metres, and when I saw there were three of us, I said to myself, 'You can't screw up now'. When I accelerated, I turned around and saw there was a big difference. It was a great moment," said Martinez.

Defending champion Jorgenson takes the overall race lead from Visma teammate Vingegaard who dropped to second, 22 seconds off the pace after a tough day in the saddle.

It was the seventh career win for 21-year-old Martinez and first at World Tour level.

He outpaced Jorgenson at the top of a gruelling 1.7km final climb with an 11.1 percent gradient to move up to fifth overall, 55sec behind the leader.

Martinez, the son of 2000 Olympic mountain bike champion Miguel Martinez, had also impressed by finishing fourth on the Loge des Gardes climb on Wednesday.

"I told myself that today I had to put my foot down," said the Frenchman, who was propelled to the role of leader in his team after Colombian Santiago Buitrago's crash on Wednesday.

"The team handed me the responsibility of leader, and I didn't want to miss out. So far, things are going well."

- Vingegaard tumbles -

The biggest loser of the day was Vingegaard who Jorgenson said was "in pain" and could have broken his hand in the crash.

"He told me that in the stressful moments he was probably not going to be there and told me to go for it myself and that he would do his best," said the American.

Vingegaard tumbled on the Treves climb midway through the stage which finished in the Isere region in southeastern France.

The two-time Tour de France winner got back in the saddle with a bleeding lip, before lingering at the back of the peloton all day.

Although he made a comeback as the finish approached, he quickly lost ground in the final kilometre, finishing 16th, 26 seconds behind the winner.

The rest of Paris-Nice is likely to be influenced by the weather, as there are serious doubts surrounding Saturday's queen stage to the Auron ski resort, perched at an altitude of 1,600 meters, with snowfall expected in the region.

Any changes to the route could leave only the final stage around Nice on Sunday to possibly shake up the general classification, with Friday's stage one for the sprinters.

B.Carter--ThChM