Vingegaard soloes to victory in Paris-Nice fifth stage

The Dane had pulled on the leader's yellow jersey in the lashing rain at Uchon on Wednesday and tightened his grip on overall victory after shaking off his rivals to coast to victory in the sunshine at Colombier-le-Vieux in south-east France.

The Visma-Lease-a-bike rider had attacked on the Saint-Jean-de-Muzols climb during the hilly 206.3km stage and crossed the line 2min 02sec ahead of French rider Valentin Paret-Peintre.

"I really wanted to win today and so did the team," said Vingegaard, delighted to win on the roads where he crashed last year and was forced to pull out of the race the following day.

Vingegaard said last year's crash had been on his mind while riding on Thursday, adding: "It's nice to take revenge now, and to win here on such a beautiful day, the weather is beautiful, and it's been an amazing day for me and the team."

The Dane is competing in his first race of the season ahead of targeting a Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double.

Vingegaard increased his lead at the top of the overall standings to 3min 22sec on Colombian Dani Martinez and is well set to claim victory in Nice on Sunday.

"He destroyed everyone," said Belgian Victor Campenaerts, one of the two-time Tour de France winner's most loyal teammates.

"He's in phenomenal form. He came here to crush everyone. I'm already looking forward to supporting him in his two big goals, the Giro and the Tour de France."

Soudal Quick-Step's Paret-Peintre pulled clear of the pursuing group who arrived some 18sec later to take second place on the day.

"I knew Jonas was going to attack on the steepest part of the second climb," said the French rider.

"When Campenaerts took his final turn at the front, I thought: 'Come on, I have to suffer a little longer and then Jonas will go.' He's the strongest, and when you're the strongest, it's normal to want to win."

And Vingegaard warned he was hungry for more success going into Friday's sixth stage of the 'Race to the Sun' which is a 179.3km hilly ride from Barbentane, south of Avignon, heading east to Apt.

"It's not over, there's still three stages left, a lot can happen, but we just have to stay focused until Nice."