Paris-Nice Stage 3 got shortened again today, to 118km because of the snow. I guess the guys still did the Cat 1 climb and a smaller Cat 2 climb. Yesterday, Tom Danielson said they were slipping and sliding in the snow in Stage 2, and really taking it easy on the final descent, when Popo (Yaroslov Popovych) took off like a shot around everyone for his third place finish. That guy has no fear...

The “Race Thru the Snow” is cutting out a lot of towns along the way. I am thinking about the financial impact on all these “deleted” towns - I think it is pretty huge. If these towns and villages do the same thing as the towns on Tour de France route, they bid big euros for the privilege of being named host cities by the ASO, for both the start and finish of the race. So far, for P-N, I think host towns have still been included, but how about Belgium, where the entire races were cancelled? Yikes - what a disaster for a whole lot of people.

The smaller towns and villages, in particular, will go to great lengths to clean up, paint up, and do repair work. All the merchants, hotels, restaurants and bars will spend way above their ordinary budgets to order humongous amounts of food and booze for the expected deluge of cycling fans. Entrepreneurs will set up food stands along the route, using their rent money to buy le hot dogs, expecting to cash in on the race watcher’s appetites.

When Mother Nature decides to pull a prank and send beaucoup de snow instead of good wishes to a cycling race, it really messes up lives, plans and budgets. How about the cycling fans who made plans months ahead of time, travel and hotel reservations, plus took time off from work? The Race to the Sun is big deal for a whole lotta of cycling fans...