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2016 Paris - Nice, France

74th edition: March 6 - March 13, 2016

Paris-Nice podium history | 2015 edition | 2017 edition | Start list
Prologue | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6 | Stage 7

2016 Paris-Nice route

2016 Paris-Nice route


Sunday, March 13: 7th and Final Stage, Nice - Nice, 134 km

Stage 7 map and profile | Stage 7 photos

Time Wellens

Tim Wellens wins stage 7 just ahead of Alberto Contador and Richie Porte

Stage 7 rated climbs:

The Race: Here's the organizer's explanation of the exciting final stage of this year's Paris-Nice.

Paris–Roubaix: The Inside Story

Geraint Thomas maintained Team Sky's grip on Paris-Nice on Sunday, narrowly  winning the 74th edition of the Race to the Sun on the aptly-named Promenade des Anglais for the British outfit's fourth victory in five years in the event. But it was a tense battle for the Welshman, harassed all day by Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), who attacked repeatedly on the last two climbs before finishing second in both the stage and overall, missing his third Paris-Nice crown by a slim four seconds. But Thomas, who salvaged his yellow jersey in the final descent, can be proud of beating two double former winners in Contador and Richie Porte (BMC), the title-holder, who fished third, 12 seconds, at the end of a nail-biting final stage won by Belgium's Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal).

143 riders started on the Promenade des Anglais. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Davide Cimolai (Lampre), Patrick Bevin (Cannondale) and Jacques Janse von Rensburg (Dimension Data) did not start.

After several attempts involving Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), a group of 19 riders emerged between kilometres 12 and 17 : Bono and Grmay (Lampre), De Gendt and Wellens (Lotto Soudal), Gautier (AG2R), Impey (Orica), Kiserlovski (Astana), Eiking (FDJ), De la Cruz (Etixx), Herrada (Movistar), Kangert (Astana), Van Baarle (Cannondale), Felline and Rast (Trek), Chavanel and Duchesne (Direct Energie), Tankink (Lotto Jumbo), Naesen (IAM) and Sorensen (Fortuneo).

As Duchesne strengthened his polka-dot jersey on both Cote de Duranus (Km 33) and Cote de Levens (Km 41), the 19 received the support of Trofimov (Tinkoff), Vanmarcke (Lotto Jumbo), Calmejane (Direct Energie) and Brammeier (Dimension Data), who returned from the back. Brammeier was later dropped in Cote de Chateauneuf. By Col de Calaison (Km 69.5), Duchesne had secured his KOM victory despite De Gendt's best effort to retain his crown.

In Cote de Peille (Km 82), Contador blew the peloton to pieces when he launched one of his trademark blistering attacks to take Team Sky off their guard. Within three kilometres, the 2007 and 2010 winner had taken 50 seconds off the Thomas group and he quickly found support from Kiserlovski and Trofimov, who waited for him from the original break. Six of the first escapees remained in the front: Gautier, Wellens, De La Cruz, Herrada, Kangert and Grmay.

Team Sky, spearheaded by Nicholas Roche, took advantage of the descent to calmly bridge the gap. But as soon as the road went up again on Col d'Eze, Contador attacked again four times, helped by Romain Bardet (AG2R). The final fifth strike was nearly fatal to the Welshman. Led-out by Rafal Majka in the last two kilometres of the ascent, Contador broke again, taking title-holder Richie Porte (BMC) with him. The two caught the last of the escapees, Tim Wellens, on the summit. The yellow jersey holder was left hapless. Col d'Eze had been heaven for his team mates Bradley Wiggins and Richie Porte when they won for Sky in 2012, 2013 and 2015 thanks to the time trials held on the climb those years. It was almost hell for Thomas this time.

But the descent was a like a team pursuit for the former track specialist, who joined forces with team-mate Sergio Henao and Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) to make up for lost time, finally crossing the finish line in the first chasing group, five seconds behind  the leading trio of Wellens, Contador and Porte. El Pistolero sprinted bravely for a stage win which might have also granted him his third Paris-Nice. But Wellens had other views. 

Complete Results:

Stage 7 photos

134 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.989 km/hr

1 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL 3hr 16min 9sec
2 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
3 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
4 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL @ 5sec
5 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
6 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS s.t.
7 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
8 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
9 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
10 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
11 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
12 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA s.t.
13 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 10''
14 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 00''
15 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 01' 18''
16 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
17 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
18 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
19 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
20 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
21 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 26''
22 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
23 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
24 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
25 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
26 ROSA Diego ASTANA s.t.
27 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE s.t.
28 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
29 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
30 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA s.t.
31 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
32 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF s.t.
33 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA s.t.
34 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
35 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 34''
36 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ + 02' 54''
37 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE + 03' 34''
38 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
39 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 47''
40 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 03' 58''
41 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING s.t.
42 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
43 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE + 09' 29''
44 MOINARD Amaël BMC s.t.
45 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
46 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
47 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 10' 57''
48 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 11' 44''
49 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
50 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
51 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE s.t.
52 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF s.t.
53 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
54 HERMANS Ben BMC s.t.
55 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
56 VELITS Peter BMC s.t.
57 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
58 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
59 WYSS Danilo BMC s.t.
60 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
61 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF s.t.
62 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF s.t.
63 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
64 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
65 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
66 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
67 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
68 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
69 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR s.t.
70 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR s.t.
71 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA s.t.
72 SWIFT Ben SKY s.t.
73 STANNARD Ian SKY s.t.
74 ROCHE Nicolas SKY s.t.
75 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA s.t.
76 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA s.t.
77 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
78 NIEVE Mikel SKY s.t.
79 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF s.t.
80 BOSWELL Ian SKY s.t.
81 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ s.t.
82 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
83 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
84 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 13' 36''
85 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
86 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
87 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
88 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
89 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
90 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
91 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 16' 41''
92 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
93 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING s.t.
94 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
95 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ s.t.
96 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
97 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
98 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
99 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
100 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
101 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
102 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
103 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
104 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
105 SCHÄR Michael BMC s.t.
106 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ s.t.
107 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
108 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
109 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
110 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
111 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
112 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
113 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
114 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
115 ROWE Luke SKY s.t.
116 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE s.t.
117 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA s.t.
118 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
119 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING s.t.
120 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 23' 16''
121 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 23' 35''
122 SIMON Julien COFIDIS s.t.
123 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
124 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 23' 50''
125 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 24' 27''
126 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
127 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
128 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING s.t.
129 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
130 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA s.t.
131 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA s.t.

Final GC after Stage 7:

1,122.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.886 km/hr

1 THOMAS Geraint SKY 27hr 26min 40sec
2 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF @ 4sec
3 PORTE Richie BMC + 00' 12''
4 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA + 00' 20''
5 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR + 00' 37''
6 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 44''
7 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
8 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 51''
9 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 00''
10 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 07''
11 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS + 01' 09''
12 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 53''
13 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 02' 33''
14 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL + 03' 21''
15 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA + 03' 53''
16 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE + 04' 03''
17 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA + 04' 07''
18 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE + 04' 26''
19 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR + 05' 00''
20 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 05' 12''
21 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF + 07' 38''
22 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA + 09' 43''
23 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 09' 56''
24 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 10' 38''
25 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 11' 23''
26 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 11' 28''
27 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE + 13' 07''
28 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 13' 18''
29 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 13' 30''
30 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR + 13' 35''
31 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA + 14' 26''
32 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 16' 14''
33 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE + 16' 58''
34 SWIFT Ben SKY + 18' 19''
35 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 18' 29''
36 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 20' 35''
37 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR + 21' 01''
38 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 23' 16''
39 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE + 23' 33''
40 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 23' 43''
41 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR + 24' 21''
42 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING + 24' 50''
43 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 25' 15''
44 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 25' 33''
45 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 25' 46''
46 WYSS Danilo BMC + 26' 32''
47 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 27' 01''
48 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA + 27' 19''
49 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF + 27' 23''
50 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE + 27' 35''
51 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 28' 16''
52 ROCHE Nicolas SKY + 28' 51''
53 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 30' 38''
54 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS + 30' 47''
55 MOINARD Amaël BMC + 32' 19''
56 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA + 34' 06''
57 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE + 35' 08''
58 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF + 35' 33''
59 HERMANS Ben BMC + 36' 02''
60 STANNARD Ian SKY + 36' 53''
61 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA + 37' 02''
62 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 37' 28''
63 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN + 37' 45''
64 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC + 38' 17''
65 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING + 38' 36''
66 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 38' 44''
67 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 39' 45''
68 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 40' 09''
69 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR + 40' 22''
70 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 40' 30''
71 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 40' 45''
72 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 42' 09''
73 SCHÄR Michael BMC + 42' 40''
74 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE + 43' 20''
75 VELITS Peter BMC + 43' 24''
76 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE + 44' 08''
77 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 44' 09''
78 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE + 45' 21''
79 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA + 46' 33''
80 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 47' 00''
81 REZA Kévin FDJ + 48' 43''
82 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO + 48' 58''
83 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ + 49' 27''
84 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 50' 55''
85 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA + 52' 09''
86 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA + 52' 23''
87 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 53' 38''
88 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL + 53' 43''
89 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE + 53' 46''
90 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 54' 08''
91 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO + 54' 19''
92 ROWE Luke SKY + 56' 09''
93 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE + 58' 06''
94 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ + 58' 22''
95 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 58' 40''
96 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 59' 27''
97 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ + 59' 35''
98 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 01h 00' 08''
99 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF + 01h 00' 22''
100 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 01h 00' 41''
101 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE + 01h 01' 06''
102 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 01h 01' 07''
103 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 01h 01' 57''
104 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01h 02' 08''
105 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01h 02' 45''
106 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01h 03' 30''
107 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01h 04' 09''
108 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01h 05' 20''
109 SIMON Julien COFIDIS + 01h 07' 22''
110 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01h 08' 35''
111 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ + 01h 10' 05''
112 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE + 01h 11' 38''
113 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01h 11' 47''
114 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01h 13' 03''
115 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE + 01h 13' 50''
116 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL + 01h 13' 50''
117 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE + 01h 14' 24''
118 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01h 16' 01''
119 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01h 16' 08''
120 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01h 16' 14''
121 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 01h 17' 25''
122 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN + 01h 19' 31''
123 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 01h 19' 34''
124 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01h 23' 04''
125 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 01h 26' 36''
126 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA + 01h 27' 07''
127 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 01h 30' 27''
128 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE + 01h 32' 24''
129 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 01h 32' 33''
130 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 01h 36' 23''
131 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING + 01h 38' 46''

Stage 7 map and profile:

Stage 7 map

Stage 7 map

Stage 7 profile

Stage 7 profile

Stage 7 photos:

Jersey holders

The classification leaders at the start, from left: Antoine Duchesne, Geraint Thomas and Michael Matthews

Ben Gastauer and laurent Didier

Ben Gastauer and Laurent Didier are ready to race.

Peloton

Team Sky leads the peloton in the mountains

Alberto Contador attacks

Alberto Contador rolls the dice and attacks

Time Wellens

Tim Wellens wins the final stage

Final podium

The final podium, from left: Alberto Contador (2nd), Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte (3rd)


Saturday, March 12: Stage 6, Nice - La Madone d'Utelle, 177 km

Stage 6 map and profile

Ilnur Zakarin

Ilnur Zakarin just beats Geraint Thomas to win stage 6

Rated Ascents:

The Race: here is the organizer's telling of the stage story.

Tour of Flanders, the Inside Story

Led out by an impressive Team Sky train in the climb to La Madone d'Utelle, Geraint Thomas (Sky) took the reins of Paris-Nice in the 177-km 6th stage to La Madone d'Utelle. The Welshman even came close to earn the stage laurels but was overtaken on the line by Russia's Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha), the former Tour of Romandy winner, who took the day's honours ahead of Thomas and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff). As expected, most of the action took place on the last ascent, when Team Sky first stretched the bunch before Contador blew it apart with several blistering attacks. Their combined efforts were too much for Australian yellow jersey holder Michael Matthews (Orica-Greendge), who was dropped in the penultimate climb and finished 20 minutes adrift.    

The start was given at 12:11 to 157 riders. In the first climb of the day, Cote d Gattieres (2nd cat, km 10), Thomas de Gendt (Lotto) was in the front, ahead of polka-dot jersey holder Jesus Herrada (Movistar). After several attempts, launched notably by Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie), a group of seven riders emerged after 25 kilometres. They were Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre), Cyril Gautier (AG2R),  Nikki Terpstra (Etixx), Gregory Rast (Trek-Segafredo), Antoine Duchesne (Direct Energie), Florian Vachon (Fortuneo) and Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille Provence). American Andrew Talanksy (Cannondale) and De Gendt chased behind the break and caught them at kilometre 36 and 45 respectively. The lead of the nine never went over 2:25 (Km 25).     

De Gendt caught the lead just on time to finish first at the top of Cote de Coursegoules (km 50) and launch a battle with Duchesne for the polka-dot jersey. The sprint in Coursegoules went to Terpstra. In Cote de la Sigale (Km 91), Siskevicius and Rast lost touch with the rest of the break. The Cote d'Ascros (1st cat.) was even more merciless to the bunch, which blew apart as the Tinkoff team-mates of Alberto Contador kept setting the pace. Talansky crashed and was forced out in the long descent towards Gilette (Km 130) as the leading group split. Duchesne, Terpstra and Vachon broke clear while Grmay, De Gendt and Gautier lost ground. Duchesne then went on his own (km 141) to snatch more KOM points on Cote de Levens (2nd cat) and secure the polka-dot jersey. As his Tinkoff team-mates had led the chase from the gun, Alberto Contador made his intentions clear by sprinting to snatch a bonus of two seconds in the intermediate sprint of Levens (km 146.5).  

In Cote de Duranus, as Duchesne picked seven more KOM points, Team Sky seized the reins of the peloton and raised the tempo, dropping race leader Michael Matthews, who could not hold the frantic pace and reached the top 45 seconds adrift. Stage 5 winner Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) also lost ground early in the climb. Sky, led by Nicholas Roche, kept stretching the leading bunch before Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) took over, his leader Contador in his wake. EL Pistolero attacked twice with 6 km to go to blow the group apart. Sergio Henao (Sky) and Geraint Thomas (Sky) managed to stay with him. They were later joined by Richie Porte (BMC) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) and the five were left to battle it our for stage victory. Behind them, other team leaders like Romain Bardet (AG2R) or Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin) never managed to bridge the gap. Contador jumped first in the final 300 metres and Thomas countered, but both finally had to bow to Zakarin, who had the final say.

Complete Results:

177 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.239 km/hr

1 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA 4hr 45min 11sec
2 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
3 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF @ 1sec
4 PORTE Richie BMC + 00' 07''
5 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 10''
6 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 20''
7 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA + 00' 31''
8 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
9 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
10 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
11 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS s.t.
12 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
13 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 00' 49''
14 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 55''
15 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA + 01' 48''
16 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE + 02' 15''
17 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
18 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
19 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 02' 21''
20 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA s.t.
21 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA + 02' 27''
22 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE + 02' 38''
23 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 03' 00''
24 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR + 03' 21''
25 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
26 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA + 03' 43''
27 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 04' 27''
28 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE + 04' 46''
29 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR + 05' 05''
30 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF + 06' 03''
31 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 06' 13''
32 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 06' 15''
33 SWIFT Ben SKY s.t.
34 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 06' 55''
35 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 07' 52''
36 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 09' 41''
37 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 09' 47''
38 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 10' 42''
39 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 11' 02''
40 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR + 12' 04''
41 ROCHE Nicolas SKY s.t.
42 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
43 MOINARD Amaël BMC s.t.
44 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF s.t.
45 HERMANS Ben BMC + 14' 25''
46 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
47 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
48 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
49 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA s.t.
50 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF s.t.
51 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
52 WYSS Danilo BMC s.t.
53 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
54 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
55 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
56 SCHÄR Michael BMC + 15' 50''
57 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ s.t.
58 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 17' 11''
59 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA s.t.
60 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
61 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS + 18' 02''
62 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 20' 03''
63 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
64 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
65 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE s.t.
66 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING s.t.
67 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
68 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
69 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
70 STANNARD Ian SKY s.t.
71 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
72 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
73 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
74 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR s.t.
75 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
76 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING + 20' 49''
77 VELITS Peter BMC s.t.
78 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE s.t.
79 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF s.t.
80 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
81 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
82 ROWE Luke SKY s.t.
83 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE + 22' 17''
84 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA + 22' 34''
85 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
86 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 23' 57''
87 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
88 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 24' 35''
89 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
90 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
91 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
92 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
93 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
94 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
95 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
96 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
97 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
98 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
99 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA s.t.
100 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
101 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
102 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA s.t.
103 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
104 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
105 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
106 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
107 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF s.t.
108 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA s.t.
109 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS s.t.
110 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 34' 41''
111 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 35' 58''
112 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
113 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
114 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
115 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
116 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
117 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF s.t.
118 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
119 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
120 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
121 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
122 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ s.t.
123 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING s.t.
124 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
125 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA s.t.
126 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
127 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
128 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA s.t.
129 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA s.t.
130 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
131 SIMON Julien COFIDIS s.t.
132 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
133 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS s.t.
134 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
135 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ s.t.
136 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA s.t.
137 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
138 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
139 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE s.t.
140 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
141 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
142 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA s.t.
143 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING s.t.
144 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
145 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
146 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
147 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA s.t.

GC after Stage 6:

988.1 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 40.875 km/hr

1 THOMAS Geraint SKY 24hr 10min 26sec
2 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF @ 15sec
3 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA + 00' 20''
4 PORTE Richie BMC + 00' 21''
5 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 32''
6 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR + 00' 37''
7 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 39''
8 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 44''
9 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 51''
10 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 00''
11 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 07''
12 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS + 01' 09''
13 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 12''
14 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 01' 39''
15 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA + 02' 32''
16 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE + 02' 42''
17 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA + 02' 54''
18 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE + 03' 05''
19 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL + 03' 36''
20 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR + 03' 39''
21 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 43''
22 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 04' 17''
23 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE + 05' 19''
24 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF + 06' 17''
25 SWIFT Ben SKY + 06' 40''
26 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 07' 07''
27 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 07' 09''
28 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA + 08' 22''
29 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 08' 27''
30 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR + 09' 22''
31 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 10' 02''
32 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 10' 15''
33 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 12' 09''
34 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR + 12' 22''
35 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA + 13' 05''
36 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 13' 36''
37 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 13' 52''
38 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 14' 36''
39 WYSS Danilo BMC + 14' 53''
40 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 15' 01''
41 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 15' 22''
42 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA + 15' 40''
43 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF + 15' 44''
44 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE + 15' 56''
45 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 17' 00''
46 ROCHE Nicolas SKY + 17' 12''
47 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS + 19' 08''
48 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 19' 14''
49 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 19' 46''
50 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE + 20' 55''
51 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING + 20' 57''
52 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN + 21' 09''
53 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC + 21' 41''
54 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 21' 53''
55 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING + 22' 00''
56 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE + 22' 21''
57 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA + 22' 27''
58 MOINARD Amaël BMC + 22' 55''
59 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 23' 09''
60 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF + 23' 54''
61 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 24' 20''
62 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR + 24' 23''
63 HERMANS Ben BMC + 24' 23''
64 STANNARD Ian SKY + 25' 14''
65 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA + 25' 23''
66 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 25' 49''
67 SCHÄR Michael BMC + 26' 04''
68 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE + 26' 44''
69 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 26' 58''
70 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 28' 30''
71 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR + 28' 43''
72 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 28' 51''
73 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 30' 24''
74 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 30' 33''
75 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 30' 38''
76 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE + 31' 41''
77 VELITS Peter BMC + 31' 45''
78 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO + 32' 22''
79 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE + 32' 29''
80 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE + 33' 42''
81 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 34' 45''
82 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 35' 02''
83 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 36' 16''
84 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA + 36' 40''
85 REZA Kévin FDJ + 37' 04''
86 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL + 37' 07''
87 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE + 37' 10''
88 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA + 38' 00''
89 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 39' 16''
90 ROWE Luke SKY + 39' 33''
91 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 40' 07''
92 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA + 40' 30''
93 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA + 40' 44''
94 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO + 42' 41''
95 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ + 42' 59''
96 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 43' 29''
97 SIMON Julien COFIDIS + 43' 52''
98 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 44' 05''
99 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 44' 31''
100 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE + 44' 35''
101 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF + 45' 05''
102 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA + 45' 11''
103 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA + 45' 12''
104 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA + 45' 32''
105 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 46' 37''
106 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ + 46' 38''
107 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ + 46' 43''
108 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO + 46' 54''
109 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA + 46' 57''
110 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 47' 01''
111 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 47' 33''
112 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF + 48' 43''
113 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 49' 14''
114 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE + 49' 27''
115 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL + 49' 28''
116 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 50' 18''
117 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 50' 29''
118 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 51' 49''
119 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 51' 59''
120 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 53' 12''
121 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ + 53' 29''
122 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN + 53' 53''
123 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 54' 50''
124 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 55' 11''
125 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA + 55' 44''
126 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS + 56' 59''
127 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE + 57' 14''
128 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA + 57' 20''
129 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS + 57' 25''
130 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE + 57' 48''
131 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE + 58' 07''
132 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 59' 22''
133 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA + 59' 25''
134 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 59' 32''
135 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 59' 34''
136 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 59' 38''
137 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01h 01' 24''
138 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA + 01h 02' 45''
139 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN + 01h 02' 55''
140 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 01h 02' 58''
141 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 01h 03' 54''
142 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 01h 06' 05''
143 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE + 01h 08' 02''
144 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 01h 08' 11''
145 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 01h 10' 00''
146 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 01h 12' 01''
147 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING + 01h 14' 24''

Stage 6 map and profile:

Stage 6 map

Stage 6 map

Stage 6 profile

Stage 6 profile


Friday, March 11: Stage 5, Saint Paul Trois Châteaux - Salon de Provence, 198 km

Stage 5 map and profile

Andrey Lutsenko

Alexey Lutsenko wins stage 5

Rated climbs:

The Race: Here's the organizer's explanation of the day's racing.

Olympics 50 Craziest Stories

Former under-23 world champion Alexey Lutsenko surged 15 km from Salon de Provence to move six seconds short of the Paris-Nice yellow jersey, still held  by Michael Matthews at the end of stage 5 on Friday. The Kazah earned the stage laurels with a 21seconds  lead over what remained of the pack after a succession of climbs including the Ventoux early in a 198-km ride from St Paul-Trois Chateaux. Australia's Matthews salvaged his overall lead thanks to his third place in the stage in the wheel of Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), who won the bunch sprint for second place.

The race started at 11:12 without Sergio Paulinho (Tinkoff). On the gun, seven riders, Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx-Quick Step), Arnaud Courteille (FDJ), Lars Boom (Astana), Wouter Wippert (Cannondale), Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Matthias Brandle (IAM) and Antoine Duchesne (Direct Energie) boike clear and were joined by Jesus Herrada (Movistar) at kilometre four. Their lead topped at 11:05 (km 27). The first sprint of the day saw Lars Boom take the three points while Herrada made his KOM intentions clear by reaching the Col de la Madeleine in the front. 

The eight tackled the Ventoux with an eight-minute lead over the peloton. In the first corners of the climb, Brandle lost ground. In the peloton, most of the leading sprinters climbed at their own pace - Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), Marcel Kittel (Etixx) and Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) were among those dropped and they never made it back. Greipel later called it quits, as did Frenchman Alexis Gougeard (AG2R) with flu. At the front, Courteille and Herrada parted company with their companions, the Spaniard going for the polka-dot jersey. Herrada reached the top in the lead, ahead of Courteille with Duchesne on their heels. The three were chased down by Boom and Vandenbergh in the descent, while the pack reached the summit six minutes behind.

In the long descent,  the gap between the five front riders and the bunch remained stable but was down to 3:25 at the Col du Pointu (km 131) which Courteille reached ahead of Herrada. In Lourmarin, Vandenbergh took the sprint honours but the group split at the foot of Cote de la Roque d'Antheron (2nd cat), when Duchesne went solo. He reached the top of the Cote de la Roque d'Antheron on his own, followed by Herrada and Courteille. In the climb, Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale) shook the peloton while Alberto Contador was seen near the front of he pack for the first time in this Paris-Nice.

In the final ascent of the day, Col de Seze (2nd cat, km 169.5), Duchesne retained 33 seconds over the pack, from which Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) surged in the descent. While the succession of climbs allowed Herrada to strengthen his KOM jersey, it was fatal to Trek-Segafredo team leader Frank Schleck, involved in an earlier crash, who was forced to call it a day. Lutsenko caught Duchesne and went on his own with 15 kms left in the stage. The 2012 under-23 world champion retained 40 seconds with 10 km to go. Katusha tried briefly to bridge the gap for Kristoff but gave up for lack of support and let Lutsenko go for a splendid solitary win. 

Complete Results:

198 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.543 km/hr

1 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA 5hr 0min 26sec
2 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA @ 21sec
3 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
4 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
5 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
6 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
7 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING s.t.
8 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
9 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING s.t.
10 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS s.t.
11 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
12 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
13 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
14 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
15 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE s.t.
16 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
17 SIMON Julien COFIDIS s.t.
18 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
19 SWIFT Ben SKY s.t.
20 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
21 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
22 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
23 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
24 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
25 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
26 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF s.t.
27 WYSS Danilo BMC s.t.
28 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
29 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
30 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
31 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
32 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE s.t.
33 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING s.t.
34 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA s.t.
35 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
36 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
37 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY s.t.
38 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
39 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
40 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
41 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
42 SCHÄR Michael BMC s.t.
43 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA s.t.
44 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
45 NIEVE Mikel SKY s.t.
46 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
47 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA s.t.
48 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
49 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
50 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
51 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
52 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
53 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF s.t.
54 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
55 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
56 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
57 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF s.t.
58 HERMANS Ben BMC s.t.
59 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
60 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
61 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
62 STANNARD Ian SKY s.t.
63 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA s.t.
64 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING s.t.
65 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
66 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
67 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
68 BOOM Lars ASTANA s.t.
69 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
70 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF s.t.
71 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR s.t.
72 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE s.t.
73 ROSA Diego ASTANA s.t.
74 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR s.t.
75 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA s.t.
76 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
77 MOINARD Amaël BMC s.t.
78 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
79 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00' 37''
80 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
81 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 40''
82 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA + 00' 48''
83 ROCHE Nicolas SKY + 00' 50''
84 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
85 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
86 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 01' 14''
87 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 40''
88 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE + 00' 21''
89 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik KATUSHA + 02' 03''
90 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 03' 34''
91 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 06' 44''
92 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE s.t.
93 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF s.t.
94 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
95 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
96 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF s.t.
97 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA s.t.
98 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
99 VELITS Peter BMC s.t.
100 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA s.t.
101 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
102 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE s.t.
103 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 10' 42''
104 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
105 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
106 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
107 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
108 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
109 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
110 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
111 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
112 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
113 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
114 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA s.t.
115 ROWE Luke SKY s.t.
116 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
117 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
118 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 15' 32''
119 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA s.t.
120 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
121 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 17' 06''
122 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS s.t.
123 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS s.t.
124 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
125 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
126 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
127 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
128 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS s.t.
129 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
130 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
131 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ s.t.
132 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
133 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
134 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE s.t.
135 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
136 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
137 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
138 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
139 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
140 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ s.t.
141 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
142 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
143 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA s.t.
144 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA s.t.
145 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA s.t.
146 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA s.t.
147 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
148 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA s.t.
149 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING s.t.
150 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
151 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS s.t.
152 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
153 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS s.t.
154 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 29' 40''
155 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
156 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING s.t.
157 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.

GC after Stage 5:

811.1 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 41.746 km/hr

1 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 19hr 24min 58sec
2 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA @ 6sec
3 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 18''
4 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE + 00' 23''
5 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
6 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
7 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA + 00' 28''
8 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 00' 29''
9 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF + 00' 31''
10 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
11 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 32''
12 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 34''
13 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 35''
14 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
15 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
16 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 37''
17 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
18 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 41''
19 SWIFT Ben SKY + 00' 42''
20 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE + 00' 44''
21 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
22 WYSS Danilo BMC + 00' 45''
23 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00' 46''
24 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 47''
25 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA s.t.
26 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE + 00' 50''
27 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 00' 51''
28 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 52''
29 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 53''
30 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
31 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS + 00' 55''
32 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA + 00' 59''
33 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 01' 07''
34 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
35 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC + 01' 09''
36 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING + 01' 11''
37 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 13''
38 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01' 14''
39 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 22''
40 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 23''
41 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
42 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
43 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01' 24''
44 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 26''
45 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING + 01' 28''
46 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE + 01' 29''
47 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA + 01' 32''
48 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 34''
49 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF + 01' 36''
50 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 01' 49''
51 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 52''
52 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF + 03' 22''
53 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR + 04' 34''
54 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR + 04' 37''
55 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 04' 52''
56 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA + 04' 56''
57 ROCHE Nicolas SKY + 05' 25''
58 STANNARD Ian SKY + 05' 28''
59 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 05' 52''
60 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 06' 03''
61 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING + 06' 54''
62 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO + 07' 04''
63 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 07' 10''
64 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE + 07' 11''
65 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 07' 12''
66 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 07' 26''
67 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 07' 58''
68 SIMON Julien COFIDIS + 08' 11''
69 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA + 08' 19''
70 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA + 08' 29''
71 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 08' 38''
72 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR + 08' 57''
73 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 09' 01''
74 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF + 09' 24''
75 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA + 09' 30''
76 BOOM Lars ASTANA + 09' 58''
77 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik KATUSHA + 10' 14''
78 HERMANS Ben BMC + 10' 15''
79 SCHÄR Michael BMC + 10' 31''
80 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE + 10' 34''
81 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 10' 49''
82 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 52''
83 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 10' 56''
84 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ + 11' 02''
85 MOINARD Amaël BMC + 11' 08''
86 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO + 11' 13''
87 VELITS Peter BMC s.t.
88 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA + 11' 34''
89 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 11' 52''
90 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 11' 54''
91 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE + 11' 55''
92 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 12' 23''
93 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA + 12' 42''
94 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 13' 33''
95 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE + 13' 56''
96 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 14' 37''
97 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 14' 48''
98 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 14' 49''
99 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 14' 59''
100 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA + 15' 12''
101 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 15' 16''
102 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE + 15' 24''
103 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA + 15' 26''
104 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 17' 10''
105 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 17' 31''
106 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS + 17' 41''
107 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ + 17' 48''
108 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN + 18' 12''
109 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 18' 26''
110 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 18' 47''
111 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO + 19' 01''
112 ROWE Luke SKY s.t.
113 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 19' 09''
114 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 19' 11''
115 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 19' 13''
116 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 19' 30''
117 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA + 20' 03''
118 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ + 21' 20''
119 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA + 21' 39''
120 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA s.t.
121 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS + 21' 44''
122 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE + 22' 07''
123 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE + 22' 26''
124 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE + 22' 31''
125 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE + 22' 35''
126 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL + 22' 59''
127 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA + 23' 15''
128 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 23' 21''
129 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF + 23' 25''
130 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 23' 41''
131 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 23' 51''
132 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE + 24' 09''
133 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL + 24' 10''
134 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 25' 43''
135 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA + 26' 08''
136 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 26' 31''
137 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 26' 41''
138 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS + 26' 42''
139 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA + 27' 04''
140 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN + 27' 14''
141 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 27' 17''
142 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ + 27' 26''
143 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 28' 13''
144 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 30' 24''
145 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA + 31' 04''
146 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS + 31' 41''
147 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE + 31' 56''
148 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE + 32' 21''
149 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 32' 30''
150 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA + 34' 07''
151 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 34' 16''
152 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 34' 19''
153 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 34' 20''
154 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 36' 20''
155 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 37' 19''
156 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING + 38' 43''
157 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN + 56' 47''

Stage 5 map and profile

Stage 5 map

Stage 5 map

Stage 5 profile

Stage 5 profile


Thursday, March 10: Stage 4, Juliénas - Romans sur Isère, 195.5 km

Stage 4 map and profile

Nacer Bouhanni

Nacer Bouhanni gets this one

Rated ascents:

The Race: Here's the stage story as told by the race organizer:

Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) avenged the bitter disappointments of the first half of Paris-Nice when he outpaced the best sprinters of the peloton to take stage 4 in Romand-sur-Isere in style on Thursday. The Frenchman, third in stage 1 and disqualified from stage 2 after a heated battle with Michael Matthews (Orica-Greendge), was in a class of his own this time, outsprinting the bunch ahead of Belgium's Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) and Germany's Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal). Fifth in the wheel of Norway's Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Matthews retained his race leader's yellow jersey ahead of a 198-km fifth stage to Salon de Provence including the Mont Ventoux ascent.

The stage started from Julienas at 12:00 with 28 of the 161riders expected at the podium unfortunately forgetting to sign the start list. At kilometre 5, as the peloton could still see Mont Brouilly, to which Paris-Nice will return next year after yesterday's cancellation, four men broke clear. Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie), Matthew Brammeier (Dimension Data), Florian Vachon (Fortuneo) and Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille Provence) parted company with the bunch, led by Michael Matthews's Orica-Greenedge team-mates as well as the sprinters teams of Katusha, Cofidis and Etixx-Quick Step. Their lead topped at 4:50 at kilometer 17, shortly before Col de Brouilly, which Siskevicus reached in the front, on his way to conquering the polka-dot jersey.

The peloton kept the four escapees within a three-minute gap and Siskevicius collected four more points at the top of cote de Givors (km 108). The sprint in Serrieres (Km 143), won by Voeckler, spurred the bunch into reaction and the gap quickly diminished, going under a minute with 40 km to go. In the Cote de Saint-Uze (km 163), the leading group split and Voeckler seized his chance to go on his own. Siskevicius retained enough strength to reach the top in second place to pick five more points and secure the polka-dot jersey on 15 points. After the climb, several attacks took place and Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie), Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto Jumbo) and Delio Fernandez (Delko Marseille Provence) chased Voeckler down. Voeckler was finally dropped with 20 km to go.

Chavanel, Vanmarcke and Fernandez were briefly chased by Lieuwe Westra (Astana) and Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) in the final 15 km as stage 1 winner Arnaud Demare, plagued by a knee injury, was forced out of the race. The trio managed to keep a 15 seconds edge  with two kilometers left as Katusha were doing most of the chasing work. But when Cofidis finally took over in the final two kilometres, the break was doomed and the three were overtaken in the final kilometer. Perfectly led out by his team-mates, Bouhanni launched the sprint alongside Kristoff, then took the wheel of Theuns and easily swept past for his third stage victory on Paris-Nice after the ones collected in 2013 in Nemours and 2014 in Mantes-la-Jolie.  

Complete Results:

195.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.2 km/hr

1 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS 4hr 42min 29sec
2 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
3 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
4 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA s.t.
5 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
6 SWIFT Ben SKY s.t.
7 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
8 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
9 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA s.t.
10 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
11 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
12 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ s.t.
13 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING s.t.
14 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS s.t.
15 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
16 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE s.t.
17 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
18 BOOM Lars ASTANA s.t.
19 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA s.t.
20 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING s.t.
21 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
22 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
23 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA s.t.
24 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
25 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
26 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
27 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY s.t.
28 WYSS Danilo BMC s.t.
29 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
30 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR s.t.
31 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF s.t.
32 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
33 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING s.t.
34 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
35 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
36 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ s.t.
37 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
38 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
39 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
40 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
41 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
42 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
43 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA s.t.
44 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
45 SCHÄR Michael BMC s.t.
46 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA s.t.
47 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
48 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE s.t.
49 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
50 ROCHE Nicolas SKY s.t.
51 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA s.t.
52 HERMANS Ben BMC s.t.
53 VELITS Peter BMC s.t.
54 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS s.t.
55 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING s.t.
56 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
57 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
58 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
59 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
60 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
61 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE s.t.
62 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
63 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
64 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
65 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
66 NIEVE Mikel SKY s.t.
67 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF s.t.
68 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
69 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
70 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
71 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
72 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF s.t.
73 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING s.t.
74 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
75 SCHLECK Frank TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
76 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
77 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
78 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
79 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
80 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
81 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
82 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF s.t.
83 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
84 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
85 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR s.t.
86 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
87 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
88 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS s.t.
89 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
90 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE s.t.
91 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR s.t.
92 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA s.t.
93 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
94 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
95 VAN POPPEL Boy TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
96 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
97 MOINARD Amaël BMC @ 26sec
98 SIMON Julien COFIDIS + 01' 01''
99 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS s.t.
100 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 01' 02''
101 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
102 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA + 01' 15''
103 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA + 01' 17''
104 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 22''
105 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik KATUSHA + 01' 26''
106 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
107 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
108 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF s.t.
109 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 28''
110 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 49''
111 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 03' 05''
112 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA s.t.
113 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 04' 38''
114 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
115 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
116 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
117 PAULINHO Sergio Miguel TINKOFF s.t.
118 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
119 DENIFL Stefan IAM CYCLING s.t.
120 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
121 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
122 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
123 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
124 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
125 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
126 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
127 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
128 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF s.t.
129 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
130 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
131 ROWE Luke SKY s.t.
132 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ s.t.
133 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
134 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA s.t.
135 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
136 STANNARD Ian SKY s.t.
137 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE s.t.
138 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE s.t.
139 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
140 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE s.t.
141 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
142 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
143 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
144 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
145 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
146 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
147 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
148 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
149 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 06' 51''
150 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA s.t.
151 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING s.t.
152 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
153 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
154 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
155 KUMP Marko LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
156 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA s.t.
157 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA s.t.
158 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
159 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
160 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS s.t.
161 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
162 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
163 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
164 ROSA Diego ASTANA s.t.
165 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.

GC after stage 4:

613.1 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 42.564 km/hr

1 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 14hr 24min 15sec
2 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN @ 14sec
3 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE + 00' 19''
4 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
5 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
6 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA + 00' 24''
7 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 00' 25''
8 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF + 00' 27''
9 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
10 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 28''
11 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 30''
12 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 31''
13 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
14 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
15 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 00' 33''
16 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
17 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
18 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 37''
19 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
20 SWIFT Ben SKY + 00' 38''
21 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE + 00' 40''
22 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
23 WYSS Danilo BMC + 00' 41''
24 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00' 42''
25 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
26 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 43''
27 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA s.t.
28 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
29 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE + 00' 46''
30 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 00' 47''
31 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 48''
32 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
33 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 49''
34 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
35 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS + 00' 51''
36 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS + 00' 52''
37 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ + 00' 59''
38 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 01' 01''
39 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA s.t.
40 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 01' 03''
41 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
42 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC + 01' 05''
43 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING + 01' 07''
44 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 09''
45 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL + 01' 10''
46 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
47 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 18''
48 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 19''
49 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
50 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
51 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 20''
52 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
53 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 22''
54 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 23''
55 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING + 01' 24''
56 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE + 01' 25''
57 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 27''
58 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA + 01' 28''
59 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 29''
60 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 30''
61 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF + 01' 32''
62 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 01' 45''
63 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 58''
64 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 12''
65 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 02' 20''
66 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 02' 22''
67 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 02' 24''
68 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF + 02' 57''
69 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF + 03' 18''
70 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 31''
71 SCHLECK Frank TREK-SEGAFREDO + 03' 37''
72 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR + 04' 07''
73 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 15''
74 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR + 04' 30''
75 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 34''
76 VELITS Peter BMC + 04' 46''
77 VAN POPPEL Boy TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 47''
78 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA + 04' 48''
79 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 04' 48''
80 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA + 04' 50''
81 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 51''
82 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA + 04' 52''
83 ROCHE Nicolas SKY s.t.
84 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS + 04' 55''
85 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 57''
86 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE + 05' 18''
87 STANNARD Ian SKY + 05' 24''
88 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE + 05' 28''
89 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE + 05' 37''
90 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE + 05' 42''
91 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 05' 48''
92 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 05' 56''
93 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 05' 59''
94 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA + 06' 15''
95 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA + 06' 26''
96 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 06' 32''
97 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING + 06' 50''
98 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE + 06' 51''
99 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 06' 52''
100 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR + 06' 53''
101 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO + 07' 00''
102 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 07' 02''
103 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 07' 08''
104 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 07' 22''
105 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 07' 54''
106 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 07' 56''
107 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA + 07' 58''
108 SIMON Julien COFIDIS + 08' 07''
109 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA + 08' 15''
110 KUMP Marko LAMPRE-MERIDA + 08' 26''
111 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik KATUSHA + 08' 28''
112 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 08' 34''
113 ROWE Luke SKY + 08' 36''
114 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 08' 41''
115 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA + 08' 45''
116 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR + 08' 53''
117 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE + 08' 57''
118 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA + 09' 19''
119 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA + 09' 26''
120 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 09' 52''
121 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS + 09' 53''
122 BOOM Lars ASTANA + 09' 59''
123 HERMANS Ben BMC + 10' 11''
124 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA + 10' 15''
125 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 10' 26''
126 SCHÄR Michael BMC + 10' 27''
127 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 10' 28''
128 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE + 10' 30''
129 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ + 10' 37''
130 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 48''
131 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 10' 52''
132 MOINARD Amaël BMC + 11' 04''
133 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA + 11' 14''
134 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 11' 24''
135 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA + 11' 30''
136 DENIFL Stefan IAM CYCLING + 11' 38''
137 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE + 12' 10''
138 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL + 12' 34''
139 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 13' 29''
140 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 13' 40''
141 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL + 13' 45''
142 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA + 14' 03''
143 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 14' 45''
144 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 14' 47''
145 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS + 14' 52''
146 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ + 14' 53''
147 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE + 15' 07''
148 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 15' 09''
149 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 15' 18''
150 PAULINHO Sergio Miguel TINKOFF + 15' 28''
151 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE + 15' 32''
152 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 15' 41''
153 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE + 15' 49''
154 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 16' 06''
155 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN + 16' 49''
156 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF + 16' 58''
157 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 17' 06''
158 FARIA DA COSTA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA + 17' 18''
159 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 17' 27''
160 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 17' 30''
161 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE + 17' 42''
162 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 21' 05''
163 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING + 21' 54''
164 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA + 24' 37''
165 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN + 27' 24''

Stage 4 map and profile:

Stage 4 map

Stage 4 map

Stage 4 profile

Stage 4 profile


Wednesday, March 9: Stage 3, Cusset - Mont Brouilly, 168 km

Stage 3 map and profile

Paris-Nice snow

Bad weather forced the cancellation of stage 3

Stage 3's rated climbs:

The Race: Here's the organizer's explanation of the stage cancellation.

Story of the Tour de France Volume 2

The 168-km third stage of Paris-Nice between Cusset and Mont Brouilly was cancelled on Wednesday after snow forced organisers to halt the race at kilometer 93. Five riders - Alexis Gougeard (AG2R), Alexy Lutsenko (Astana), Laurent Didier (Trek Segafredo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) and Jesus Herrada (Movistar) - were leading the main pack by 3:30 when the race direction and the race jury decided to call it a day. The race was in the third climb of the day, Col des Echarmeaux, when it was judged too dangerous to go ahead.

The points collected in the intermediate sprint of Chauffailles (Km 84) and in the first two climbs of the day, Cote de Verney (Km 59.5) and Cote de Chateauneuf (Km 79.5) will be taken into account into tomorrow's fourth stage to Romans-sur-Isere.

The stage started in the rain and cold without Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Pierrick Fedrigo (Fortuneo), who both gave up sick. Later in the stage, France's Arthur Vichot (FDJ), who was dropped early on, called it quits with gastric problems. Seven riders broke clear after 10 kilometers and were joined by seven other riders two km later. The fourteen were Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Luka Pibernik (Lampre), Ben Swift (Sky), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R), Simon Yates (Orica-Greenedge), Yury Trofimov (Tinkoff), David De la Cruz (Etixx-Quick Step), Kevin Reza (FDJ), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Dylan Van Baarle (Cannondale), Laurent Didier (Trek-Segafredo), Alexandre Pichot (Direct Energie), Delio Fernandez (Delko Marseille Provence). They were chased down at kilometer 31 by Roy Curvers (Giant Alpecin) and Paul Martens (Lotto Jumbo).

Paris Nice snow

A couple of Ag2r riders calling it quits

The lead of the 16 quickly went over four minutes, but the peloton raised the tempo to maintain them within two minutes. The break started scattering with the first climbs of the day and Gougeard, Lutsenko and Didier parted company with the group at kilometer 72. They were joined by Herrada in the descent of the Cote de Chateauneuf as the peloton split after Movistar raised the tempo. Their lead remained steady at around a minute until they received the support of Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) at kilometer 89. The snow kept falling steadily on the course and France's Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R) was forced out of the race after crashing at kilometer 80.

Paris-Nice stage 3 snow

Another shot of the snowy day

The conditions deteriorated and forced the race direction to stop the stage. It was first decided to try and restart it further down the road in Villié-Morgon but it also proved impossible. "The road was extremely slippery and the safety was no longer guaranteed. We are sorry. That's Paris-Nice. We promise we'll come back to Mont-Brouilly. It's a pity but the riders will start again tomorrow from Julienas." Michael Matthews (Orica Greenedge) will start the 195.5-kms fourth stage with an unchanged lead of 14 seconds over Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin).

Results:

The stage is cancelled.

Complete GC after Stage 3:

1 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 9hr 41min 46sec
2 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN @ 14sec
3 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE + 00' 19''
4 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
5 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
6 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA + 00' 24''
7 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 00' 25''
8 DEMARE Arnaud FDJ s.t.
9 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF + 00' 27''
10 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
11 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 28''
12 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 30''
13 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 31''
14 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
15 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
16 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 00' 33''
17 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
18 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
19 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 37''
20 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
21 SWIFT Ben SKY + 00' 38''
22 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 40''
23 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE s.t.
24 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
25 WYSS Danilo BMC + 00' 41''
26 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00' 42''
27 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
28 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 43''
29 ZAKARIN Ilnur TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
30 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
31 STANNARD Ian SKY + 00' 46''
32 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE s.t.
33 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 00' 47''
34 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 48''
35 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 49''
36 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
37 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE + 00' 50''
38 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS + 00' 51''
39 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 54''
40 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 59''
41 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ s.t.
42 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 01' 01''
43 KRISTOFF Alexander TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
44 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS + 01' 02''
45 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 01' 03''
46 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
47 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE + 01' 04''
48 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 01' 05''
49 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
50 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING + 01' 07''
51 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 09''
52 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 10''
53 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
54 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
55 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL + 01' 14''
56 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 18''
57 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
58 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 19''
59 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
60 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
61 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 20''
62 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
63 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 01' 22''
64 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
65 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 23''
66 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING + 01' 24''
67 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
68 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE + 01' 25''
69 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 27''
70 HAAS Nathan DIMENSION DATA + 01' 28''
71 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
72 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 29''
73 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 30''
74 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF + 01' 32''
75 KUMP Marko LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 35''
76 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 01' 45''
77 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 48''
78 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF + 01' 52''
79 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 54''
80 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 58''
81 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 02' 14''
82 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 02' 20''
83 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 02' 22''
84 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 02' 24''
85 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF + 02' 57''
86 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 02' 59''
87 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 03' 01''
88 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA + 03' 24''
89 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 31''
90 SCHLECK Frank TREK-SEGAFREDO + 03' 37''
91 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS + 03' 54''
92 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 03' 56''
93 ROWE Luke SKY + 03' 58''
94 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA + 04' 07''
95 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
96 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 15''
97 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE + 04' 19''
98 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA + 04' 23''
99 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR + 04' 30''
100 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 34''
101 SPILAK Simon TEAM KATUSHA + 04' 39''
102 VELITS Peter BMC + 04' 46''
103 VAN POPPEL Boy TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 47''
104 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA + 04' 48''
105 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
106 GUARNIERI Jacopo TEAM KATUSHA + 04' 50''
107 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 51''
108 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA + 04' 52''
109 ROCHE Nicolas SKY s.t.
110 LAGUTIN Sergey TEAM KATUSHA + 04' 53''
111 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 57''
112 MORKOV Michael TEAM KATUSHA + 04' 58''
113 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 05' 50''
114 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 06' 00''
115 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 06' 14''
116 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 06' 46''
117 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING + 06' 50''
118 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE + 06' 51''
119 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR + 06' 53''
120 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO + 07' 00''
121 KOCHETKOV Pavel TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
122 DENIFL Stefan IAM CYCLING s.t.
123 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik TEAM KATUSHA + 07' 02''
124 SIMON Julien COFIDIS + 07' 06''
125 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 07' 08''
126 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 07' 16''
127 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE + 07' 32''
128 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 07' 54''
129 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS + 08' 01''
130 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 08' 51''
131 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR + 08' 53''
132 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 09' 00''
133 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 09' 02''
134 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL + 09' 07''
135 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 09' 15''
136 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA + 09' 19''
137 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA + 09' 25''
138 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS + 09' 53''
139 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN + 09' 58''
140 BOOM Lars ASTANA + 09' 59''
141 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 10' 07''
142 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 10' 09''
143 HERMANS Ben BMC + 10' 11''
144 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 10' 15''
145 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
146 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA + 10' 27''
147 SCHÄR Michael BMC + 10' 27''
148 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE + 10' 29''
149 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE + 10' 30''
150 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 36''
151 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ + 10' 37''
152 MOINARD Amaël BMC + 10' 38''
153 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 10' 39''
154 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 42''
155 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 48''
156 PAULINHO Sergio Miguel TINKOFF + 10' 50''
157 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE + 10' 51''
158 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE + 10' 54''
159 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 11' 07''
160 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL + 11' 08''
161 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE + 11' 11''
162 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 12' 04''
163 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF + 12' 20''
164 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 14' 14''
165 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING + 15' 03''
166 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN + 20' 33''
167 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA + 24' 37'

Stage 3 map and profile:

Stage 3 map

2016 Paris-Nice stage 3 map

2016 Prais-Nice stage 3 profile

2016 Paris-Nice stage 3 profile


Tuesday, March 8: Stage 2, Contres - Commentry, 213.5 km

Stage 2 map and profile | Video of the sprint

Nacer Bouhanni leans on Michael Matthews

Nacer Bouhanni leans a bit on eventual winner Michael Matthews

The Race: This is how the organizer saw today's stage.    

Cycling's 50 Craziest Stories

Michael Matthews (Orica Greenedge) tightened his grip on Paris-Nice with his second victory in three days after a contentious sprint in Commentry at the end of the longest stage of this 74th edition, a 213.5-km flat ride in the cold from Contres. The insatiable Australian surged in the last stretch in the wheel of France's Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), who crossed the line ahead of him but was later disqualified for failing to hold his line. Italy's Niccolo Bonifazio (Trek-Segafredo) was third in the same time. Matthews strengthened his overall lead with a 14 seconds lead over Ducthman Tom Dumoulin ahead of a crucial stage 3 finishing on top of Mont Brouilly. 

174 riders left Contres without France's Jerome Coppel (IAM), who pulled out with sinusitis.  From kilometer 0, four men broke clear: Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre), Mathias Brandle (IAM), Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo) and Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille Provence).  Their lead quickly grew and reached 10:15 shortly before the first intermediate sprint in Chabris (km 25), won by Siskevicius. The peloton, led by Matthews's Orica Greenedge team-mates and Marcel Kittel's Etixx Quick Step, raised the tempo and the gap stabilised at around six minutes (km 54).

The peloton continued to play cat and mouse with the four, who still retained a 2:40 lead at the top of the only climb of the day, the third category Cote d'Estivareilles (km 164), which saw Anthony Delaplace collect four points. But as the trains organised, the gap kept diminishing and the lead was down to 50 seconds with 30 km to go, shortly before Grmay was dropped by his breakaway companions. At the first passage on the finish line in Commentry, as Siskevicius picked three more seconds, the peloton were 35 seconds adrift. Delaplace lost ground in turn with 15 kms to go.

Siskevicius and Brandle shook hands as the peloton mercilessly passed them with 12 km to go. The sprinters trains seemed to struggle in the last ten kilometers, Kittel's Etixx-Quick Step team-mates disappearing from view as Cofidis were the most active in the finale. Then Orica-Greenedge seized the reins in the last two kilometers, unveiling their leader's intentions. Sensing the danger, Bouhanni launched the sprint with 250 metres to go but paid the toll for the hardship of the day's long ride when he changed his line, blocking Matthews along the barriers. After checking the finish on video, the race jury awarded victory to the Australian.

Complete Results:

Video of the sprint

215.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.472 km/hr

1 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 5hr 4min 26sec
2 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
3 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS s.t.
4 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA @ 1sec
5 DEMARE Arnaud FDJ s.t.
6 SWIFT Ben SKY s.t.
7 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
8 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE s.t.
9 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
10 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING s.t.
11 KUMP Marko LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
12 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA s.t.
13 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
14 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
15 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
16 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
17 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
18 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF s.t.
19 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ s.t.
20 FERNANDEZ ANDUJAR Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
21 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE s.t.
22 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE + 00' 05''
23 FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
24 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
25 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
26 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
27 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR s.t.
28 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
29 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
30 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS s.t.
31 VUILLERMOZ Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
32 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY s.t.
33 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
34 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS s.t.
35 WYSS Danilo BMC s.t.
36 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
37 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
38 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
39 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
40 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
41 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA s.t.
42 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE s.t.
43 STANNARD Ian SKY s.t.
44 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA s.t.
45 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
46 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
47 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
48 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING s.t.
49 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING s.t.
50 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
51 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 12''
52 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
53 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF s.t.
54 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
55 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
56 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA s.t.
57 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
58 FERNANDEZ CRUZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
59 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
60 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
61 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik KATUSHA s.t.
62 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
63 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
64 VELITS Peter BMC s.t.
65 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
66 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE s.t.
67 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
68 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
69 MATE MARDONES Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
70 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
71 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA s.t.
72 VICHOT Arthur FDJ s.t.
73 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
74 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
75 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
76 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
77 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
78 NIEVE Mikel SKY s.t.
79 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
80 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
81 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING s.t.
82 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA s.t.
83 FARIA DA COSTA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
84 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA s.t.
85 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
86 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
87 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
88 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA s.t.
89 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE s.t.
90 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING s.t.
91 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR s.t.
92 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
93 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
94 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
95 SCHLECK Frank TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
96 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
97 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF s.t.
98 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
99 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
100 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
101 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
102 ROSA Diego ASTANA s.t.
103 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
104 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE s.t.
105 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA s.t.
106 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA s.t.
107 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA s.t.
108 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA s.t.
109 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
110 BOOM Lars ASTANA s.t.
111 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
112 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
113 DENIFL Stefan IAM CYCLING s.t.
114 HAAS Nathan DIMENSION DATA s.t.
115 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
116 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
117 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
118 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
119 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
120 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF s.t.
121 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
122 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
123 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
124 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
125 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
126 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
127 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR s.t.
128 HERMANS Ben BMC s.t.
129 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS s.t.
130 SCHÄR Michael BMC s.t.
131 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
132 VAN POPPEL Boy TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
133 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
134 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA + 00' 30''
135 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
136 SIMON Julien COFIDIS s.t.
137 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ s.t.
138 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
139 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA s.t.
140 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel DIMENSION DATA s.t.
141 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
142 PAULINHO Sergio Miguel TINKOFF + 00' 35''
143 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
144 MOINARD Amaël BMC s.t.
145 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA s.t.
146 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
147 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
148 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 41''
149 GILBERT Philippe BMC s.t.
150 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
151 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
152 ROCHE Nicolas SKY + 00' 42''
153 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF s.t.
154 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
155 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
156 ROWE Luke SKY s.t.
157 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 19''
158 FEDRIGO Pierrick FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
159 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS + 01' 21''
160 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS s.t.
161 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE + 01' 56''
162 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 02' 10''
163 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 02' 14''
164 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA s.t.
165 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF s.t.
166 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 03' 17''
167 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 05' 13''
168 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 05' 36''
169 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 06' 35''
170 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING s.t.
171 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN + 09' 56''
172 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA + 15' 44''

GC after Stage 2:

417.6 kilometers race so far at an average speed of 43.069 km/hr

1 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 9hr 41min 46sec
2 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN @ 14sec
3 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE + 00' 19''
4 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
5 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
6 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA + 00' 24''
7 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 00' 25''
8 DEMARE Arnaud FDJ s.t.
9 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF + 00' 27''
10 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
11 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 28''
12 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 30''
13 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 31''
14 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
15 FERNANDEZ ANDUJAR Ruben MOVISTAR + 00' 31''
16 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 00' 33''
17 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
18 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
19 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 37''
20 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
21 SWIFT Ben SKY + 00' 38''
22 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 40''
23 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE s.t.
24 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
25 WYSS Danilo BMC + 00' 41''
26 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00' 42''
27 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
28 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 43''
29 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA s.t.
30 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
31 STANNARD Ian SKY + 00' 46''
32 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE s.t.
33 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 00' 47''
34 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 48''
35 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 49''
36 FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
37 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE + 00' 50''
38 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS + 00' 51''
39 VUILLERMOZ Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
40 VICHOT Arthur FDJ + 00' 52''
41 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 54''
42 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 59''
43 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ + 00' 59''
44 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 01' 01''
45 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA s.t.
46 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS + 01' 02''
47 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 01' 03''
48 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
49 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE + 01' 04''
50 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 01' 05''
51 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
52 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING + 01' 07''
53 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 09''
54 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 10''
55 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
56 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
57 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL + 01' 14''
58 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 18''
59 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
60 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 19''
61 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
62 MATE MARDONES Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
63 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 20''
64 FERNANDEZ CRUZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
65 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 01' 22''
66 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
67 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 23''
68 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING + 01' 24''
69 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
70 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE + 01' 25''
71 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 27''
72 HAAS Nathan DIMENSION DATA + 01' 28''
73 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
74 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 29''
75 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 30''
76 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF + 01' 32''
77 KUMP Marko LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 35''
78 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 01' 45''
79 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 48''
80 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF + 01' 52''
81 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 54''
82 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 58''
83 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 02' 14''
84 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 02' 20''
85 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 02' 22''
86 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 02' 24''
87 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF + 02' 57''
88 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 02' 59''
89 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 03' 01''
90 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA + 03' 24''
91 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 31''
92 SCHLECK Frank TREK-SEGAFREDO + 03' 37''
93 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS + 03' 54''
94 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 03' 56''
95 ROWE Luke SKY + 03' 58''
96 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA + 04' 07''
97 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
98 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 15''
99 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE + 04' 19''
100 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA + 04' 23''
101 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR + 04' 30''
102 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 34''
103 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA + 04' 39''
104 GILBERT Philippe BMC + 04' 40''
105 VELITS Peter BMC + 04' 46''
106 VAN POPPEL Boy TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 47''
107 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA + 04' 48''
108 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
109 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA + 04' 50''
110 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 51''
111 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA + 04' 52''
112 ROCHE Nicolas SKY s.t.
113 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA + 04' 53''
114 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 57''
115 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA + 04' 58''
116 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 05' 50''
117 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 06' 00''
118 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 06' 14''
119 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 06' 46''
120 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING + 06' 50''
121 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE + 06' 51''
122 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR + 06' 53''
123 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO + 07' 00''
124 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA s.t.
125 DENIFL Stefan IAM CYCLING s.t.
126 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik KATUSHA + 07' 02''
127 SIMON Julien COFIDIS + 07' 06''
128 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 07' 08''
129 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 07' 16''
130 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE + 07' 32''
131 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 07' 54''
132 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS + 08' 01''
133 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 08' 51''
134 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR + 08' 53''
135 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 09' 00''
136 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 09' 02''
137 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL + 09' 07''
138 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 09' 15''
139 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA + 09' 19''
140 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA + 09' 25''
141 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS + 09' 53''
142 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN + 09' 58''
143 BOOM Lars ASTANA + 09' 59''
144 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 10' 07''
145 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 10' 09''
146 HERMANS Ben BMC + 10' 11''
147 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 10' 15''
148 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
149 FARIA DA COSTA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA + 10' 27''
150 SCHÄR Michael BMC s.t.
151 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE + 10' 29''
152 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE + 10' 30''
153 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 36''
154 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ + 10' 37''
155 MOINARD Amaël BMC + 10' 38''
156 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 10' 39''
157 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 42''
158 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 48''
159 PAULINHO Sergio Miguel Moreira TINKOFF + 10' 50''
160 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE + 10' 51''
161 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel DIMENSION DATA + 10' 53''
162 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE + 10' 54''
163 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 11' 07''
164 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL + 11' 08''
165 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE + 11' 11''
166 FEDRIGO Pierrick FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 11' 36''
167 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 12' 04''
168 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF + 12' 20''
169 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 14' 14''
170 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING + 15' 03''
171 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN + 20' 33''
172 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA + 24' 37''

Stage 2 map and profile:

Paris-Nice stage 2 map

Paris-Nice stage 2 map

Paris-Nice stage 2 profile

Paris-Nice stage 2 profile

Video of the sprint:


Monday, March 7: Stage 1, Condé sur Vesgre - Vendôme, 198 km

Climbs | Stage 1 map and profile

Arnaud Demare wins PAris-Nice Stage 1

Arnaud Demare wins Paris-Nice stage 1

Climbs:

The Race: Here's the organizer's telling of the day's events.

Tour of Flanders, the Inside Story

Arnaud Demare avenged a season of struggle when he surged in the final stretch of a snowy first stage of Paris-Nice to outsprint Ben Swift (Sky) and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) and snatch his first major victory since his French champion title two years ago. Australia's Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge)  kept a close watch on his main GC rivals to retain his leader's yellow jersey, even collecting a few seconds in the last intermediate sprint of the day before the final battle started on the gravelly lane that was the main ingredient on the day's menu.

A minute of silence was observed at the start in memory of French rider Romain Guyot, recently killed in a training accident.  Light snow fell before the start, given at 11:54 to 175 riders and would keep falling intermittently all day. Almost on the gun, Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Perrig Quemeneur (Cofidis), Steven Tronet (Fortuneo) and Thierry Hupond (Delko Marseille) attacked and  embarked on the long break of the day. After 14 km, the four led the peloton by seven minutes. The lead of the four escapees reached a maximum of 9:30 after 70 km. Given the cold temperatures and a slight tailwind, the average speed remained steady at 44 kph. 

After the sprint of the day won by De Gendt in Bonneval (km 104), the peloton started reacting and after 150 km, an echelon took place at the initiative of Team Sky and Etixx Quick Step. Most of the favourites were in the first part of the peloton, to the exception of Rui Costa (Lampre), Simon Spilak (Katusha), Jerome Coppel (IAM), ace sprinter Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and sick Philippe Gilbert (BMC). With 20 km to go, as the race tackled the gravel sector of Chemin de Tourteline for the first time, the break was reeled in, Thomas De Gendt being the last man to resist.

Miachel Matthews

Michael Matthews spent the day in yellow.

In the sector of Chemin du Tertre de la Motte, France's Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo) broke clear on his own and collected mountain points as well as the intermediate sprint in Vendome. Race leader Michael Matthews outsprinted Team Sky leader Geraint Thomas to collect two seconds while the Welshman grabbed one. While Perichon was reined in, Team Sky kept leading the way, Luke Rowe taking a solid share of the work.

In the final climb, Jon Izaguirre (Movistar), Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal) and Geraint Thomas (Sky) were leading the way but a small bunch regrouped in the final three kilometers. Edward Theuns (Trek) ride to attack at the red flame, but he was finally brought back with 400 metres as the sprint started. Ben Swift (Sky) surged from afar, followed by Nacer Bouhanni, but Arnaud Demare had the last kick and the last word to snatch his second win of the season after a stage in La Mediterraneenne.

Complete Results:

198 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.019 km/hr

1 DEMARE Arnaud FDJ 4hr 29min 53sec
2 SWIFT Ben SKY s.t.
3 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS s.t.
4 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
5 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
6 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
7 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
8 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
9 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING s.t.
10 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
11 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE s.t.
12 PORTE Richie BMC s.t.
13 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE s.t.
14 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
15 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE s.t.
16 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
17 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
18 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
19 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
20 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE s.t.
21 VUILLERMOZ Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
22 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
23 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE s.t.
24 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
25 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
26 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
27 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
28 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY s.t.
29 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF s.t.
30 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS s.t.
31 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
32 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA s.t.
33 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING s.t.
34 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
35 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
36 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
37 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
38 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
39 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
40 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA s.t.
41 PERICHON Pierre-Luc FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
42 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
43 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA s.t.
44 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
45 VICHOT Arthur FDJ s.t.
46 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
47 NIEVE Mikel SKY s.t.
48 WYSS Danilo BMC s.t.
49 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
50 ZAKARIN Ilnur TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
51 FERNANDEZ CRUZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
52 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
53 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
54 STANNARD Ian SKY s.t.
55 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE @ 11sec
56 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
57 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ s.t.
58 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 23''
59 HAAS Nathan DIMENSION DATA s.t.
60 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
61 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
62 KRISTOFF Alexander TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
63 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA s.t.
64 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
65 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
66 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING s.t.
67 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING s.t.
68 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
69 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
70 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
71 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
72 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF s.t.
73 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
74 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
75 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
76 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
77 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
78 KUMP Marko LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
79 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE s.t.
80 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 43''
81 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 00' 53''
82 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF s.t.
83 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
84 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 01' 18''
85 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 20''
86 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 28''
87 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
88 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
89 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF s.t.
90 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS + 01' 55''
91 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
92 GILBERT Philippe BMC + 02' 22''
93 ROWE Luke SKY s.t.
94 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
95 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
96 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
97 SCHLECK Frank TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 42''
98 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
99 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA + 03' 20''
100 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
101 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 03' 37''
102 VELITS Peter BMC s.t.
103 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA s.t.
104 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
105 ROCHE Nicolas SKY s.t.
106 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE s.t.
107 VAN POPPEL Boy TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
108 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
109 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
110 LAGUTIN Sergey TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
111 SPILAK Simon TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
112 GUARNIERI Jacopo TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
113 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
114 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA s.t.
115 MORKOV Michael TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
116 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR s.t.
117 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
118 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
119 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
120 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 04' 45''
121 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 53''
122 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 05' 59''
123 DENIFL Stefan IAM CYCLING s.t.
124 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
125 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
126 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
127 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR s.t.
128 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
129 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
130 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS s.t.
131 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ s.t.
132 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING s.t.
133 KOCHETKOV Pavel TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
134 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
135 SIMON Julien COFIDIS s.t.
136 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 07' 33''
137 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 07' 33''
138 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 08' 04''
139 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
140 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
141 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
142 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR s.t.
143 LOBATO Juan José MOVISTAR s.t.
144 BOSWELL Ian SKY s.t.
145 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
146 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA s.t.
147 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
148 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING s.t.
149 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
150 HERMANS Ben BMC + 09' 20''
151 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
152 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
153 PAULINHO Sergio Miguel TINKOFF s.t.
154 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
155 BOOM Lars ASTANA s.t.
156 ROSA Diego ASTANA s.t.
157 SCHÄR Michael BMC s.t.
158 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA s.t.
159 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel DIMENSION DATA s.t.
160 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
161 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
162 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
163 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
164 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ s.t.
165 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
166 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF s.t.
167 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
168 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
169 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
170 MOINARD Amaël BMC s.t.
171 FEDRIGO Pierrick FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
172 COPPEL Jérôme IAM CYCLING s.t.
173 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS s.t.
174 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
175 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA s.t.

GC after Stage 1:

204.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.130 km/hr

1 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 4hr 37min 30sec
2 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN @ 3sec
3 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE + 00' 04''
4 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR + 00' 08''
5 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
6 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA + 00' 09''
7 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 00' 10''
8 PORTE Richie BMC + 00' 12''
9 DEMARE Arnaud FDJ + 00' 14''
10 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 15''
11 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 16''
12 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
13 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF s.t.
14 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 17''
15 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 00' 18''
16 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
17 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
18 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR + 00' 20''
19 ZAKARIN Ilnur TEAM KATUSHA + 00' 21''
20 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
21 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 22''
22 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ + 00' 22''
23 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE + 00' 24''
24 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 00' 25''
25 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE s.t.
26 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 26''
27 WYSS Danilo BMC s.t.
28 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00' 27''
29 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
30 SWIFT Ben SKY s.t.
31 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 28''
32 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE s.t.
33 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 29''
34 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
35 VICHOT Arthur FDJ + 00' 30''
36 STANNARD Ian SKY + 00' 31''
37 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 32''
38 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 34''
39 PERICHON Pierre-Luc FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
40 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
41 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS + 00' 36''
42 VUILLERMOZ Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
43 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 37''
44 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 00' 41''
45 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
46 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 42''
47 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 00' 43''
48 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
49 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 47''
50 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00' 48''
51 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
52 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
53 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ + 00' 48''
54 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 00' 50''
55 KRISTOFF Alexander TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
56 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING + 00' 52''
57 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE + 00' 53''
58 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
59 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS + 00' 56''
60 BENNETT George LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
61 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 57''
62 REZA Kévin FDJ s.t.
63 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
64 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 58''
65 FERNANDEZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
66 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA + 01' 00''
67 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 01''
68 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING + 01' 02''
69 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
70 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL + 01' 03''
71 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
72 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 05''
73 HAAS Nathan DIMENSION DATA + 01' 06''
74 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
75 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 07''
76 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 08''
77 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF + 01' 10''
78 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE + 01' 14''
79 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
80 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 18''
81 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 01' 23''
82 KUMP Marko LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 24''
83 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF + 01' 30''
84 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE-MERIDA + 01' 33''
85 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 50''
86 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 52''
87 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 01' 58''
88 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 02' 00''
89 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 02' 02''
90 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF + 02' 05''
91 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS + 02' 23''
92 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN + 02' 37''
93 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 02' 39''
94 ROWE Luke SKY + 03' 06''
95 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 09''
96 SCHLECK Frank TREK-SEGAFREDO + 03' 15''
97 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 03' 34''
98 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA + 03' 45''
99 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR s.t.
100 GILBERT Philippe BMC + 03' 49''
101 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 03' 53''
102 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE + 03' 57''
103 ROCHE Nicolas SKY + 04' 00''
104 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA + 04' 01''
105 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 04' 03''
106 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR + 04' 08''
107 GUARNIERI Jacopo TEAM KATUSHA + 04' 10''
108 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 11''
109 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 12''
110 SPILAK Simon TEAM KATUSHA + 04' 17''
111 MORKOV Michael TEAM KATUSHA + 04' 18''
112 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 04' 22''
113 VELITS Peter BMC + 04' 24''
114 VAN POPPEL Boy TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 25''
115 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA + 04' 26''
116 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE-MERIDA s.t.
117 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE-MERIDA + 04' 30''
118 LAGUTIN Sergey TEAM KATUSHA + 04' 31''
119 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 35''
120 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 05' 08''
121 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 05' 28''
122 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 06' 16''
123 SIMON Julien COFIDIS + 06' 26''
124 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING + 06' 28''
125 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE + 06' 29''
126 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS + 06' 30''
127 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 06' 31''
128 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO + 06' 38''
129 KOCHETKOV Pavel TEAM KATUSHA s.t.
130 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR s.t.
131 DENIFL Stefan IAM CYCLING s.t.
132 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik TEAM KATUSHA + 06' 40''
133 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE + 06' 41''
134 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ + 06' 42''
135 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 07' 32''
136 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 08' 09''
137 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING + 08' 21''
138 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 08' 28''
139 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 08' 29''
140 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR + 08' 31''
141 LOBATO Juan José MOVISTAR + 08' 36''
142 BOSWELL Ian SKY + 08' 37''
143 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE-MERIDA + 08' 44''
144 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL + 08' 45''
145 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE + 08' 48''
146 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 08' 53''
147 BONO Matteo LAMPRE-MERIDA + 09' 03''
148 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA + 09' 08''
149 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN + 09' 13''
150 COPPEL Jérôme IAM CYCLING + 09' 31''
151 BOOM Lars ASTANA + 09' 37''
152 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS + 09' 38''
153 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE + 09' 42''
154 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 09' 45''
155 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 09' 47''
156 HERMANS Ben BMC + 09' 49''
157 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 09' 53''
158 MOINARD Amaël BMC s.t.
159 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
160 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF + 09' 56''
161 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ + 09' 57''
162 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE-MERIDA + 10' 05''
163 SCHÄR Michael BMC s.t.
164 PAULINHO Sergio Miguel TINKOFF s.t.
165 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE + 10' 06''
166 FEDRIGO Pierrick FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 10' 07''
167 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
168 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE + 10' 08''
169 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel DIMENSION DATA + 10' 13''
170 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 14''
171 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 10' 17''
172 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
173 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 10' 22''
174 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 10' 26''
175 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN + 10' 27''

Stage map and profile:

Stage 1 map

Stage 1 map

Stage 1 profile

Stage 1 profile


Sunday, March 6: Prologue 6.1 km individual time trial, Conflans Sainte Honorine

Stage map

Michael Matthews

Michael Matthews wins the prologue

The Race: here's the organizer's explanation of the day's events.

Tour de France: the Inside Story

Road world silver-medallist Michael Matthews (Orica Greendge) was known as one of the most exceptional sprinters in the bunch. "Bling" emerged as an excellent prologue specialist as well, winning the 74th Paris-Nice opener in 7:39  for his very first race of the season. The Australian all-rounder, winner of a stage a year ago, upset pre-race favourite Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin) by one second while unheralded New Zealander Patrick Bevin (Cannondale) was third, a further second adrift. Matthews kept the race leader's jersey in Australian hands after title-holder Richie Porte (BMC) finished 11th in 7:49. 

The 74th edition of Paris-Nice started at 11:44 when Frenchman Remy Di Gregorio, a stage winner in 2011, was the first rider on the course. Before the start, Conflans-born Nicholas Roche (Sky) was feted by his relatives and friends.

Time trial specialist Jos Van Emden (Lotto Jumbo) quickly set a reference mark under eight minutes in 7:54. The former Dutch TT champion held his ground until his team leader Wilco Kelderman, the current national champion, improved his time by two seconds. While Nikki Terpstra made it a Dutch top three for a while, French time trial champion Jerome Coppel dislodged them in 7:48. The IAM Cycling team leader, bronze medallist at the world championships in Richmond last year, held his ground while Dutch riders - 2012 overall runner-up Lieuwe Westra or 2010 prologue winner Lars Boom – kept piling into the top 10. 

But the Frenchman's time was bettered by former Spanish road champion Jesus Herrada, who clocked 7:45. Earlier his team-mate Gorka Izaguirre had also gone under the eight minutes bar in 7:53. France's Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) had just seemed to secure a podium berth when Herrada's mark was improved by New Zealand's champion Patrick Bevin. In 7:41, the 24-year-old sensation confirmed his Cannondale team manager Jonathan Vaughters's views that he was "a rider who seems to have it all". All but not enough to keep favorite Tom Dumoulin at bay. The Dutchman bettered his time by just a second.

It seemed that Dumoulin was in a position to snatch a close victory when Matthews surged to beat him by a second and take his second yell jersey in Paris-Nice after holding it for a day last year thanks to his stage win in St Pourcain sur Sioule. The Australian finally took the green jersey to Nice.

In the contest between contenders for final victory, Porte had to be content with 11th place in 7:49 while Spain's Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) finished 27th, 16 seconds behind Matthews. Frenchman Romain Bardet (AG2R) clocked 8:04.  

There was also a race within the race between sprinters for a chance to snatch the yellow jersey in days to come. But it will be hard to take away from Matthews. Marcel Kittel (Etixx Quicks Step) is 22 seconds adrift, in the same time as France's Arnaud Demare (FDJ), with Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) close by, 25 seconds behind, while Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) clocked 8:17 and France's Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) 8:37.

Complete Stage Results and GC:

6.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 47.843 km/hr

1 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 7min 39sec
2 DUMOULIN Tom GIANT-ALPECIN @ 1sec
3 BEVIN Patrick CANNONDALE + 00' 02''
4 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR + 00' 06''
5 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR s.t.
6 WESTRA Lieuwe ASTANA + 00' 07''
7 THOMAS Geraint SKY s.t.
8 DEVENYNS Dries IAM CYCLING + 00' 08''
9 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 09''
10 COPPEL Jérôme IAM CYCLING s.t.
11 PORTE Richie BMC + 00' 10''
12 FELLINE Fabio TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 13''
13 LUDVIGSSON Tobias GIANT-ALPECIN s.t.
14 KELDERMAN Wilco LOTTO NL - JUMBO s.t.
15 VANMARCKE Sep LOTTO NL - JUMBO + 00' 14''
16 IZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR s.t.
17 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF s.t.
18 CAMPENAERTS Victor LOTTO NL - JUMBO s.t.
19 BRÄNDLE Matthias IAM CYCLING + 00' 15''
20 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
21 VAN EMDEN Jos LOTTO NL - JUMBO s.t.
22 BOOM Lars ASTANA s.t.
23 WELLENS Tim LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
24 LUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA + 00' 16''
25 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
26 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS s.t.
27 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF s.t.
28 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE + 00' 18''
29 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOVISTAR s.t.
30 ZAKARIN Ilnur KATUSHA + 00' 19''
31 TERPSTRA Niki ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
32 MARTENS Paul LOTTO NL - JUMBO + 00' 20''
33 YATES Simon ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
34 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
35 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ s.t.
36 ROCHE Nicolas SKY + 00' 21''
37 BEWLEY Sam ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 22''
38 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
39 CALMEJANE Lilian DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
40 FOMINYKH Daniil ASTANA s.t.
41 DEMARE Arnaud FDJ s.t.
42 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE s.t.
43 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA + 00' 23''
44 SERRY Pieter ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
45 GRUZDEV Dmitriy ASTANA s.t.
46 LOUBET Julien FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
47 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE s.t.
48 GESCHKE Simon GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 24''
49 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
50 WYSS Danilo BMC s.t.
51 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR + 00' 25''
52 BOONEN Tom ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
53 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
54 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA s.t.
55 VANDENBERGH Stijn ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
56 SIMON Julien COFIDIS s.t.
57 HENAO Sergio Luis SKY + 00' 26''
58 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS s.t.
59 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE s.t.
60 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 27''
61 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING s.t.
62 LAENGEN Vegard Stake IAM CYCLING s.t.
63 HERMANS Ben BMC s.t.
64 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon ASTANA s.t.
65 POLJANSKI Pawel TINKOFF + 00' 28''
66 VICHOT Arthur FDJ s.t.
67 BONIFAZIO Niccolo TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
68 LATOUR Pierre-Roger AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
69 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
70 MAES Nikolas ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
71 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 00' 29''
72 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS s.t.
73 HERRADA Jose MOVISTAR s.t.
74 STANNARD Ian SKY s.t.
75 THEUNS Edward TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 30''
76 LOBATO Juan José MOVISTAR s.t.
77 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
78 ROSA Diego ASTANA + 00' 31''
79 SWIFT Ben SKY s.t.
80 MOINARD Amaël BMC s.t.
81 EIKING Odd Christian FDJ s.t.
82 BENNETT George LOTTO NL - JUMBO s.t.
83 SCHLECK Frank TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
84 GUARNIERI Jacopo KATUSHA s.t.
85 BOSWELL Ian SKY s.t.
86 PREIDLER Georg GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 32''
87 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
88 FARIA Rui Alberto LAMPRE - MERIDA s.t.
89 TANKINK Bram LOTTO NL - JUMBO + 00' 33''
90 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
91 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF + 00' 34''
92 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS s.t.
93 VUILLERMOZ Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
94 HOELGAARD Daniel FDJ + 00' 35''
95 NIELSEN Magnus Cort ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
96 PERICHON Pierre-Luc FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
97 FARRAR Tyler DIMENSION DATA s.t.
98 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ s.t.
99 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF s.t.
100 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF s.t.
101 DE KORT Koen GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 36''
102 DIDIER Laurent TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 37''
103 KOCHETKOV Pavel KATUSHA s.t.
104 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR s.t.
105 REYNES Vicente IAM CYCLING s.t.
106 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
107 DENIFL Stefan IAM CYCLING s.t.
108 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
109 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL + 00' 38''
110 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE - MERIDA s.t.
111 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA s.t.
112 NIEVE Mikel SKY + 00' 39''
113 MORKOV Michael KATUSHA s.t.
114 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
115 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE s.t.
116 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik KATUSHA s.t.
117 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS + 00' 40''
118 QUEMENEUR Perrig DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
119 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 00' 41''
120 HAAS Nathan DIMENSION DATA s.t.
121 COURTEILLE ARNAUD FDJ s.t.
122 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC s.t.
123 ROWE Luke SKY + 00' 42''
124 DOCKER Mitchell ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
125 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
126 FARIA Mario Jorge LAMPRE - MERIDA + 00' 43''
127 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
128 SCHÄR Michael BMC s.t.
129 PAULINHO Sergio TINKOFF s.t.
130 TRONET Steven FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT s.t.
131 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX-QUICK STEP s.t.
132 REZA Kévin FDJ + 00' 44''
133 TXURRUKA Amets ORICA GREENEDGE s.t.
134 FEDRIGO Pierrick FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 00' 45''
135 PICHOT Alexandre DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
136 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
137 TROFIMOV Yury TINKOFF s.t.
138 VELITS Peter BMC s.t.
139 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00' 46''
140 RAST Gregory TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
141 VAN POPPEL Boy TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
142 PACHER Quentin DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
143 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques DIMENSION DATA + 00' 47''
144 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE - MERIDA s.t.
145 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas IAM CYCLING + 00' 48''
146 HUPOND Thierry DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
147 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE + 00' 49''
148 DOMONT Axel AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
149 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT + 00' 50''
150 WIPPERT WOUTER CANNONDALE + 00' 51''
151 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel DIMENSION DATA s.t.
152 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE - MERIDA s.t.
153 DIAZ Daniel DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 00' 52''
154 LAGUTIN Sergey KATUSHA s.t.
155 CURVERS Roy GIANT-ALPECIN + 00' 53''
156 COMBAUD Romain DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 00' 54''
157 THOMSON Jay Robert DIMENSION DATA + 00' 55''
158 VANENDERT Jelle LOTTO SOUDAL s.t.
159 MATE Luis Angel COFIDIS s.t.
160 BEPPU Fumiyuki TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 56''
161 FERNANDEZ CRUZ Delio DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
162 BONO Matteo LAMPRE - MERIDA + 00' 57''
163 BOUHANNI Nacer COFIDIS + 00' 58''
164 KUMP Marko LAMPRE - MERIDA + 00' 59''
165 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 01' 00''
166 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 01''
167 REGUIGUI Youcef DIMENSION DATA + 01' 02''
168 DI GREGORIO Rémy DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01' 04''
169 PAUWELS Serge DIMENSION DATA s.t.
170 JI Cheng GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 05''
171 TEN DAM Laurens GIANT-ALPECIN + 01' 07''
172 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE - MERIDA + 01' 08''
173 KRUIJSWIJK Steven LOTTO NL - JUMBO + 01' 12''
174 GILBERT Philippe BMC + 01' 25''
175 DUQUE Leonardo DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01' 31''

Prologue map: time trial course is pan-flat

prologue map

Prologue course map


Start list with back numbers, March 5, 2016:

BMC RACING TEAM / USA
Directeurs sportifs : BALDATO Fabio / LEDANOIS Yvon
1 PORTE Richie
2 BURGHARDT Marcus
3 GILBERT Philippe
4 HERMANS Ben
5 MOINARD Amaël
6 SCHÄR Michael
7 VELITS Peter
8 WYSS Danilo
TEAM KATUSHA / RUS
Directeurs sportifs : KONYSHEV Dmitry / FLORENCIO CABRE Xavier
11 SPILAK Simon
12 BYSTRÖM Sven Erik
13 GUARNIERI Jacopo
14 KOCHETKOV Pavel
15 KRISTOFF Alexander
16 LAGUTIN Sergey
17 MORKOV Michael
18 ZAKARIN Ilnur
LAMPRE - MERIDA / ITA
Directeurs sportifs : MAUDUIT Philippe / SCIREA Mario
21 FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto
22 FARIA DA COSTA Mario Jorge
23 BONO Matteo
24 CIMOLAI Davide
25 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam
26 KUMP Marko
27 MEINTJES Louis
28 PIBERNIK Luka
TEAM SKY / GBR
Directeurs sportifs : PORTAL Nicolas / RASCH Gabriel
31 THOMAS Geraint
32 BOSWELL Ian
33 HENAO Sergio Luis
34 NIEVE Mikel
35 ROCHE Nicolas
36 ROWE Luke
37 STANNARD Ian
38 SWIFT Ben
LOTTO SOUDAL / BEL
Directeurs sportifs : FRISON Herman / WAUTERS Marc
41 GALLOPIN Tony
42 BAK Lars Ytting
43 DE GENDT Thomas
44 GREIPEL André
45 HANSEN Adam
46 VANENDERT Jelle
47 WELLENS Tim
AG2R LA MONDIALE / FRA
Directeurs sportifs : JURDIE Julien / GOUBERT Stephane
51 BARDET Romain
52 CHEREL Mikael
53 DOMONT Axel
54 GASTAUER Ben
55 GAUTIER Cyril
56 GOUGEARD Alexis
57 LATOUR Pierre-Roger
58 VUILLERMOZ Alexis
ORICA GREENEDGE / AUS
Directeurs sportifs : LAPAGE Laurenzo / MC PARTLAND David
61 MATTHEWS Michael
62 ALBASINI Michael
63 BEWLEY Sam
64 DOCKER Mitchell
65 IMPEY Daryl
66 NIELSEN Magnus Cort
67 TXURRUKA Amets
68 YATES Simon
TINKOFF / RUS
Directeurs sportifs : BASSO Ivan / DE JONGH Steven
71 CONTADOR Alberto
72 KISERLOVSKI Robert
73 MAJKA Rafal
74 PAULINHO Sergio Miguel Moreira
75 POLJANSKI Pawel
76 TOSATTO Matteo
77 TROFIMOV Yury
78 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael
ETIXX-QUICK STEP / BEL
Directeurs sportifs : SCHAFFRATH Jan / STEELS Tom
81 BOONEN Tom
82 DE LA CRUZ David
83 KITTEL Marcel
84 MAES Nikolas
85 SABATINI Fabio
86 SERRY Pieter
87 TERPSTRA Niki
88 VANDENBERGH Stijn
FDJ / FRA
Directeurs sportifs : BRICAUD Thierry / PINEAU Franck
91 VICHOT Arthur
92 COURTEILLE ARNAUD
93 DELAGE Mickaël
94 DEMARE Arnaud
95 EIKING Odd Christian
96 HOELGAARD Daniel
97 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas
98 REZA Kévin
MOVISTAR TEAM / ESP
Directeurs sportifs : ARRIETA Jose Luis / LAGUIA Jose Luis
101 IZAGUIRRE Ion
102 ERVITI Imanol
103 FERNANDEZ ANDUJAR Ruben
104 HERRADA Jesús
105 HERRADA Jose
106 IZAGUIRRE Gorka
107 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan José
108 ROJAS José Joaquin
ASTANA PRO TEAM / KAZ
Directeurs sportifs : FOFONOV Dmitriy / MARTINELLI Giuseppe
111 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon
112 BOOM Lars
113 FOMINYKH Daniil
114 GRUZDEV Dmitriy
115 KANGERT Tanel
116 LUTSENKO Alexey
117 ROSA Diego
118 WESTRA Lieuwe
TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN / GER
Directeurs sportifs : VAN DONGEN Arthur / VISBEEK Aike
121 DUMOULIN Tom
122 CURVERS Roy
123 DE KORT Koen
124 GESCHKE Simon
125 JI Cheng
126 LUDVIGSSON Tobias
127 PREIDLER Georg
128 TEN DAM Laurens
COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS / FRA
Directeurs sportifs : ROUS Didier / JONROND Jean-Luc
131 BOUHANNI Nacer
132 COUSIN Jérome
133 JEANNESSON Arnold
134 LAPORTE Christophe
135 LEMOINE Cyril
136 MATE MARDONES Luis Angel
137 SIMON Julien
138 SOUPE GEOFFREY
CANNONDALE / USA
Directeurs sportifs : WEGELIUS Charles / KLIER Andreas
141 ROLLAND Pierre
142 BEVIN Patrick
143 BRESCHEL Matti
144 CRADDOCK Lawson
145 SLAGTER Tom Jelte
146 TALANSKY Andrew
147 VAN BAARLE Dylan
148 WIPPERT WOUTER
TREK - SEGAFREDO / USA
Directeurs sportifs : ANDERSEN Kim / GALLOPIN Alain
151 SCHLECK Frank
152 BEPPU Fumiyuki
153 BONIFAZIO Niccolo
154 DIDIER Laurent
155 FELLINE Fabio
156 RAST Gregory
157 THEUNS Edward
158 VAN POPPEL Boy
DIRECT ENERGIE / FRA
Directeurs sportifs : GENAUZEAU Benoît / LEBRETON Lylian
161 CHAVANEL Sylvain
162 CALMEJANE Lilian
163 DUCHESNE Antoine
164 PETIT Adrien
165 PICHOT Alexandre
166 QUEMENEUR Perrig
167 TULIK ANGÉLO
168 VOECKLER Thomas
DIMENSION DATA / RSA
Directeurs sportifs : SANS VEGA Alex / HEYNDERRICKX Jean-Pierre
171 PAUWELS Serge
172 BRAMMEIER Matthew
173 FARRAR Tyler
174 HAAS Nathan
175 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques
176 REGUIGUI Youcef
177 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel
178 THOMSON Jay Robert
TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO / NED
Directeurs sportifs : MAASSEN Frans / ENGELS Addy
181 KELDERMAN Wilco
182 BENNETT George
183 CAMPENAERTS Victor
184 KRUIJSWIJK Steven
185 MARTENS Paul
186 TANKINK Bram
187 VAN EMDEN Jos
188 VANMARCKE Sep
IAM CYCLING / SUI
Directeurs sportifs : MARIE Lionel / SEIGNEUR Eddy
191 COPPEL Jérôme
192 BRÄNDLE Matthias
193 DENIFL Stefan
194 DEVENYNS Dries
195 LAENGEN Vegard Stake
196 NAESEN Oliver
197 REYNES Vicente
198 VAN GENECHTEN Jonas
FORTUNEO - VITAL CONCEPT / FRA
Directeurs sportifs : HINAULT Sébastien / LEPROUX Denis
201 SORENSEN Chris Anker
202 DELAPLACE Anthony
203 FEDRIGO Pierrick
204 LOUBET Julien
205 MC LAY DANIEL
206 PERICHON Pierre-Luc
207 TRONET Steven
208 VACHON Florian
DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM / FRA
Directeurs sportifs : ROSTAING Frédéric / PAUCHARD Gilles
211 DI GREGORIO Rémy
212 COMBAUD Romain
213 DIAZ Daniel
214 DUQUE Leonardo
215 FERNANDEZ CRUZ Delio
216 HUPOND Thierry
217 PACHER Quentin
218 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas