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2018 Paris - Nice, France (World Tour)

76th edition: March 4 - March 11, 2018

Paris-Nice podium history | 2017 edition | 2019 edition | Start list | Race preview
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6 | Stage 7 | Stage 8

2018 Paris-Nice map

2018 Paris-Nice route. Total distance: 1,187 km


Sunday, March 11: 8th & final stage, Nice - Nice, 110 km
Stage 8 map & profile

David de la Cruz

Sky's David De La Cruz beats Omar Fraile to win the final stage in Nice.

Rated ascents:

Weather in Nice, France at 1:15 local time: Heavy rain & thundershowers most of the day, 14C (57F), wind from the south at 21 km/hr (13 mph). It did stop rainng at the finish around 2:30 PM.

The race: 110 riders started at 12:08. There were four non-starters: Dries Devenyns (Quick Step), Nils Politt (Katusha), Christophe Laporte and Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis).

Here's the organizer's telling of the day's racing:

Cycling's 50 Triumphs and Tragedies

Spanish hopeful Marc Soler outshone Briton Simon Yates in a nail-biting final stage on the hills surrounding Nice to win the Race to the Sun by the blink of an eye. The 24-year-old Movistar rider, 37 seconds behind Yates at the start in the morning rain, crossed the line with a four-second lead over the Briton, 110 km and a few hours later, after another extremely tight finale in Paris-Nice. Soler, the first rider since Alberto Contador in 2007 to win both the yellow and the best young ride white jersey, finished third in stage 8 behind compatriots David De La Cruz (Sky) and Omar Fraile (Astana), with whom he attacked in Cote de Peille, one of six climbs on the final day's menu. De La Cruz snatched the final stage for the second year in succession ahead of Fraile, with Moser three seconds behind. And it was only thanks to his third place time bonus that Moser was finally declared the 2018 Paris-Nice champion for the first World Tour victory of his career.      

The start of the 175-km 8th stage of Paris-Nice was given at 12:08 to 110 riders in heavy rain and wind. On Cote de Levens (2nd cat), Thomas De Gendt strengthened his polka-dot jersey by picking seven more points as a group of 23 riders emerged, including all the favorites. At the first intermediate sprint (km 24), the leading GC riders battled it out for seconds and Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) was fastest, ahead of Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) and Simon Yates. The result moved Izagirre back to 10 seconds behind Yates and Wellens 12 seconds back.  

The yellow jersey group was composed of Julian Alpahilippe (Quick Step), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Luis Leon  Sanchez, Michael Valgren and Omar Fraile (Astana), Tony Gallopin and Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R),  Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo), Sergio Henao and David de la Cruz (Sky), Ion and Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha), Simon Yates, Christopher Juul Jensen and Roman Kreuziger (Mitchelton-Scott) Dylan Teuns (BMC), Tim Wellens and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Marc Soler (Movistar), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Felix Grosschartner and Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe).

At kilometer 32, Alaphilippe attacked with Fraile and Fuglsang. The Dane crashed a few kilometers later, leaving the Frenchman and the Spaniard in the lead.

The yellow jersey group gradually increased in numbers, several riders making it back, among them top 20 riders Sam Oomen (Sunweb) and Richard Karapaz (Movistar). In the first category Cote de Peille, Julian Alaphilippe cracked and the pack disintegrated. White jersey holder Marc Soler attacked with David De la Cruz on the heels of Omar Fraile. With 45 km to go, Simon Yates found himself isolated without any team-mate to assist him until Matteo Trentin and Christopher Juul Jensen fought their way back into the group. The Spanish trio saw their lead top at 1:30, placing Soler as a virtual race leader. In the second intermediate sprint in La Turbie (km 78.5), Soler collected three precious seconds. At the top of Col d'Eze (1st cat.), Fraile led Soler and De la Cruz as the gap rose to 1:10.

With 20 km to go, Omar Fraile went on his own in the descent of Col d'Eze but was reined in the descent. In the last climb of this Paris-Nice, Cote des Quatre chemins (2nd cat), Ion Izagirre was the first to attack Simon Yates, and when Tim Wellens surged in turn, followed by the Izagirre brothers, Dylan Teuns and Karapaz, the Briton lost ground. As the three Spaniards battled it out in the front for the stage win, and for the overall victory as far as Soler was concerned, the other favorites played cat and mouse to finally finish together on Promenade des Anglais.

Marc Soler

Marc Soler wins the 2018 Paris-Nice

While De La Cruz took the day's honors, Yates needed to finish within 34 seconds of Soler to retain his yellow jersey. He finally crossed the line four seconds too late. Belgium's Tim Wellens won the points classification while his team-mate and compatriot Thomas De Gendt took home the polka-dot jersey. 

Complete Results:

110 kilometers raced at an average speed of 38.13 km/hr

1 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY 2hr 53min 6sec
2 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA s.t.
3 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR @ 3sec
4 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 38''
5 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
6 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
7 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
8 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR s.t.
9 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
10 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
11 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
12 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 55''
13 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 01' 30''
14 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA s.t.
15 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 02' 45''
16 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
17 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 03' 03''
18 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 44''
19 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
20 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
21 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
22 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
23 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 03' 46''
24 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
25 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 06' 13''
26 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 06' 26''
27 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 08' 32''
28 JESUS HERRADA LOPEZ COFIDIS s.t.
29 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 08' 43''
30 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
31 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 09' 42''
32 HUGO HOULE ASTANA + 09' 45''
33 IMANOL ERVITI OLLO MOVISTAR + 10' 10''
34 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 12' 56''
35 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 12' 58''
36 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 13' 51''
37 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 14' 05''
38 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
39 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
40 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
41 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
42 DIEGO ROSA SKY s.t.
43 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
44 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
45 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS s.t.
46 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
47 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
48 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA s.t.
49 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
50 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA s.t.
51 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY s.t.
52 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
53 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
54 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
55 DAVID LOPEZ SKY s.t.
56 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA s.t.
57 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR s.t.
58 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
59 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC + 14' 10''
60 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO + 19' 11''
61 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 21' 50''
62 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 23' 42''
63 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
64 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
65 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
66 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR s.t.
67 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
68 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
69 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 24' 34''
70 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
71 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE + 25' 36''
72 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
73 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
74 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
75 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
76 GREGORY RAST TREK - SEGAFREDO s.t.
77 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
78 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.

Final GC after Stage 8:

1,198.9 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.47 km/hr

1 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR 30hr 22min 41sec
2 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT @ 4sec
3 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 14''
4 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 16''
5 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
6 DYLAN TEUNS BMC + 00' 32''
7 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 44''
8 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 54''
9 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 02' 15''
10 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE + 02' 35''
11 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR + 03' 47''
12 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY + 04' 08''
13 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 05' 03''
14 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 05' 51''
15 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ + 08' 16''
16 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 11' 35''
17 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 12' 45''
18 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 14' 13''
19 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 14' 53''
20 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 16' 14''
21 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA + 17' 19''
22 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 20' 15''
23 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 22' 09''
24 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS + 22' 36''
25 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 22' 59''
26 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 24' 25''
27 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE + 24' 47''
28 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 28' 04''
29 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 29' 13''
30 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO + 29' 47''
31 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA + 31' 15''
32 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 33' 01''
33 DIEGO ROSA SKY + 36' 08''
34 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 37' 50''
35 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 37' 51''
36 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC + 38' 07''
37 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 38' 31''
38 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 38' 35''
39 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 40' 59''
40 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 41' 07''
41 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 43' 18''
42 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 44' 04''
43 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS + 44' 31''
44 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR + 45' 25''
45 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA + 45' 36''
46 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO + 46' 03''
47 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 47' 41''
48 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR + 47' 52''
49 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA + 48' 43''
50 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 51' 20''
51 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 52' 15''
52 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 52' 49''
53 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 53' 58''
54 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 55' 52''
55 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 57' 40''
56 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE + 59' 41''
57 HUGO HOULE ASTANA + 01H 00' 27''
58 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 01H 02' 07''
59 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR + 01H 04' 59''
60 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 01H 05' 15''
61 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01H 06' 09''
62 IVAN GARCIA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 01H 08' 41''
63 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01H 08' 54''
64 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY + 01H 09' 32''
65 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL + 01H 10' 49''
66 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR + 01H 11' 03''
67 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01H 13' 02''
68 GREGORY RAST TREK - SEGAFREDO + 01H 13' 27''
69 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 01H 14' 11''
70 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 01H 16' 06''
71 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01H 16' 44''
72 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB + 01H 19' 07''
73 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA + 01H 22' 21''
74 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 01H 23' 52''
75 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 01H 27' 31''
76 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01H 28' 41''
77 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 01H 36' 14''
78 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 01H 37' 11''

Stage 8 map & profile:

PAris-Nice stage 8 map

Paris-Nice stage 8 map

Paris-Nice stage 8 profile

Paris-Nice stage 8 profile


Saturday, March 10: Stage 7, Nice - Valdeblore La Colmaine, 175 km
Stage 7 map & profile

Simon Yates

Simon Yates wins the stage and takes over the GC lead. ASO photo

Weather at the finish town of Valdeblore La Colmaine 1:50 PM, local time: light showers, changing to cloudy, 3C (37F) with the wind from the WSW at 5 km/hr (3mph). It was pouring rain at the start in Nice.

Rated ascents:

The race: Here's the organizer's telling of the day's racing.

Melanoma: It Started with a Freckle

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) emerged as the undisputed leader of Paris-Nice when he attacked twice in the final climb to La Colmiane to win the 175-km 7th stage and take the reins of the general classification. Perfectly led out by team-mate Roman Kreuziger, who toughened the pace in the last five kilometers of the stage from Nice, the Briton went with Spaniard Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) before dropping him with 1.4 km to go. Belgium's Dylan Teuns (BMC) was second in the stage ahead of Izagirre. The GC is a particularly tight one before the last stage around Nice as Ion Izagirre lies 11 seconds adrift, his brother Gorka third a further second back and Belgian Tim Wellens fourth another second behind.

The real start was given in the rain to 128 riders at 10:05.  Ian Boswell (Katusha), Dmitry Gruzdev (Astana), Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille Provence) did not start. Rory Sutherland (UAE), Tony Gallopin (AG2R), Alessandro de Marchi (BMC), Nicolas Roche (BMC), Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Amael Moinard (Fortuneo) and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) parted with the main pack in the 2nd category Cote de Gattieres (km 10). At the top, Thomas De Gendt collected seven points to take his KOM tally to 36 points and take the polka-dot jersey away from Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie).

The gap remained stable at around two minutes until the 1st category Cote de la Sainte-Baume, which De Gendt reached in top spot in the fog with a 2:35 lead over the pack to strengthen his polka-dot garment. Among several riders to give up in the ascent was UAE team leader Dan Martin, third last year, who called it quits. In the descent, Herrada was dropped by the front group. De Gendt's total went up to 53 at the top of Col Saint Raphael (km 108) as the peloton was 2:30 adrift and to 60 points on Cote de Villars-du-Var (km 134) as the pack trailed 1:10 behind.

In the descent of Col Saint-Raphael, the peloton split, trapping title-holder Sergio Henao (Sky) as well as 5th placed Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) in a second group.  The pack regrouped in the descent of Cote Villars-du-Var in which Pantano and De Marchi crashed heavily. The Italian fell in to the roadside ravine but both finally made it back on their bikes. The incident left Gallopin, Moinard and Roche in the front, with a 1:25 lead over the peloton. At the bottom of the La Colmiane, the edge of the trio was down to 30 seconds and France's Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) and Robert Gesink (Lotto-Jumbo) was among the first dropped.

With 15 left in the stage, Amael Moinatd and Nicolas Roche faltered, leaving Tony Gallopin on his own. Colombia's Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) was quickly dropped while white jersey holder Marc Soler (Movistar) was also seen struggling at the back of the pack. With 13 km to go, Tony Gallopin was reined in by a peloton led by Bahrain-Merida's Antonio Nibali and Astana's Omar Fraile. Sanchez's Astana team-mates set a gentle pace to protect the yellow jersey until 6 km from the finish, when Roman Kreuziger (Mitchelton-Scott) raised the tempo, downing yellow jersey holder Sanchez.

Four kilometers from the line, Simon Yates moved swiftly, taking Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) with him. The two built a maximum lead of 18 seconds as their rivals lost ground one after the other. Second-placed at the start, Alaphilippe cracked completely with 2 km to go. Simon Yates rose on his pedals with 1.4 km left to drop Izagirre and power his way towards the stage victory and the yellow jersey. Behind him, Dylan Teuns secured second place just ahead of the Izagirre brothers.

Complete Results:

175 kilometers raced at an average speed of 34.66 km/hr

1 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT 5hr 2min 54sec
2 DYLAN TEUNS BMC @ 8sec
3 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
4 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 13''
5 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
6 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 20''
7 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY + 00' 46''
8 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
9 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 00' 48''
10 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 00' 54''
11 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR s.t.
12 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00' 58''
13 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE + 01' 04''
14 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 36''
15 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 02' 01''
16 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
17 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
18 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 02' 08''
19 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 02' 19''
20 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 02' 40''
21 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS + 03' 41''
22 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
23 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA - FDJ + 04' 22''
24 DIEGO ROSA SKY s.t.
25 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
26 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA s.t.
27 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 04' 25''
28 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB + 04' 41''
29 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA + 08' 00''
30 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 08' 03''
31 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 09' 12''
32 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
33 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 10' 41''
34 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
35 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC s.t.
36 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
37 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 12' 03''
38 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO + 12' 56''
39 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 13' 56''
40 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
41 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 14' 00''
42 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
43 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
44 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE + 14' 32''
45 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 15' 05''
46 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC + 16' 40''
47 SIMON GERRANS BMC + 17' 54''
48 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
49 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 18' 02''
50 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
51 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA s.t.
52 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
53 IMANOL ERVITI OLLO MOVISTAR s.t.
54 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
55 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
56 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA s.t.
57 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
58 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
59 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL + 21' 52''
60 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 22' 19''
61 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
62 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
63 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
64 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
65 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY s.t.
66 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
67 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
68 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY s.t.
69 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
70 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC s.t.
71 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
72 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
73 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE + 22' 25''
74 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
75 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
76 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC + 22' 30''
77 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 23' 40''
78 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE + 24' 46''
79 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR + 25' 56''
80 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
81 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
82 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 26' 03''
83 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 26' 04''
84 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 26' 13''
85 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS s.t.
86 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR s.t.
87 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
88 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
89 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 26' 53''
90 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
91 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
92 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
93 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR s.t.
94 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
95 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
96 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
97 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
98 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
99 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
100 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
101 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
102 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 27' 16''
103 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 28' 27''
104 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 29' 02''
105 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 29' 02''
106 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 32' 28''
107 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
108 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
109 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
109 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
111 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
112 JESUS HERRADA LOPEZ COFIDIS s.t.
113 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
114 JÉRÔME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.

GC after Stage 7:

1,088.9 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 39.62 km/hr

1 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT 27hr 29min 2sec
2 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA @ 11sec
3 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 12''
4 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 00' 13''
5 DYLAN TEUNS BMC + 00' 27''
6 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR + 00' 37''
7 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 39''
8 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY + 00' 57''
9 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 01' 48''
10 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 49''
11 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 52''
12 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE + 02' 13''
13 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 02' 30''
14 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 02' 59''
15 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 03' 39''
16 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR + 03' 42''
17 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA + 03' 47''
18 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA - FDJ + 05' 05''
19 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 05' 55''
20 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 06' 43''
21 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 08' 04''
22 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS + 09' 04''
23 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 10' 33''
24 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO + 11' 09''
25 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE + 11' 15''
26 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 14' 13''
27 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE + 15' 36''
28 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 15' 41''
29 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 17' 50''
30 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 18' 58''
31 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 19' 48''
32 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 19' 54''
33 DIEGO ROSA SKY + 22' 36''
34 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO + 22' 54''
35 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC + 23' 38''
36 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB + 24' 13''
37 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 24' 18''
38 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC + 24' 30''
39 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 24' 31''
40 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 24' 59''
41 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 25' 03''
42 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 25' 06''
43 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 28' 13''
44 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 29' 48''
45 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 30' 03''
46 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA + 30' 18''
47 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 30' 32''
48 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 30' 49''
49 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 30' 58''
50 SIMON GERRANS BMC + 31' 34''
51 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 31' 58''
52 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA + 32' 04''
53 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 32' 08''
54 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR + 34' 20''
55 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA + 35' 11''
56 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 35' 19''
57 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 35' 21''
58 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR + 35' 48''
59 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS + 36' 32''
60 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 38' 32''
61 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 39' 17''
62 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 40' 10''
63 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 40' 49''
64 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 41' 06''
65 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 41' 46''
66 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR + 41' 50''
67 IVAN GARCIA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 43' 38''
68 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 44' 08''
69 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 44' 25''
70 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 44' 35''
71 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 45' 19''
72 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 45' 30''
73 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE + 46' 09''
74 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 46' 26''
75 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 47' 37''
76 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR + 47' 54''
77 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 47' 59''
78 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 48' 07''
79 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 48' 24''
80 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 48' 35''
81 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC + 49' 26''
82 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 50' 12''
83 HUGO HOULE ASTANA + 51' 15''
84 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE + 51' 41''
85 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 51' 43''
86 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 52' 57''
87 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 53' 22''
88 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 54' 01''
89 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB + 54' 04''
90 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE + 54' 08''
91 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 55' 22''
92 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY + 56' 00''
93 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 56' 05''
94 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 56' 09''
95 JÉRÔME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE + 56' 17''
96 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 56' 26''
97 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 56' 44''
98 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 57' 03''
99 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL + 57' 17''
100 IAN STANNARD SKY + 58' 18''
101 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA + 58' 20''
102 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 01H 00' 39''
103 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 01H 00' 58''
104 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01H 03' 38''
105 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 01H 04' 22''
106 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01H 05' 15''
107 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE + 01H 07' 00''
108 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01H 07' 07''
109 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL + 01H 10' 18''
110 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 01H 10' 34''
111 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 01H 12' 08''
112 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 01H 12' 13''
113 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS + 01H 12' 27''
114 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE + 01H 19' 09''

Stage 7 map & profile:

Paris-Nice stage 7 map

Paris-Nice stage 7 map

Stage 7 profile

Paris-Nice stage 7 profile


Friday, March 9: Stage 6, Sisteron - Vence, 198 km
Stage 6 map & profile

Rudy Molard

Rudy Molard wins Paris-Nice stage 6.

Weather at finish city of Vence at 2:00 PM, local time: Fair to partly cloudy, 13C (56F) with the wind from the south at 14 km/hr (9 mph). No rain is forecast today, but a 100% chance of rain in the area is forecast for Saturday.

The race: France's Nacer Bouhanni announced on his Twitter account he was not starting this morning. "Unfortunately being ill, I will not start this morning on Paris-Nice. Support to Team Cofids for the last days of racing. See you soon," he wrote. His Team Cofidis said he was suffering from bronchitis and was being treated with antibiotics.

Germany's John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), who finished 11 minutes behind stage 5 winner Jerome Cousin in Sisteron, later announced that he was ill and giving up the race. "It was a difficult decision but I cannot take health risks now, with my big goals coming up. But no worries, I will be there to 'chase aces'!"

136 riders left Sisteron from the neutralized start on their way to the real start. 

Bronchitis is hitting the peloton hard. Seven riders did not start this morning: Maurits Lammertink (Katusha), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Kevin Ledanois (Fortuneo), Thomas Leezer (Lotto-Jumbo), Christopher Hamilton (Sunweb), Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Tom-Jalte Slagter (Dimension Data).

Peloton, paris-nice

The race is in the mountains today. Astana is leading, protecting GC leader Luis Leon Sanchez (in yellow). Alex Broadway photo

Here's the organizer's telling of the day's racing:

Rudy Molard used his knowledge of the terrain to surge with 2 km to go and give France its fourth stage victory in this Paris-Nice in Vence on Friday. The Groupama-FDJ rider outwitted most of the leading contenders to clinch his first World Tour win, the second for his team after Arnaud Demare's in stage 1 in Meudon. Molard upstaged Belgian Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) and fellow-Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step) while Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) finished fourth and retained his overall lead with a 25 seconds lead over Alaphilippe. Dutchman Wout Poels, second overall at the start, crashed in the final descent, harming Team Sky's chances to win the Race to the Sun for the 6th time in seven years.  

Several attempts took place from the start but it took a twist of fortune for a break to take shape: part of the peloton went on a wrong course, leaving two groups to lead the way. A first group of six emerged, including Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal), Amael Moinard (Fortuneo), Paul Martens (Lotto-Jumbo), Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis), Tom Scully (Education First) and Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie). They found themselves chased by seven other riders, green jersey holder Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), Alexander Kristoff (UAE), Nils Politt (Katusha), Dylan Teuns (BMC), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Carlos Barbero (Movistar) and Bert Van Lerberghe (Cofidis). 

The two groups merged, putting 13 riders in the lead at kilometer 33, with a 2:25 gap with the peloton. At the first intermediate sprint at Prefaissal (km 36.5), Barbero was first ahead of Scully and Grellier. The pack, led by Luis Leon Sanchez's Astana team-mates reduced the gap until Dylan Teuns – one minute adrift in the GC – decided to relax not to jeopardise the breakaway. The gap had remained stable (2:10) when the beak reached Col de Luens (2nd cat, Km 101) with Thomas De Gendt showing the way ahead of Fabien Grellier, defending team-mate Jerome Cousin's polka-dot jersey.

In the ascent of Col Bas (2nd cat, km 121) De Gendt, Grellier, Moinard, Scully and Barbero parted with their former breakaway companions. But Kristoff, Lemoine Politt and Martens rejoined them at kilometer 128 as Bak, Demare and Van Lerberghe lost ground despite several efforts to make it back in the descents. The same five emerged again in Cote de Cipieres (km 149) and in Cote de Gourdon (159.5) while De Gendt collected 28 points to bring his KOM tally to 29 but Grellier, who picked 20 in the four first climbs of the day, kept the polka-dot jersey in the hands of Direct Energie by picking 20 points for a total of 31.

The Frenchman let his former companions go in the descent and the four were finally reined in with 25 km to go. Meanwhile yellow jersey holder Luis Leon Sanchez punctured in the descent and was forced to change bikes with Omar Fraile. But the Spaniard made it back into the peloton. Ireland's Daniel Martin (UAE), third a year ago, also suffered a mechanical as the battle was raging and lost precious ground. The Cote de la Colle-sur-Loup was as eventful as planned. Countless attacks took place, led in turn by Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Wout Poels (Sky) and title-holder Sergio Henao (Sky).

Team Sky's hopes were seriously harmed in the descent, 7 km from the finish line when Poels crashed into a roadside barrier and was forced out of the race with a suspected broken collarbone. In the last three kilometers, Simon Yates and Tim Wellens seemed to have the upper hand as they attacked together. But they were caught with two kilometers to go and France's Rudy Molard took his chance to go on his own. The Groupama-FDJ rider, who lives in nearby Antibes, timed his move to perfection and went on to snatch his first World Tour victory. Tim Wellens and Julian Alaphilippe were left to battle it out for the podium places while Luis Leon Sanchez finished fourth to retain his yellow jersey.

Complete Results:

198 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.416 km/hr

1 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ 4hr 40min 5sec
2 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL @ 2'sec
3 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
4 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA s.t.
5 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
6 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
7 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
8 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
9 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
10 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
11 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
12 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
13 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY s.t.
14 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
15 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
16 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
17 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 00' 44''
18 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
19 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
20 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
21 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA s.t.
22 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC + 01' 11''
23 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
24 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
25 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
26 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
27 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR s.t.
28 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS + 02' 20''
29 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
30 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
31 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
32 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
33 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 03' 36''
34 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
35 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC s.t.
36 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 03' 40''
37 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
38 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
39 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 04' 16''
40 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 05' 15''
41 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
42 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
43 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
44 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
45 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
46 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
47 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC s.t.
48 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
49 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
50 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR s.t.
51 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 06' 28''
52 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 06' 48''
53 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
54 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
55 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
56 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC s.t.
57 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
58 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
59 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 09' 36''
60 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
61 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
62 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR s.t.
63 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
64 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
65 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
66 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
67 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
68 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
69 SIMON GERRANS BMC s.t.
70 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
71 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
72 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS s.t.
73 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS s.t.
74 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
75 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
76 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
77 JÉRÔME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
78 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
79 DAVID LOPEZ SKY s.t.
80 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 11' 27''
81 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
81 DIEGO ROSA SKY s.t.
83 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
84 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
85 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
86 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA s.t.
87 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
88 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
89 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
90 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
91 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
92 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR s.t.
93 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
94 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
95 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
96 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
97 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
98 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 12' 59''
99 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 13' 04''
100 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY s.t.
101 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
102 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
103 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
104 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 14' 11''
105 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
106 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
107 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
108 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
109 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
110 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 15' 29''
111 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA s.t.
112 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
113 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA + 18' 01''
114 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA s.t.
115 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
116 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
117 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
118 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
119 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
120 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
121 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
122 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS s.t.
123 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
124 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE + 18' 32''
125 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO + 20' 13''
126 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
127 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
128 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA s.t.
129 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS s.t.
130 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ + 22' 22''
131 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
132 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 26' 30''

GC after Stage 6:

913.9 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 40.752 km/hr.

1 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA 22hr 25min 33sec
2 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS @ 22sec
3 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR + 00' 26''
4 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 34''
5 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 00' 35''
6 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 42''
7 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 00' 45''
8 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY + 00' 46''
9 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 00' 48''
10 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 54''
11 DYLAN TEUNS BMC + 01' 00''
12 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 01' 15''
13 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ + 01' 18''
14 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 26''
15 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 29''
16 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 33''
17 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 39''
18 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE + 01' 44''
19 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 32''
20 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC + 02' 36''
21 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 03' 15''
22 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 03' 20''
23 RICHARD ANTONIO CARAPAZ MOVISTAR + 03' 23''
24 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 03' 26''
25 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 03' 37''
26 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 03' 50''
27 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS + 04' 39''
28 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS + 05' 58''
29 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 06' 32''
30 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 06' 38''
31 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 06' 39''
32 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 06' 51''
33 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 07' 04''
34 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE + 07' 28''
35 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC + 07' 35''
36 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 08' 13''
37 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB + 08' 42''
38 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR + 08' 59''
39 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 09' 00''
40 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 09' 05''
41 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 09' 41''
42 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 09' 42''
43 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO + 10' 33''
44 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 10' 46''
45 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 11' 10''
46 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 12' 16''
47 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 12' 21''
48 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 12' 36''
49 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 12' 57''
50 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA + 13' 27''
51 SIMON GERRANS BMC + 14' 15''
52 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR + 15' 32''
53 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 16' 26''
54 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 17' 04''
55 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 17' 32''
56 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 18' 07''
57 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 18' 19''
58 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 18' 20''
59 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR + 18' 21''
60 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 18' 26''
61 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 18' 38''
62 DIEGO ROSA SKY + 18' 49''
63 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 18' 57''
64 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 19' 04''
65 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 19' 22''
66 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 20' 02''
67 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB + 20' 07''
68 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 20' 52''
69 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 21' 16''
70 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 21' 19''
71 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR + 21' 36''
72 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 21' 50''
73 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 21' 52''
74 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA + 21' 58''
75 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
76 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 22' 08''
77 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 22' 17''
78 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA + 22' 53''
79 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 23' 46''
80 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ + 24' 10''
81 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO + 24' 21''
82 JÉRÔME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE + 24' 24''
83 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 24' 33''
84 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 24' 42''
85 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 25' 07''
86 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 25' 12''
87 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 26' 05''
88 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 26' 11''
89 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 26' 15''
90 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 26' 40''
91 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 26' 43''
92 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 27' 04''
93 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 27' 29''
94 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC + 27' 42''
95 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
96 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE + 27' 50''
97 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 29' 44''
98 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE + 29' 51''
99 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 30' 45''
100 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS + 30' 50''
101 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA + 32' 02''
102 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB + 32' 20''
103 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ + 32' 43''
104 HUGO HOULE ASTANA + 33' 48''
105 DAVID LOPEZ SKY + 34' 16''
106 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 34' 40''
107 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 34' 46''
108 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE + 35' 07''
109 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 35' 30''
110 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL + 36' 03''
111 IAN STANNARD SKY + 36' 28''
112 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 36' 48''
113 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 37' 20''
114 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 38' 17''
115 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL + 38' 25''
116 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 38' 41''
117 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 38' 46''
118 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 38' 55''
119 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 39' 01''
120 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ + 39' 39''
121 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 40' 49''
122 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 41' 46''
123 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ + 42' 43''
124 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 43' 24''
125 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA + 44' 35''
126 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 45' 50''
127 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 45' 55''
128 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS + 46' 49''
129 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE + 47' 16''
130 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA + 48' 04''
131 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ + 51' 48''
132 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 54' 32''

Stage 6 map & profile:

Paris-Nice stage 6 map

Stage 6 map

Paris-Nice stage 6 profile

Stage 6 profile


Thursday, March 8: Stage 5, Salon de Provence - Sisteron, 165 km
Stage 5 profile

Jerome Cousin

Jerome Cousin wins stage five. Photo Alex Broadway

Weather in the finish city of Sisteron at 2:00 PM, local time: Fair to partly cloudy, 13C (55F) with the wind from the SSE at 16 km/hr (10 mph). No rain was forecast.

The race: 146 riders left Salon-de Provence. Marco Haller (Katusha), Maxime Bouet (Fortuneo), Lars Boom and Dylan Groenewegen (both Lotto-Jumbo) did not start. Partway into the stage Norway's Amund Groendahl Jansen (Lotto-Jumbo) abandoned.

Here's the organizer's stage summary:

TDF volume 1

France's Jerome Cousin, gone in a four-man breakaway to snatch KOM points, did even better. Not only did he succeed in grabbing the polka-dot jersey but he also went all the way to clinch a remarkable stage win after leading the race from the start in Salon-de-Provence to the finish in Sisteron. In the finale, the Direct Energie rider outwitted the last of his breakaway companions, Germany's Nils Politt (Katusha) to raise the arms as his team-mate Jonathan Hivert did two days before. Spain's Luis Leon Sanchez retained his yellow jersey and his 15 seconds lead over Dutchman Wout Poels (Team Sky).

146 riders left Salon-de-Provence at 13:15. Marco Haller (Katusha), Maxime Bouet (Fortuneo), Lars Boom and stage 2 winner Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto-Jumbo) did not start. Three riders, France's Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Jerome Cousin (Direct Energie) and Julien El Fares (Delko Marseille Provence) broke clear from the start. They were joined at kilometer 12 by Germany's Nils Politt (Katusha) and the peloton gave the four the go-ahead. Their lead settled at around 3:30 when they tackled the first climb of the day, the 2nd category Col du Pointu. At the top, Cousin collected seven points ahead of El Fares and Edet.

As the peloton climbed the first category Col de Lagarde-d'Apt, Norway's Amund Groendahl Jansen, affected by flu, joined his Lotto-Jumbo team-mates Boom and Groenewegen on the plane back home. The four increased their lead over the main pack in the ascent while green jersey holder Arnaud Demare was dropped. At the top, Cousin and Edet attacked to reach the summit in that order. On 17 points Cousin secured the KOM polka-dot jersey his team has won in the last two editions, while the peloton was trailing the escapees by 5:50. At the first intermediate sprint (km 94.5), won by Politt, the lead had melted down to 5:00. Cousin added four points to his tally on top of the 3rd category Col Du Negron (Km 106).

In the descent, Quick Step's Tim Declercq raised the pace and split the pack, trapping Nacer Bouhanni and John Degenkolb at the back. Lotto-Soudal's Thomas De Gendt and Lars Bak joined forces with him to try and bring the peloton back for a bunch sprint. The pack crossed the line for a first time in Sisteron two minutes behind the four when Nils Politt decided to part with his companions and go for the stage on his own (16 km from the line). But Cousin caught him in Cote de la Marquise (km 146) to take four more points and bring his KOM tally to 25. The two spent more time fighting for positions than to secure their lead but maintained a 40 seconds gap until three kilometers from the line. It finally proved enough and Cousin, who saved some strength in the final kilometers, surged at the right moment to go for the sweetest victory in his career.

Complete Results:

165 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.670 km/hr

1 JÉRÔME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE 3hr 57min 25sec
2 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN @ 2sec
3 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 00' 04''
4 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA s.t.
5 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
6 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS s.t.
7 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
8 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
9 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
10 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
11 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
12 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
13 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
14 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
15 IVAN GARCIA BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
16 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
17 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
18 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
19 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
20 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
21 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
22 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY s.t.
23 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
24 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
25 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
26 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA s.t.
27 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC s.t.
28 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
29 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
30 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
31 DIEGO ROSA SKY s.t.
32 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
33 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
34 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
35 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
36 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
37 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
38 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
39 JON IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
40 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
41 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
42 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
43 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
44 RICHARD ANTONIO CARAPAZ MOVISTAR s.t.
45 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
46 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC s.t.
47 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
48 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA s.t.
49 WOUT POELS SKY s.t.
50 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
51 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
52 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
53 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
54 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
55 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
56 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
57 DELIO FERNANDEZ CRUZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
58 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
59 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
60 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
61 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
62 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR s.t.
63 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
64 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
65 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC s.t.
66 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
67 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
68 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
69 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
70 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
71 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
72 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
73 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
74 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
75 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
76 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA s.t.
77 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
78 SIMON GERRANS BMC s.t.
79 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA s.t.
80 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 19''
81 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 01' 21''
82 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR + 01' 37''
83 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 44''
84 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
85 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00' 04''
86 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
87 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY + 02' 06''
88 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 00' 04''
89 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
90 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 02' 43''
91 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 02' 48''
92 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
93 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 02' 54''
94 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS + 00' 04''
95 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 03' 43''
96 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
97 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
98 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 03' 51''
99 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 04' 26''
100 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB + 05' 11''
101 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
102 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA + 07' 41''
103 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
104 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
105 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
106 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
107 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
108 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
109 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
110 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
111 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
112 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA + 09' 10''
113 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY s.t.
114 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
115 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
116 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
117 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
118 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 09' 38''
119 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 11' 36''
120 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
121 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
122 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA s.t.
123 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
124 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
125 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
126 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
127 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
128 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
129 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
130 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
131 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS s.t.
132 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
133 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
134 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
135 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR s.t.
136 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
137 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
138 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC s.t.
139 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA s.t.
140 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
141 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
142 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS s.t.
143 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 11' 44''

GC after Stage 5:

715.9 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 40.316 km/hr

1 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA 17hr 45min 26sec
2 WOUT POELS SKY @ 15sec
3 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 00' 26''
4 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
5 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 34''
6 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 35''
7 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 42''
8 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
9 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY + 00' 48''
10 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
11 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
12 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 54''
13 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 57''
14 DYLAN TEUNS BMC + 01' 00''
15 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 01' 15''
16 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 19''
17 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 26''
18 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC + 01' 27''
19 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 29''
20 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ + 01' 30''
21 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 33''
22 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 01' 36''
23 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 50''
24 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
25 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 56''
26 DELIO FERNANDEZ CRUZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 02' 06''
27 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 11''
28 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR + 02' 14''
29 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE + 02' 15''
30 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS + 02' 21''
31 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 02' 41''
32 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 02' 42''
33 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 02' 44''
34 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 02' 47''
35 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 02' 55''
36 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 03' 00''
37 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 03' 02''
38 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 03' 17''
39 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 03' 26''
40 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE + 03' 28''
41 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS + 03' 40''
42 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 03' 52''
43 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA + 03' 53''
44 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC + 04' 01''
45 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 04' 02''
46 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 10''
47 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 04' 17''
48 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 20''
49 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 21''
50 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 29''
51 SIMON GERRANS BMC + 04' 41''
52 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO + 05' 20''
53 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR + 05' 21''
54 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 05' 22''
55 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 05' 27''
56 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 05' 33''
57 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 05' 49''
58 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR + 05' 58''
59 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB + 06' 01''
60 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 06' 11''
61 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 06' 23''
62 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 06' 54''
63 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 07' 13''
64 DIEGO ROSA SKY + 07' 24''
65 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR + 08' 47''
66 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 09' 23''
67 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE + 09' 24''
68 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 09' 30''
69 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 09' 40''
70 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 09' 54''
71 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR + 10' 14''
72 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB + 10' 33''
73 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 10' 36''
74 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS + 10' 39''
75 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 10' 43''
76 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 11' 21''
77 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA + 11' 28''
78 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 12' 21''
79 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA + 12' 24''
80 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 12' 55''
81 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 13' 08''
82 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 13' 16''
83 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 13' 42''
84 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA + 14' 03''
85 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 14' 09''
86 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 14' 32''
87 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 14' 40''
88 JÉRÔME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE + 14' 50''
89 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 15' 18''
90 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 15' 19''
91 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 15' 35''
92 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 15' 38''
93 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 15' 39''
94 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE + 15' 42''
95 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 16' 02''
96 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 16' 17''
97 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE + 16' 25''
98 IVAN GARCIA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 16' 37''
99 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 16' 39''
100 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 16' 47''
101 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 16' 50''
102 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 17' 06''
103 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE + 17' 09''
104 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 17' 43''
105 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 18' 16''
106 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 18' 19''
107 HUGO HOULE ASTANA + 18' 21''
108 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 18' 43''
109 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 19' 21''
110 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 19' 29''
111 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA + 19' 56''
112 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ + 20' 23''
113 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 20' 42''
114 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 20' 52''
115 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC + 20' 56''
116 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ + 21' 40''
117 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB + 22' 46''
118 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 22' 50''
119 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ + 23' 09''
120 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 23' 17''
121 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 24' 37''
122 DAVID LOPEZ SKY + 24' 42''
123 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO + 25' 09''
124 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 25' 15''
125 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 25' 23''
126 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 25' 33''
127 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 25' 53''
128 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL + 26' 29''
129 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA + 26' 36''
130 IAN STANNARD SKY + 26' 54''
131 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL + 27' 00''
132 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS + 27' 02''
133 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE + 27' 05''
134 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 27' 36''
135 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 27' 37''
136 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 27' 51''
137 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA + 27' 53''
138 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 28' 04''
139 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS + 28' 50''
140 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 29' 15''
141 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 32' 06''
142 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 32' 53''
143 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ + 33' 49''

Stage 5 profile:

Paris-Nice stage 5 profile


Wednesday, March 7: Stage 4, La Fouillouse - St. Etienne, 18.4 km individual time trial
Stage 4 profile

Wout Peols

Wout Poels was the day's fastest racer

Weather at St. Etienne at 1:50 PM, local time: Cloudy, 9C (48F) with the wind from the WSW at 18 km/hr (11 mph) with possible gusts to 25 km/hr (15 mph). The forecast calls for a 40% chance of showers in the late afternoon.

The race: Here's the organizer's stage summary:

Cycling's 50 Craziest Stories

Team Sky won five of the last six editions of Paris-Nice, and the British outfit showed, with Wout Poels's victory in Wednesday's 18.4-km individual time trial in St Etienne that they would still be a force to reckon with in this edition. But the Dutchman's brilliant effort in 25:33 was not enough for him to dislodge race leader Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), who finished 7th, limited the damage and retained his yellow and white jersey for 15 seconds. France's Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step) took third place, both in the stage and in the GC, where he now lies 26 seconds behind Sanchez.

Ignatas Konovalovas (Groupama-FDJ), the first starter, finished in 29:55 and set the first reference time. He was quickly upstaged and the most impressive time by an early rider was clocked by Dylan Van Baarle (Sky) in 26:21, at an average speed of 41.89 kph. The mark lasted for an hour and half despite brave efforts by Thomas De Gendt (26:44), Australia road champion Alex Edmondson (26:42) or Colombia's Jarlinson Pantano (26:36). Dane Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) was fastest at the 8-km intermediate mark but faltered in the descent to finish eight seconds behind Van Baarle.

The changing weather made things even more difficult for riders as the descent was a slippery one but it didn't hamper the overall performance of Team Sky, which saw David de la Cruz dislodge his team-mate Van Baarle in 26:07 at an average speed of 42.271 kph. Winner of a time-trial in the Ruta del Sol earlier in the season, De La Cruz was narrowly beaten by Simon Yates in 26:06 but Team Sky regained the upper-hand when title-holder Sergio Henao also clocked 26:06 but beat the Briton by fractions of a second.

But the day belonged to another Team Sky rider, former Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner Wout Poels, who smashed the times of his rivals as well as the 26-minute mark in 25: 33 at an average speed of 43:20 kph. While the stage victory was out of reach, the contenders for overall victory battled it out to lose as little time as possible and maintain their overall chances. Spain's hopeful Marc Soler (Movistar) was an excellent second, 11 seconds adrift, while Julian Alaphilippe, winner of last year's time trial in Mont Brouilly, finished strongly to clinch third place in 25:49.

Luis Leon Sanchez

Luis Leon Sanchez retained his GC leadership.

Behind the leading trio, Germany's Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) lost his white jersey to Soler but still finished a remarkable 4th in 25:53. Among the pre-race favourites, Sergio Henao (Team Sky) limited the damage in 10th place, 33 seconds behind his team-mate Poels. Belgium's Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), 8th today, Briton Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), who ended ninth, and his Colombian team-mate Esteban Chaves are all still in contention. France's Tony Gallopin (AG2R-La Mondiale) lost 1:04 on Poels and lost most of his chances for overall victory while Dan Martin (UAE) was also disappointing in 34th place, 1:21 adrift.

Complete Results:

18.4 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.209 km/hr

1 WOUT POELS SKY 25min 33sec
2 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR @ 11sec
3 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 00' 16''
4 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 20''
5 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 27''
6 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
7 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA + 00' 28''
8 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 00' 29''
9 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY + 00' 33''
10 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
11 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
12 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 00' 34''
13 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 39''
14 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 42''
15 DYLAN TEUNS BMC + 00' 45''
16 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 00' 48''
17 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 00' 56''
18 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC s.t.
19 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 00''
20 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 03''
21 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 04''
22 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
23 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 08''
24 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR s.t.
25 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS + 01' 09''
26 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
27 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
28 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
29 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 11''
30 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
31 DIEGO ROSA SKY + 01' 14''
32 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ + 01' 15''
33 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 16''
34 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 01' 21''
35 JEROME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 25''
36 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 01' 29''
37 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 31''
38 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
39 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 01' 34''
40 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 35''
41 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE + 01' 37''
42 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA + 01' 40''
43 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 43''
44 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 48''
45 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS + 01' 49''
46 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 50''
47 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
48 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01' 51''
49 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS s.t.
50 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 53''
51 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 01' 54''
52 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 01' 56''
53 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR + 01' 59''
54 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE + 02' 00''
55 IAN STANNARD SKY + 02' 01''
56 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
57 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA + 02' 02''
58 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
59 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 02' 03''
60 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
61 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA + 02' 07''
62 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC + 02' 10''
63 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC + 02' 12''
64 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 02' 16''
65 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 02' 17''
66 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
67 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 19''
68 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
69 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR + 02' 20''
70 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 02' 21''
71 MAXIME BOUET FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 02' 22''
72 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 02' 23''
73 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 02' 24''
74 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 25''
75 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS + 02' 28''
76 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 02' 30''
77 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 02' 31''
78 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 02' 34''
79 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 02' 36''
80 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 02' 37''
81 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 02' 38''
82 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 39''
83 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
84 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 42''
85 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA + 02' 47''
86 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 02' 48''
87 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 02' 49''
88 SIMON GERRANS BMC + 02' 50''
89 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 02' 51''
90 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 02' 52''
91 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 02' 53''
92 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY s.t.
93 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
94 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA s.t.
95 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 02' 55''
96 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 02' 56''
97 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR + 02' 57''
98 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 02' 58''
99 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 02' 59''
100 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA s.t.
101 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 03' 04''
102 HUGO HOULE ASTANA + 03' 05''
103 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 10''
104 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA + 03' 12''
105 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA + 03' 13''
106 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 03' 14''
107 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS s.t.
108 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 03' 15''
109 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 03' 17''
110 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 03' 22''
111 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE + 03' 23''
112 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
113 EDWARD THEUNS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
114 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ + 03' 25''
115 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 03' 28''
116 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 03' 29''
117 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
118 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 03' 33''
119 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ + 03' 39''
120 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE + 03' 41''
121 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 03' 43''
122 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 03' 45''
123 CARLOS BARBERO CUESTA MOVISTAR + 03' 48''
124 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 03' 50''
125 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 03' 54''
126 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
127 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 03' 58''
128 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
129 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 03' 59''
130 MARCO HALLER KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 04' 02''
131 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 04' 03''
132 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 04' 04''
133 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 04' 06''
134 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 04' 09''
135 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
136 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 04' 10''
137 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ + 04' 13''
138 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 04' 15''
139 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 04' 22''
140 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 04' 28''
141 DANIEL MCLAY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 04' 30''
142 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 04' 32''
143 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ + 04' 36''
144 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 04' 37''
145 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 04' 42''
146 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
147 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 46''
148 LARS BOOM LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 05' 08''
149 IVAN GARCIA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 05' 26''
150 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS + 05' 34''

GC after Stage 4:

550.9 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 39.923 km/hr

1 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA 13hr 47min 57sec
2 WOUT POELS SKY @ 15sec
3 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 00' 26''
4 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
5 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 34''
6 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 35''
7 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 42''
8 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
9 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY + 00' 48''
10 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
11 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
12 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 54''
13 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 57''
14 DYLAN TEUNS BMC + 01' 00''
15 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 01' 15''
16 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 19''
17 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 26''
18 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC + 01' 27''
19 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 29''
20 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ + 01' 30''
21 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 33''
22 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 01' 36''
23 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 01' 44''
24 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 50''
25 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
26 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 56''
27 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 02' 03''
28 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 02' 06''
29 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 02' 09''
30 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 11''
31 RICHARD ANTONIO CARAPAZ MOVISTAR + 02' 14''
32 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE + 02' 15''
33 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS + 02' 21''
34 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA + 02' 22''
35 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 02' 41''
36 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 02' 42''
37 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 02' 44''
38 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 02' 47''
39 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE + 02' 52''
40 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 02' 55''
41 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 03' 00''
42 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 03' 02''
43 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 03' 08''
44 MAXIME BOUET FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 03' 16''
45 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 03' 17''
46 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 03' 27''
47 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE + 03' 28''
48 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS + 03' 40''
49 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 03' 42''
50 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 03' 46''
51 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 03' 52''
52 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA + 03' 53''
53 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC + 04' 01''
54 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 04' 04''
55 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 04' 06''
56 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 04' 07''
57 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO + 04' 10''
58 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 04' 17''
59 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 20''
60 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 21''
61 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 29''
62 SIMON GERRANS BMC + 04' 41''
63 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 05' 18''
64 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO + 05' 20''
65 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR + 05' 21''
66 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 05' 27''
67 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 05' 33''
68 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 05' 49''
69 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR + 05' 58''
70 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB + 06' 01''
71 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 06' 23''
72 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 06' 28''
73 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 06' 29''
74 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 06' 32''
75 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 06' 47''
76 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 06' 53''
77 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 06' 58''
78 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 06' 59''
79 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 07' 11''
80 DIEGO ROSA SKY + 07' 24''
81 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 07' 27''
82 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 07' 41''
83 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA + 08' 24''
84 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR + 08' 41''
85 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 08' 43''
86 IMANOL ERVITI OLLO MOVISTAR + 08' 47''
87 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 08' 56''
88 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 09' 20''
89 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 09' 23''
90 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC + 09' 24''
91 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
92 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 09' 54''
93 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ + 10' 08''
94 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 10' 24''
95 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB + 10' 33''
96 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS + 10' 39''
97 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 10' 43''
98 HUGO HOULE ASTANA + 10' 44''
99 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 11' 45''
100 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 12' 21''
101 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA + 12' 24''
102 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 12' 55''
103 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 13' 05''
104 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO + 13' 37''
105 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 13' 42''
106 EDWARD THEUNS TEAM SUNWEB + 13' 47''
107 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 13' 51''
108 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 14' 01''
109 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA + 14' 03''
110 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
111 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 14' 29''
112 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 15' 02''
113 JEROME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE + 15' 06''
114 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 15' 19''
115 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS + 15' 30''
116 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 15' 42''
117 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
118 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 16' 04''
119 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA + 16' 21''
120 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE + 16' 25''
121 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 16' 32''
122 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 16' 37''
123 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 16' 39''
124 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ + 16' 44''
125 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 16' 47''
126 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 17' 00''
127 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 17' 06''
128 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE + 17' 09''
129 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS + 17' 18''
130 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 17' 38''
131 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB + 17' 39''
132 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 17' 43''
133 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
134 IAN STANNARD SKY + 17' 48''
135 DANIEL MCLAY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 18' 11''
136 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL + 18' 52''
137 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 18' 53''
138 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA + 18' 59''
139 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL + 19' 23''
140 MARCO HALLER KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 19' 29''
141 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
142 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 20' 14''
143 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 21' 21''
144 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE + 21' 58''
145 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ + 22' 17''
146 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY + 22' 40''
147 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 22' 50''
148 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 24' 47''
149 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 28' 27''
150 LARS BOOM LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 28' 40''

Stage 4 profile:

Paris-nice stage 4 profile


Tuesday, March 6: Stage 3, Bourges - Chatel Guyon, 210 km
Stage 3 profile

Joanthan Hivert

Jonathan Hivert wins stage three, just ahead of new GC leader Luis Leon Sanchez

Rated ascents:

Weather at the start city of Bourges at 2:00 PM local time. Mostly cloudy, 12C (53F) with the wind from the SW at 18 km/hr (11 mph). 50% chance of showers.

The race: Two riders called it quits in the feed zone (km 86): Ireland's Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), winner of a stage in Chalons-sur-Saone last year, and Germany's Phil Bauhaus (Sunweb), 4th in stage 2.

Here's the organizer's stage summary:

Tour de France: the Inside Story

Evergreen Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez, crowned on the Race to the Sun in 2009, showed he was still a force to reckon with when he seized the Paris-Nice overall lead at the end of stage 3 in Chatel-Guyon, won by his breakaway companion Jonathan Hivert of France (Direct Energie). Another Frenchman, Remy Di Gregorio (Delko Marseille Provence), who launched the decisive three-man move with 13 km to go, finished third on the line. The peloton, led by yellow jersey holder Arnaud Demare, finished 38 seconds adrift. Sanchez now leads stage 1 winner Demare by 29 seconds overall with fellow-Spaniard Gorka Izagirre third 36 seconds off the pace.

Three-man break
The start was given at 11:26 to 152 riders. Jay Thomson (Dimension Data), Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie) and Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Delko Marseille Provence) broke clear from the start and quickly took a commanding lead, which topped at 7:35 at kilometer 80. The gap was already over seven minutes when the three reached the first intermediate sprint of the day at Le Brethon (km 61), won by Thomson ahead of Kaperciewicz and Grellier. At the feed zone (Km 86), two riders called it quits: Ireland's Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), winner of a stage in Chalon-sur-Saone last year, and Germany's Phil Bauhaus (Sunweb), 4th in stage 2.

KOM battle
But the main goal of the day for the three escapees was the KOM jersey. And  Grellier proved the fastest on the 3rd category Cote de la Bosse (km 123) ahead of Kasperciewicz and Thomson. The gap started diminishing and it was down to 3:45 when the trio tackled Cote des Boulards. On the ascent, Grellier went on his own to chase more KOM points and snatched four more at the top, with a 50 seconds lead over his two former companions. Alexander Kristoff  (UAE) was the first printer to lose ground on the day's hilly terrain while third-placed Christophe Laporte was seen struggling with stomach pain at the back of the peloton.  

Alaphilippe attacks
On the long flat towards Cote de Charbonnieres, Grellier lost his momentum and the young Frenchman was run down after 174 km. With 25 km to go, 2 km before the top of Cote de Charbonnieres, Julian Alaphilippe launched a blistering attack. Only Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) managed to stay with him. At the top of the climb, the two were joined by Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), who later went on on his own as a group of favorites was shaping up in the chase.

Breakaway

The break that went the distance. Jonathan Hivert leads Remy Di Gregorio & Luis Leon Sanchez. Photo ASO/Alex Broadway.

Three battle it out for stage win
In the last 15 kilometers, after a first junction involving all the favorites, Remy Di Gregorio (Delko Marseille Provence), Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Jonathan Hivert (Direct Energie) broke clear and joined forces to power their way towards the line. The favorites group, including title holder Sergio Henao, found themselves 30 seconds back while the bunch with Arnaud Demare was limiting the damage, a further ten seconds adrift. When the pack finally regrouped with eight kilometers to go, the three escapees had taken a solid 50-seconds lead. The stage was set for them to battle it out and while Di Gregorio, the slowest of the trio, launched three brave but vain attacks, Hivert made his effort last to clinch his fourth win of the season after two stages and the GC at the Tour du Haut Var.

Luis Leon Sanchez

Luis Leon Sanchez is the new GC leader. Bettini photo

Complete Results:

210 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.031 km/hr

1 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE 5hr 22min 49sec
2 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA @ 1sec
3 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
4 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ + 00' 38''
5 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
6 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
7 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA s.t.
8 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
9 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
10 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
11 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
12 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
13 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA s.t.
14 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
15 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
16 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
17 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
18 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR s.t.
19 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
20 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
21 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
22 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
23 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA s.t.
24 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
25 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
26 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
27 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
28 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
29 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
30 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
31 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
32 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
33 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
34 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
35 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
36 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
37 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
38 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
39 WOUT POELS SKY s.t.
40 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
41 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
42 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
43 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
44 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY s.t.
45 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
46 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
47 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC s.t.
48 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA s.t.
49 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
50 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
51 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
52 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
53 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC s.t.
54 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
55 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
56 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA s.t.
57 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
58 MAXIME BOUET FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
59 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
60 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
61 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
62 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
63 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
64 SIMON GERRANS BMC s.t.
65 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
66 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
67 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
68 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
69 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
70 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
71 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
72 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
73 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
74 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 17''
75 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 37''
76 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 01' 41''
77 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 01' 47''
78 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 02' 20''
79 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 02' 48''
80 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 03' 31''
81 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 05' 16''
82 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
83 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
84 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
85 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS s.t.
86 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
87 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA s.t.
88 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS s.t.
89 DIEGO ROSA SKY s.t.
90 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR s.t.
91 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC s.t.
92 IMANOL ERVITI OLLO MOVISTAR s.t.
93 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
94 EDWARD THEUNS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
95 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
96 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
97 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS s.t.
98 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
99 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
100 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
101 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
102 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
103 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
104 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
105 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
106 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR s.t.
107 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
108 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
109 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
110 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 10' 03''
111 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
112 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
113 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
114 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
115 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
116 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 11' 18''
117 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
118 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
119 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
120 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
121 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC s.t.
122 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
123 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
124 DANIEL MCLAY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
125 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
126 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
127 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
128 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
129 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA s.t.
130 MARCO HALLER KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
131 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
132 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
133 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
134 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
135 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA s.t.
136 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
137 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY s.t.
138 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
139 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
140 JEROME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
141 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS s.t.
142 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 15' 18''
143 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
144 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
145 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
146 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA s.t.
147 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
148 LARS BOOM LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
149 DAVID LOPEZ SKY s.t.
150 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 17' 59''

GC after Stage 3:

532.5 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 39.841 km/hr

1 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA 13hr 21min 56sec
2 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ @ 28sec
3 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 35''
4 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 00' 38''
5 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB + 00' 41''
6 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
7 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
8 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 43''
9 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
10 JON IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
11 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
12 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
13 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
14 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
15 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
16 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
17 WOUT POELS SKY s.t.
18 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
19 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR s.t.
20 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
21 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
22 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
23 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
24 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
25 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
26 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
27 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
28 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA s.t.
29 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
30 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
31 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 00' 52''
32 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 00' 59''
33 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC s.t.
34 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 01' 01''
35 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 04''
36 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
37 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 01' 07''
38 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 01' 09''
39 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 01' 12''
40 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 15''
41 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
42 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
43 MAXIME BOUET FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 22''
44 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
45 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 34''
46 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 36''
47 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 40''
48 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
49 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
50 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 44''
51 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 01' 47''
52 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 02' 00''
53 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 02' 07''
54 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
55 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 02' 11''
56 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA + 02' 16''
57 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
58 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 02' 19''
59 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
60 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC s.t.
61 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
62 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
63 SIMON GERRANS BMC s.t.
64 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 21''
65 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE + 02' 40''
66 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 02' 58''
67 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 03' 25''
68 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 03' 29''
69 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
70 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
71 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
72 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
73 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 04' 05''
74 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 04' 13''
75 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04' 29''
76 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 04' 58''
77 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 05' 14''
78 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR + 05' 21''
79 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
80 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
81 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 05' 30''
82 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 05' 36''
83 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 05' 40''
84 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 05' 47''
85 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA + 05' 53''
86 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE + 05' 58''
87 DIEGO ROSA SKY + 06' 38''
88 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 06' 45''
89 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 06' 51''
90 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 06' 55''
91 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 06' 56''
92 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ + 06' 57''
93 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 07' 23''
94 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC + 07' 40''
95 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS + 07' 53''
96 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR + 08' 07''
97 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
98 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 08' 43''
99 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB + 09' 08''
100 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 09' 35''
101 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 09' 47''
102 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS + 10' 24''
103 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 10' 31''
104 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 10' 39''
105 EDWARD THEUNS TEAM SUNWEB + 10' 52''
106 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ + 11' 06''
107 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA + 11' 12''
108 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO + 11' 23''
109 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 11' 34''
110 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 11' 39''
111 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA + 11' 44''
112 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 12' 23''
113 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 12' 39''
114 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 12' 54''
115 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
116 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ + 12' 59''
117 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 13' 10''
118 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 13' 25''
119 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE + 13' 30''
120 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA + 13' 36''
121 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 13' 45''
122 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 14' 01''
123 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 14' 03''
124 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE + 14' 08''
125 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE + 14' 09''
126 DANIEL MCLAY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
127 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
128 JEROME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
129 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 14' 35''
130 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 14' 55''
131 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 15' 10''
132 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS + 15' 18''
133 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 15' 22''
134 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL + 15' 42''
135 MARCO HALLER KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 15' 55''
136 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 16' 15''
137 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA s.t.
138 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
139 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 16' 27''
140 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 16' 35''
141 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA + 18' 06''
142 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL + 18' 09''
143 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
144 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 18' 12''
145 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE + 18' 45''
146 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 19' 08''
147 DAVID LOPEZ SKY + 20' 15''
148 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 21' 16''
149 LARS BOOM LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 24' 00''
150 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 24' 33''

Stage 3 profile:

Stage 3 profile


Monday, March 5: Stage 2, Orsonville - Vierzon, 187.5 km
Stage 2 profile

Dylan Groenewegen

Dylan Groenewegen wins stage two

Weather at the finish city of Vierzon at 2:00PM, local time: Fair, 13C (55F) with the wind from the south at 10 km/hr (6 mph). Rain before the stage finish is unlikely.

The race: Here's the organizer's telling of the day's racing.

Cycling's World Championships

Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen overpowered the other leading sprinters of the season to snatch his first stage win on Paris-Nice on Vierzon on Monday. The Lotto-Jumbo fast man easily upstaged Elia Viviani to equal the Italian's tally of five victories this season. Germany's Andre Greipel was third ahead of compatriot Phil Bauhaus and overall leader Arnaud Demare, who retained his leader's yellow and white jersey. The Frenchman leads compatriot Julian Alaphilippe by 10 seconds overall.

Rui Costa gives up
The start was given at 12:05 to 153 riders. Tejay Van Garderen, injured after crashing into a car in Sunday's stage, had been the first rider to give up. Twenty-five kilometres down the road, Portugal's Rui Costa also called it quits. His knee-cap injured in a crash in stage 1, the former world champion, second in Paris-Nice in 2014, was unable to go any further. Still the first hour of the stage was ridden at the slow pace of 33 kph.

Six on the move
The first sprint of the day in Patay (km 63.5) allowed Arnaud Demare to strengthen his yellow-and-white jersey. The Frenchman outsprinted compatriots Julian Alaphilippe and Christophe Laporte to stretch his overall lead over Spain's Gorka Izagirre to seven seconds. As the pace increased slightly at 34.4 kph, Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) decided to shake the pack by surging at kilometre 94. He was quickly followed by five other riders, Manuele Boaro (Bahrain-Mérida), Tiago Machado (Katusha), Oliver Naesen (AG2R), Anthony  Delaplace (Fortuneo) and Lars Boom (Lotto-Jumbo). The gap settled at 40 seconds.

Two left
Groupama-FDJ, Cofidis and Quick Step led a frantic chase and four of the escapees were reined in at kilometer 122 while Machado and Boaro kept trying. The peloton eased up and the pair found themselves 50 seconds ahead with 50 km to go and 3:00 up five kilometers later. But as the pace kept increasing (47.2 in the fourth hour), their momentum was gradually broken and the bunch kept accelerating in the last 30 km, when Christophe Laporte suffered a mechanical and was brought back by Nicolas Edet.

Stage set for bunch sprint
Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Tim Declercq(Quick Step) and Tom Leezer (Lotto-Jumbo) took turns at the front of the bunch, working for their sprinters Andre Greipel, Elia Viviani and Dylan Groenewegen. And their work quietly paid off. While Machado beat Boaro in the second intermediate sprint (km 173.5), Julian Alpahilippe took third place, 25 seconds behind. And the pack played cat and mouse with the two escapees until the last four kilometers, when it finally reeled them in.

Groenewegen too strong
The Quick Step team-mates of Elia Viviani seized the reins in the last two kilometers after series of winding turns, but their train split in the final kilometer, leaving Julian Alaphilippe alone in the lead. As a result, Viviani's lead-out was not ideal and the Italian could not react when Groenewegen went up a gear and powered his way to the finish line for one of his greatest victories to date after his Tour de France stage win on the Champs-Elysees last year. 

Complete Results:

187.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 38.591 km/hr

1 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO 4hr 51min 31sec
2 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
3 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
4 PHIL BAUHAUS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
5 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
6 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
7 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
8 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC s.t.
9 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
10 IVAN GARCIA BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
11 SAM BENNETT BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
12 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS s.t.
13 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
14 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
15 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
16 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
17 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
18 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
19 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
20 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA s.t.
21 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
22 WOUT POELS SKY s.t.
23 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS s.t.
24 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
25 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
26 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA s.t.
27 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
28 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY s.t.
29 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
30 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
31 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
32 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
33 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR s.t.
34 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
35 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
36 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
37 DIEGO ROSA SKY s.t.
38 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
39 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
40 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
41 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
42 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
43 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
44 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA s.t.
45 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
46 RICHARD ANTONIO CARAPAZ MOVISTAR s.t.
47 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
48 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC s.t.
49 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
50 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
51 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA s.t.
52 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
53 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR s.t.
54 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
55 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
56 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
57 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
58 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
59 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
60 IMANOL ERVITI MOVISTAR s.t.
61 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
62 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
63 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
64 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
65 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA s.t.
66 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
67 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
68 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
69 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
70 MAXIME BOUET FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
71 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
72 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
73 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
74 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
75 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
76 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
77 EDWARD THEUNS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
78 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
79 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
80 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
81 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
82 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
83 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
84 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
85 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC s.t.
86 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA s.t.
87 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
88 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
89 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
90 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
91 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
92 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
93 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS s.t.
94 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
95 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
96 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA s.t.
97 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
98 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
99 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
100 DANIEL MCLAY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
101 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
102 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
103 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
104 SIMON GERRANS BMC s.t.
105 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
106 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
107 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
108 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
109 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
110 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
111 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC s.t.
112 JEROME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
113 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
114 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
115 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA s.t.
116 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
117 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
118 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
119 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
120 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 00' 44''
121 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
122 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 46''
123 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
124 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 49''
125 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 00' 52''
126 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL + 00' 57''
127 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 00' 58''
128 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA s.t.
129 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
130 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 01' 01''
131 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
132 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS s.t.
133 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
134 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
135 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 01' 04''
136 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
137 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 01' 07''
138 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 01' 09''
139 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS s.t.
140 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 01' 28''
141 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 01' 53''
142 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 02' 06''
143 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY s.t.
144 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA s.t.
145 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
146 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
147 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ + 02' 59''
148 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
149 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 03' 09''
150 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
151 MARCO HALLER KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 03' 15''
152 LARS BOOM LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 31''

GC after Stage 2:

322.5 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 40.401 km/hr

1 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ 7hr 58min 57sec
2 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA @ 7sec
3 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 00' 08''
4 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 00' 10''
5 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB + 00' 13''
6 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
7 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00' 15''
8 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
9 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
10 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
11 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA s.t.
12 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
13 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
14 WOUT POELS SKY s.t.
15 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR s.t.
16 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
17 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
18 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
19 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
20 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
21 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
22 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
23 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
24 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
25 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
26 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
27 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
28 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
29 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
30 RICHARD ANTONIO MOVISTAR s.t.
31 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA s.t.
32 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
33 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
34 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
35 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
36 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 00' 24''
37 IVAN GARCIA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 31''
38 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC s.t.
39 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 00' 33''
40 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 00' 34''
41 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 36''
42 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
43 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 39''
44 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY + 00' 41''
45 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
46 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 44''
47 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00' 47''
48 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
49 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
50 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA s.t.
51 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 52''
52 MAXIME BOUET FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 00' 54''
53 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
54 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
55 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 06''
56 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 08''
57 JESUS HERRADA LOPEZ COFIDIS + 01' 12''
58 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
59 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
60 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
61 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 16''
62 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 01' 19''
63 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
64 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
65 DIEGO ROSA SKY + 01' 32''
66 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
67 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 39''
68 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
69 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
70 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 43''
71 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 45''
72 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 46''
73 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 48''
74 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 01' 49''
75 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 01' 51''
76 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
77 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA s.t.
78 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
79 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
80 JOSE HERRADA COFIDIS s.t.
81 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
82 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC s.t.
83 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
84 SIMON GERRANS BMC s.t.
85 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
86 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 02' 02''
87 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA + 02' 28''
88 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 02' 30''
89 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
90 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC + 02' 34''
91 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO + 02' 37''
92 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS + 02' 47''
93 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 02' 55''
94 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 02' 57''
95 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 03' 01''
96 IMANOL ERVITI OLLO MOVISTAR s.t.
97 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
98 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
99 OMAR FRAILE MATARRANZ ASTANA s.t.
100 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
101 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
102 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
103 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
104 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
105 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
106 DANIEL MCLAY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
107 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
108 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
109 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
110 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA s.t.
111 JEROME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
112 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 03' 27''
113 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
114 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
115 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
116 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
117 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 03' 45''
118 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 03' 47''
119 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 03' 51''
120 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 03' 59''
121 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
122 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 04' 02''
123 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
124 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
125 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 04' 08''
126 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS + 04' 10''
127 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 04' 14''
128 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL + 04' 29''
129 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL + 04' 34''
130 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 41''
131 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL + 04' 46''
132 MARCO HALLER KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 04' 47''
133 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA + 05' 07''
134 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
135 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
136 DAVID LOPEZ SKY s.t.
137 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS + 05' 18''
138 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY + 05' 19''
139 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 05' 25''
140 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 05' 27''
141 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 05' 33''
142 SAM BENNETT BORA-HANSGROHE + 05' 35''
143 EDWARD THEUNS TEAM SUNWEB + 05' 46''
144 PHIL BAUHAUS TEAM SUNWEB + 05' 48''
145 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ + 06' 00''
146 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE + 06' 10''
147 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 06' 28''
148 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 07' 04''
149 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 07' 33''
150 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 08' 19''
151 LARS BOOM LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 08' 52''
152 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 09' 25''

Stage 2 profile:

Stage 2 profile


Sunday, March 4: Stage 1, Chatou - Meudon, 134.5 km
Stage 1 profile

Arnaud Demare

Arnaud Demare (center) just wins stage one in a photo-finish.

Weather at the finish city of Meudon at 1:50 PM, local time: Rain. 7C (44F) with the wind from the Southeast at 8 km/hr (5mph). It should rain all day, meaning the finish will be on a 500 meter stretch of wet cobbles.

The race: 154 riders started.

Here's the organizer's stage summary:

Bicycle History

Already winner and first leader of Paris-Nice a year ago, French champion Arnaud Demare repeated the feat in Meudon but in a rather different finale. The Groupama-FDJ team leader, who held the Race to the sun's Yellow Jersey for several days in 2017, was not among the real favorites before the start in Chatou, 135 km up the road, as the finale was steep and cobbled, but he finally upstaged Spain's Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) and compatriot Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) in nail-biting final sprint. Belgium's Tim Wellens was a close fourth.

Three in the lead
The start was given to 154 riders at 13h42 in the pouring rain. On the gun, Jurgen Roelandts (BMC), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo) and Pierre Rolland (Education First-Drapac) moved ahead and their lead quickly grew (1:40 at kilometer 10). At the first intermediate sprint of the day in Les Mesnuls (km 33), the gap reached its maximum of 3:35. Roelandts snatched three points and three seconds ahead of Rolland and Perichon. After the sprint, as the pack gathered momentum under the guidance of Julian Alaphilippe's Quick Step and Groupama-FDJ's Arnaud Demare team-mates, the gap kept decreasing.

Gap decreases
As they tackled the first climb of the day, the 3rd category Cote des 17 Tournants (Km 79), their lead had gone down to 1:05 as Perichon led the way, followed by Rolland and Roelandts. The result on Cote de Meridon (km 85) was exactly the same, handing Perichon the first KOM jersey in this edition of the Race to the sun. The gap went up a bit as the three reached the plaque dedicated to Jacques Anquetil at Chateaufort (km 96) for a sprint again won by Roelandts ahead of Rolland and Perichon.

Van Garderen out
As the pace raised, a crash at kilometer 100 involved four riders, including American pre-race favorite Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), who was forced to call it quits. With 20 km to go, the three seemed to give up the fight but the peloton took its time to close the gap and only caught the escapees at km 121. Mitchelton-Scott, Astana and Lotto-Soudal took turns in the final 10 km leading to the Meudon observatory. A crash, involving Ilnur Zakarin and Jakob Fuglsang, took place shortly before the last climb when France's Alexis Vuillermoz surged.

Demare in unusual fashion
The AG2R rider, winner of a similar stage in Mur de Bretagne on the Tour de France two years ago, seemed to have the upper hand but he faltered in the long cobbled last stretch and was overtaken by the front of the bunch, led by Gorka Izagirre, who battled it out with Demare, Laporte and Wellens. Demare threw his bike to the line in despair and the outcome was so close that the four top finishers had to wait for the photo-finish to discover who had actually won. The laurels went to an elated Demare.  

Complete Results:

134.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.006 km/hr

1 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ 3hr 7min 39sec
2 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
3 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS s.t.
4 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
5 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
6 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
7 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE @ 2sec
8 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
9 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
10 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
11 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
12 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR s.t.
13 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
14 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
15 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
16 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
17 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
18 DELIO FERNANDEZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
19 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
20 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
21 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA s.t.
22 WOUT POELS SKY s.t.
23 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
24 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
25 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
26 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
27 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
28 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
29 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
30 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
31 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
32 RICHARD ANTONIO CARAPAZ MOVISTAR s.t.
33 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
34 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
35 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
36 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA s.t.
37 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 00' 11''
38 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 18''
39 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC s.t.
40 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 00' 20''
41 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 23''
42 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
43 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 00' 27''
44 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 28''
45 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY s.t.
46 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
47 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 31''
48 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA + 00' 34''
49 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
50 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
51 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
52 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
53 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 39''
54 MAXIME BOUET FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 00' 41''
55 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
56 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
57 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 00' 53''
58 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 00' 55''
59 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS + 00' 59''
60 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
61 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
62 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
63 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 01' 06''
64 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
65 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
66 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA + 01' 17''
67 MARCO HALLER KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 19''
68 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
69 DIEGO ROSA SKY s.t.
70 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 26''
71 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
72 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 28''
73 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
74 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 30''
75 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 32''
76 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS + 01' 33''
77 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
78 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 01' 36''
79 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 01' 38''
80 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA s.t.
81 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
82 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
83 JOSE HERRADA LOPEZ COFIDIS s.t.
84 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
85 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
86 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
87 SIMON GERRANS BMC s.t.
88 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC s.t.
89 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
90 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
91 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
92 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 49''
93 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 02' 21''
94 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC s.t.
95 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 02' 48''
96 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
97 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
98 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
99 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
100 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA s.t.
101 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
102 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
103 IMANOL ERVITI OLLO MOVISTAR s.t.
104 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
105 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
106 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
107 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
108 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
109 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
110 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
111 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
112 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
113 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS s.t.
114 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
115 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
116 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
117 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
118 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
119 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY s.t.
120 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
121 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA s.t.
122 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
123 DANIEL MCLAY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
124 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
125 JEROME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
126 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC s.t.
127 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
128 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE + 03' 24''
129 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
130 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
131 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
132 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
133 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
134 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
135 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
136 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 03' 40''
137 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 03' 46''
138 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 04' 01''
139 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 08''
140 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY s.t.
141 LARS BOOM LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
142 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 04' 11''
143 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 04' 36''
144 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS + 05' 05''
145 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 05' 14''
146 SAM BENNETT BORA-HANSGROHE + 05' 22''
147 EDWARD THEUNS TEAM SUNWEB + 05' 33''
148 PHIL BAUHAUS TEAM SUNWEB + 05' 35''
149 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 06' 05''
150 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 06' 13''
151 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
152 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 06' 15''
153 RUI ALBERTO FARIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 17' 33''

GC after Stage 1:

1 ARNAUD DEMARE GROUPAMA-FDJ 3hr 7min 29sec
2 GORKA IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 04''
3 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE COFIDIS + 00' 06''
4 TIM WELLENS LOTTO-SOUDAL + 00' 10''
5 MIKE TEUNISSEN TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
6 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
7 PATRICK KONRAD BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 12''
8 DYLAN TEUNS BMC s.t.
9 MATTEO TRENTIN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
10 JON IZAGIRRE BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
11 TONY GALLOPIN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
12 CARLOS BARBERO MOVISTAR s.t.
13 ROBERT GESINK LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
14 SIMON YATES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
15 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
16 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
17 DANIEL MARTIN UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
18 DELIO FERNANDEZ CRUZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
19 ROMAN KREUZIGER MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
20 LAWSON CRADDOCK EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
21 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ ASTANA s.t.
22 WOUT POELS SKY s.t.
23 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
24 MARC SOLER MOVISTAR s.t.
25 HEINRICH HAUSSLER BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
26 LILIAN CALMEJANE DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
27 CYRIL GAUTIER AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
28 SERGIO LUIS HENAO SKY s.t.
29 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
30 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
31 THOMAS BOUDAT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
32 RICHARD ANTONIO CARAPAZ MOVISTAR s.t.
33 BAUKE MOLLEMA TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
34 RUDY MOLARD GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
35 JOHN DEGENKOLB TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
36 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN ASTANA s.t.
37 NATNAEL BERHANE DIMENSION DATA + 00' 21''
38 IVAN GARCIA CORTINA BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 28''
39 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI BMC s.t.
40 SAM OOMEN TEAM SUNWEB + 00' 30''
41 TIMO ROOSEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 00' 33''
42 DRIES DEVENYNS QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
43 ELIA VIVIANI QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 00' 37''
44 MANUELE BOARO BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 00' 38''
45 DAVID DE LA CRUZ SKY s.t.
46 YVES LAMPAERT QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
47 PAWEL POLJANSKI BORA-HANSGROHE + 00' 41''
48 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER DIMENSION DATA + 00' 44''
49 MATTI BRESCHEL EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
50 WARREN BARGUIL FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
51 JULIEN EL FARES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
52 MIKAEL CHEREL AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
53 ANGELO TULIK DIRECT ENERGIE + 00' 49''
54 MAXIME BOUET FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 00' 51''
55 ROMAIN COMBAUD DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
56 KOEN DE KORT TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
57 MAURITS LAMMERTINK KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 03''
58 JARLINSON PANTANO TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 05''
59 JESUS HERRADA COFIDIS + 01' 09''
60 AMAEL MOINARD FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
61 LAURENT PICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC s.t.
62 REMY DI GREGORIO DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
63 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 01' 16''
64 OLIVER NAESEN AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
65 BENJAMIN KING DIMENSION DATA s.t.
66 DMITRIY GRUZDEV ASTANA + 01' 27''
67 MARCO HALLER KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 29''
68 PAVEL KOCHETKOV KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
69 DIEGO ROSA SKY s.t.
70 KEVIN LEDANOIS FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 36''
71 IAN BOSWELL KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
72 GREGORY RAST TREK-SEGAFREDO + 01' 38''
73 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
74 ANTHONY DELAPLACE FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 01' 40''
75 NILS POLITT KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 01' 42''
76 BERT VAN LERBERGHE COFIDIS + 01' 43''
77 MATHEW HAYMAN MITCHELTON-SCOTT s.t.
78 DAYER QUINTANA MOVISTAR + 01' 46''
79 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN ASTANA + 01' 48''
80 JAKOB FUGLSANG ASTANA s.t.
81 AXEL DOMONT AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
82 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
83 JOSE HERRADA LOPEZ COFIDIS s.t.
84 RYAN GIBBONS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
85 TIAGO MACHADO KATUSHA-ALPECIN s.t.
86 SERGE PAUWELS DIMENSION DATA s.t.
87 SIMON GERRANS BMC s.t.
88 NICOLAS ROCHE BMC s.t.
89 RAMON SINKELDAM GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
90 MARKEL IRIZAR TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
91 JACOPO GUARNIERI GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
92 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 01' 59''
93 ANDRÉ GREIPEL LOTTO-SOUDAL + 02' 31''
94 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER BMC s.t.
95 JURGEN ROELANDTS BMC + 02' 52''
96 PIERRE ROLLAND EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 02' 54''
97 OMAR FRAILE ASTANA + 02' 58''
98 THOMAS DE GENDT LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
99 STIJN VANDENBERGH AG2R LA MONDIALE s.t.
100 HECTOR CARRETERO MOVISTAR s.t.
101 JULIEN BERNARD TREK-SEGAFREDO s.t.
102 JOHANN VAN ZYL DIMENSION DATA s.t.
103 LARS BAK YTTING LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
104 JELLE WALLAYS LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
105 IMANOL ERVITI OLLO MOVISTAR s.t.
106 OLIVIERO TROIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
107 BEN SWIFT UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
108 IAN STANNARD SKY s.t.
109 FABIEN GRELLIER DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
110 LOUIS VERVAEKE TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
111 RORY SUTHERLAND UAE-TEAM EMIRATES s.t.
112 MITCHELL DOCKER EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
113 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
114 BRENTON JONES DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
115 CYRIL LEMOINE COFIDIS s.t.
116 JONATHAN HIVERT DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
117 ROY CURVERS TEAM SUNWEB s.t.
118 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA MOVISTAR s.t.
119 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE s.t.
120 HUGO HOULE ASTANA s.t.
121 DAVID LOPEZ GARCIA SKY s.t.
122 MICKAEL DELAGE GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
123 JAY ROBERT THOMSON DIMENSION DATA s.t.
124 OLIVIER LE GAC GROUPAMA-FDJ s.t.
125 DANIEL MCLAY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
126 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC s.t.
127 JEROME COUSIN DIRECT ENERGIE s.t.
128 JURAJ SAGAN BORA-HANSGROHE + 03' 34''
129 ERIK BASKA BORA-HANSGROHE s.t.
130 MARCEL SIEBERG LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
131 JASPER DE BUYST LOTTO-SOUDAL s.t.
132 ANTONIO NIBALI BAHRAIN-MERIDA s.t.
133 FABIO SABATINI QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
134 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
135 THOMAS LEEZER LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
136 PIERRE LUC PERICHON FORTUNEO-SAMSIC + 03' 48''
137 NICOLAS EDET COFIDIS + 03' 56''
138 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 04' 11''
139 PAUL MARTENS LOTTO NL-JUMBO + 04' 18''
140 DYLAN VAN BAARLE SKY s.t.
141 LARS BOOM LOTTO NL-JUMBO s.t.
142 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN MITCHELTON-SCOTT + 04' 21''
143 TOM SCULLY EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC + 04' 46''
144 NACER BOUHANNI COFIDIS + 05' 15''
145 ILNUR ZAKARIN KATUSHA-ALPECIN + 05' 24''
146 SAM BENNETT BORA-HANSGROHE + 05' 32''
147 EDWARD THEUNS TEAM SUNWEB + 05' 43''
148 PHIL BAUHAUS TEAM SUNWEB + 05' 45''
149 MICHAEL MORKOV QUICK-STEP FLOORS + 06' 15''
150 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS GROUPAMA-FDJ + 06' 23''
151 TIM DECLERCQ QUICK-STEP FLOORS s.t.
152 LUKA PIBERNIK BAHRAIN-MERIDA + 06' 25''
153 RUI ALBERTO FARIA UAE-TEAM EMIRATES + 17' 43''

Stage 1 profile:

2018 Paris-Nice stage 1 profile


Start list with back numbers, March 3, 2018:

SKY
1 SERGIO LUIS HENAO
2 DAVID DE LA CRUZ
3 DAVID LOPEZ
4 WOUT POELS
5 DIEGO ROSA
6 IAN STANNARD
7 DYLAN VAN BAARLE
UAE-TEAM EMIRATES
11 DANIEL MARTIN
12 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM
13 RUI ALBERTO FARIA
14 ALEXANDER KRISTOFF
15 RORY SUTHERLAND
16 BEN SWIFT
17 OLIVIERO TROIA
BAHRAIN - MERIDA
21 GORKA IZAGIRRE
22 MANUELE BOARO
23 IVAN GARCIA
24 HEINRICH HAUSSLER
25 JON IZAGIRRE
26 ANTONIO NIBALI
27 LUKA PIBERNIK
QUICK - STEP FLOORS
31 JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE
32 TIM DECLERCQ
33 DRIES DEVENYNS
34 YVES LAMPAERT
35 MICHAEL MORKOV
36 FABIO SABATINI
37 ELIA VIVIANI
KATUSHA-ALPECIN
41 ILNUR ZAKARIN
42 IAN BOSWELL
43 MARCO HALLER
44 PAVEL KOCHETKOV
45 MAURITS LAMMERTINK
46 TIAGO MACHADO
47 NILS POLITT
MITCHELTON - SCOTT
51 SIMON YATES
52 JOHAN ESTEBAN CHAVES
53 ALEXANDER EDMONDSON
54 MATHEW HAYMAN
55 CHRISTOPHER JUUL-JENSEN
56 ROMAN KREUZIGER
57 MATTEO TRENTIN
AG2R LA MONDIALE
61 TONY GALLOPIN
62 MIKAEL CHEREL
63 AXEL DOMONT
64 CYRIL GAUTIER
65 OLIVER NAESEN
66 STIJN VANDENBERGH
67 ALEXIS VUILLERMOZ
BMC RACING TEAM
71 TEJAY VAN GARDEREN
72 ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI
73 JEAN-PIERRE DRUCKER
74 SIMON GERRANS
75 NICOLAS ROCHE
76 JURGEN ROELANDTS
77 DYLAN TEUNS
TREK-SEGAFREDO
81 BAUKE MOLLEMA
82 JULIEN BERNARD
83 KOEN DE KORT
84 JOHN DEGENKOLB
85 MARKEL IRIZAR
86 JARLINSON PANTANO
87 GREGORY RAST
ASTANA PRO TEAM
91 JAKOB FUGLSANG
92 OMAR FRAILE
93 DMITRIY GRUZDEV
94 HUGO HOULE
95 MAGNUS CORT NIELSEN
96 LUIS LEÓN SANCHEZ
97 MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN
LOTTO-SOUDAL
101 TIM WELLENS
102 LARS BAK YTTING
103 JASPER DE BUYST
104 THOMAS DE GENDT
105 ANDRÉ GREIPEL
106 MARCEL SIEBERG
107 JELLE WALLAYS
GROUPAMA-FDJ
111 ARNAUD DEMARE
112 MICKAEL DELAGE
113 JACOPO GUARNIERI
114 IGNATAS KONOVALOVAS
115 OLIVIER LE GAC
116 RUDY MOLARD
117 RAMON SINKELDAM
MOVISTAR TEAM
121 CARLOS BARBERO
122 RICHARD ANTONIO
123 HECTOR CARRETERO
124 IMANOL ERVITI OLLO
125 DAYER QUINTANA
126 EDUARDO SEPULVEDA
127 MARC SOLER
TEAM FORTUNEO-SAMSIC
131 WARREN BARGUIL
132 MAXIME BOUET
133 ANTHONY DELAPLACE
134 KEVIN LEDANOIS
135 AMAEL MOINARD
136 PIERRE LUC PERICHON
137 LAURENT PICHON
TEAM LOTTO NL-JUMBO
141 ROBERT GESINK
142 LARS BOOM
143 DYLAN GROENEWEGEN
144 AMUND GRONDAL JANSEN
145 THOMAS LEEZER
146 PAUL MARTENS
147 TIMO ROOSEN
TEAM SUNWEB
151 SAM OOMEN
152 PHIL BAUHAUS
153 ROY CURVERS
154 CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON
155 MIKE TEUNISSEN
156 EDWARD THEUNS
157 LOUIS VERVAEKE
COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
161 JESUS HERRADA
162 NACER BOUHANNI
163 NICOLAS EDET
164 JOSE HERRADA
165 CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE
166 CYRIL LEMOINE
167 BERT VAN LERBERGHE
EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC
171 PIERRE ROLLAND
172 MATTI BRESCHEL
173 LAWSON CRADDOCK
174 MITCHELL DOCKER
175 SEBASTIAN LANGEVELD
176 DANIEL MCLAY
177 TOM SCULLY
TEAM DIMENSION DATA
181 TOM-JELTE SLAGTER
182 NATNAEL BERHANE
183 RYAN GIBBONS
184 BENJAMIN KING
185 SERGE PAUWELS
186 JAY ROBERT THOMSON
187 JOHANN VAN ZYL
BORA-HANSGROHE
191 SAM BENNETT
192 ERIK BASKA
193 FELIX GROSSSCHARTNER
194 PATRICK KONRAD
195 PAWEL POLJANSKI
196 JURAJ SAGAN
197 MICHAEL SCHWARZMANN
DIRECT ENERGIE
201 LILIAN CALMEJANE
202 THOMAS BOUDAT
203 SYLVAIN CHAVANEL
204 JEROME COUSIN
205 FABIEN GRELLIER
206 JONATHAN HIVERT
207 ANGELO TULIK
DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM
211 ROMAIN COMBAUD
212 REMY DI GREGORIO
213 JULIEN EL FARES
214 DELIO FERNANDEZ CRUZ
215 BRENTON JONES
216 PRZEMYSLAW KASPERKIEWICZ
217 EVALDAS SISKEVICIUS

Organizer's race preview:

The 76th edition of Paris-Nice, which will take place between 4th and 11th March, will be whetting the appetites of ambitious pretenders to the crown such as Dan Martin, Tejay van Garderen or Esteban Chaves, who will be attempting to put an end to the domination of Team Sky, represented by title holder Sergio Henao. The Race to the Sun could also smile on combative French riders: Julian Alaphilippe, Tony Gallopin and Warren Barguil are not setting themselves any limits. As for Nacer Bouhanni and Arnaud Démare, they will be concentrating on the stages for the sprinters, but will have to battle with Kittel, Kristoff, Greipel and Groenewegen…

Each start to the season throws up a batch of uncertainties, raises new questions and gives opportunities to hitherto unknown riders or riders reaching maturity. Indeed, very often Paris-Nice is the stage on which the first impressions are either confirmed or swept away. In this respect, the 2018 vintage is open to a renewal of the ranks, even if Team Sky will be lining up with the title holder Sergio Henao, who started the season with a victorious defence of his Colombian Champion’s jersey. This year, neither Alberto Contador nor Richie Porte will be barring his way, but this also means that the many pretenders for victory will be all the more uninhibited. Having failed to climb higher than the 3rd step on the podium in 2017, Dan Martin is perhaps about to start a season that will be his biggest challenge to date, in his new UAE-Emirates jersey, whilst the rocket otherwise known as Esteban Chaves could finally take off this year, as hinted towards with triumph on the Tour Down Under. It will be no surprise to see Tejay van Garderen taste victory on the time-trial in Saint-Etienne and boss an event that he has never completely tamed (5th in 2012 and 4th in 2013), or to see Jakob Fuglsang (3rd on the Tour of Valencia and 4th in Andalusia) dominate the competition at the resort of Colmiane in a similar manner to his winning ride on the Dauphiné at the Plateau de Solaison. Similarly, Ilnur Zakarin could perhaps seize the opportunity to win a stage race that has escaped him since the Tour of Romandie in 2015, if he shows as convincing form as on the day of his victory at the Madone d’Utelle (in 2016).

However, these new circumstances also hang on the capacity of the French riders to battle with the best on a route that seems well-suited to the potential of certain Gallic leaders. For example, the finish on the stage into Meudon looks like an invitation for Julian Alaphilippe to make a break for the first yellow jersey of the week. A stage victory on his first race this year in Colombia gives him at least legitimate hopes of doing so, as well as improving on a final 5th place obtained in Nice last year. This will also be the goal of Tony Gallopin (6th in 2015), who has shown himself to be on especially good form in his new colours of AG2R - La Mondiale, winning the Etoile de Bessèges and coming 2nd on the Tour of Provence. Also with a brand new jersey, Warren Barguil will be counting on the final three stages of Paris-Nice to launch a season worthy of his performance on Le Tour in 2017. Lilian Calmejane may also be looking to convert the polka dot jersey won one year ago into a yellow one.

French hopes in the general classification will be accompanied by the prospects of their two best sprinters, Nacer Bouhanni and Arnaud Démare, who should find opportunities to express themselves in Vierzon (stage 2), Chatel-Guyon (stage 3) and why not in Sisteron (stage 5). Both men will be looking toward the Via Roma in San Remo, which will also be in the sights of other former winners on Paris-Nice such as Sam Bennett, Marcel Kittel, André Greipel or Alexander Kristoff. There will not be enough winners’ bouquets for everybody.