Paris-Nice

Follow all the action as Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard headline stellar field in prestigious eight-stage race.

I hope the next days will be something similar,” Pogačar said. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) attacked repeatedly earlier in the stage before he went solo out of a fractured peloton at 15km to go. He now wears the leader’s jersey into stage 2 on Monday.

The 81st Paris-Nice, the Race to the Sun, kicked off on Sunday with a sprint in La Verrière where Belgian champion Tim Merlier nabbed his third WorldTour ...

Rather than take the time of the fourth or fifth rider across the line, as is the case of most team time trials, the time will be taken on the first rider. Paris-Nice’s 2023 innovation is a tweak on the Stage 3 team time trial, which returns to the Race to the Sun for the first time since 1993. The 81st Paris-Nice, the Race to the Sun, kicked off on Sunday with a sprint in La Verrière where Belgian champion Tim Merlier nabbed his third WorldTour victory of the season.

Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier won a battle of the fast men to take the first stage of Paris-Nice on Sunday in La Verriere.

"A lot of stress in the peloton." "We got the gap but we were just two guys working, it was enough and a head wind also. Waited in the bunch and safely across the finish line."

Belgian national champion tops Bennett and Pedersen in a bunch kick.

By Adam Becket • Published Bora-Hansgrohe made a well-timed surge to the front on the finishing straight, allowing Bennett to open the proceedings as he launched to his right. From there, things settled down again briefly as the sprinters' teams worked their way into place. Within moments, Merlier had pulled into the lead, and he maintained a healthy advantage all the way to the line. He was caught on the run-in to the day's final climb, the Côte de Dis-sept Tournants, where it was Pogačar's turn to fire a salvo. Things came back together before long, but then Powless fired off the front solo. With 20km to go, Powless put in a big surge that forced splits in the bunch, with Pogačar looking strong in response as others scrambled to cover the move. The pack gave the move some breathing room at first, with the gap going up and over three minutes before it settled there or thereabouts for a while. The opening stage of Paris-Nice started and finished in La Verrière with 169.5 km of racing on what was essentially a large circuit of rolling hills. "It was a hard day definitely because a there was a lot of stress in the peloton. The two-time Tour de France winner managed to work his way clear of his rivals near the top of the climb, where he was the first to cross the intermediate sprint line for six bonus seconds ahead of Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Dorian Godon (Ag2r Citroën). There was a steep climb 19 kilometres from the finish that was also big tactically.

Tadej Pogacar collected a bonus on the last climb to take a six-second advantage over the reigning Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard, which could be ...

"A lot of stress in the peloton." "We got the gap, but we were just two guys working, it was enough and a head wind also. Vingegaard gave chase but crested fourth to miss the bonus.

Even on an opening stage that ended in a bunch kick, Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) did not waste an opportunity to nab a few of seconds on his GC rivals ...

By Adam Becket • Published Another sprinter-friendly stage awaits on Monday before Tuesday's stage 3 team time trial will almost certainly see further developments in the overall battle. "I straightened up and decided to save some strength. The move wasn't quite over on the climb, however, with Pogačar, Latour, and Vingegaard linking up to form a three-rider lead group, if only for a short while. Things came back together, then Powless went solo for a while, and then the pack regrouped – only for Pogačar to make his own attack on the Côte de Dis-sept Tournants. Fortunately for the Slovenian, things started to improve with "every hour," something he would like to see continue over the course of the race.

A lively start to the 81st Paris-Nice saw Danish fast man Mads Pedersen sprint to the podium after a tense final. Pre-race favorite Tadej Pogačar attacked ...

At the bonus sprint I knew Pogačar and the others would go for it, and I was also pretty sure that if they had a gap they would keep going, but it was a tough finish with that headwind in the final 4km. In the end I came quite fast, so it’s a good sign for the rest of the race. All four escapees were eventually reeled in in time for a sprint finish, but it was far from a straightforward run in with a series of corners in the final kilometer.