THE COURSE
1235.5 kilometers long, it is made up of eight stages, from Saint-Cyr-l’École (Yvelines) to Nice (Alpes-Maritimes).
STEPS
Sunday March 7: Saint-Cyr-l’École – Saint-Cyr-l’École, 166 km.
Monday 8: Oinville-sur-Montcient (Yvelines) – Amilly (Loiret), 188 km.
Mardi 9 : Gien (Loiret) – Gien, 14.4 km (individual time trial).
Wednesday 10: Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire) – Chiroubles (Rhône), 187.5 km.
Thursday 11: Vienne (Isère) – Bollène (Vaucluse), 200 km.
Friday 12: Brignoles (Var) – Biot (Alpes-Maritimes), 202.5 km.
Saturday 13: Nice – La Colmiane (Alpes-Maritimes), 166.5 km.
Sunday 14: Nice – Nice, 110,5 km.
THE 23 TEAMS (of 7 riders)
AG2R-Citroën, Arkea-Samsic, B&B Hotels p / b KTM, Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ, Total Direct Énergie (Fra), Alpecin-Fenix, Deceuninck-Quick Step, Intermarché-Wanty Gobert Matériaux, Lotto-Soudal (Bel), Bora-Hansgrohe, DSM (All), EF Education-Nippo, Trek-Segafredo (EU), Astana (Kaz), Bahrain Victorious (Bhr), BikeExchange (Aus), Ineos Grenadiers (GB), Israel Start-Up Nation (Isr ), Jumbo-Visma (PB), Movistar (Esp), Qhubeka Assos (AfS), UAE Emirates (EAU).
THE RULE
10, 6 and 4 seconds bonus to the first three of the online stages, 3 ”, 2 ” and 1 ” to the first three of the intermediate sprints of each stage.
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AT his turn, Primoz Roglic, world number 1 in cycling, begins his season and embarks on the “race to the sun”, the other name of Paris-Nice, which begins on Sunday with a stage near the Palace of Versailles.
Greatly beaten in the Tour de France but then winner of the Vuelta – his last appearance in competition, on November 8 – the Slovenian won all the votes despite the presence of the Englishman Tao Geoghegan Hart, the winner of the Giro, and of the German Maximilian Schachmann, the defending champion, in the peloton of twenty-three teams.
It doesn’t matter that Roglic leaves a training camp in Tenerife without the slightest day of racing: the race route, which includes a 14-kilometer time trial on Tuesday, and two selective finishes in Beaujolais, Wednesday, and the Nice hinterland, Saturday, is tailored to its measures. “The altitude training went as planned and I want to show my best face in the races to come”, declares the one who says seek “To progress in all areas”. With the support of a strong Jumbo-Visma formation, it is also armed for the first two stages, exposed to the wind and suitable for edges depending on the weather.
The last French to win was Laurent Jalabert, in 1997
Attracted by the menu which offers them three opportunities (Saint-Cyr-l’École, Amilly, Bollène), the sprinters came in numbers for what promises to be a March festival. With, as headliners, the French champion Arnaud Démare and the Irish Sam Bennett, who will face a few other big names (Nacer Bouhanni, Bryan Coquard, Pascal Ackermann, Giacomo Nizzolo, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Philipsen, Alexander Kristoff, Phil Bauhaus, Michael Matthews, Matteo Trentin) from the first day, for the arrival judged behind closed doors after a small climb in the Saint-Cyr locality.
For climbers (David Gaudu, Aleksandr Vlasov, Jai Hindley), damage should be limited on the side of Gien (Loiret) on Tuesday. Geoghegan Hart, who raced Paris-Nice only once as a teammate (in 2019), knows the equation, just like the Australian Richie Porte (victorious in 2013 and 2015), returned this winter to the fold (Ineos) .
Laurent Jalabert is the last Frenchman to have won – in 1997 – this lively and often uncertain race, which is played out in seconds as soon as the time trial leaves narrow gaps.
The number
7
The record for the number of victories, set by Irishman Sean Kelly between 1982 and 1988.
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