The most anticipated Paris-Nice started, with the last two winners of the Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar (UAE) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo) on the starting line of the “Carrera del Sol” to test themselves at the beginning of the season. And it was the Slovenian who struck first by taking the intermediate sprint bonus of the Cote des Dix-Sept Tournants and gaining a further 6 second advantage in the general classification. Stage victory went to Belgian champion Tim Merlier, who was fastest in the mass finish at La Verriere and took the first yellow jersey ahead of Sam Bennett and Mads Pedersen.
It was the fourth win of the season for Merlier and the eleventh for Soudal, who tops the UCI table for the year. Pogacar and Vingegaard completed the stage without any difficulty and crossed the finish line with the peloton, without losing seconds. In the general classification, Tim Merlier dominates the table with a margin of 4 seconds over Bennett and Tadej Pogacar and 10 over Vingegaard. Nine Spanish cyclists are participating in this year’s Paris-Nice, highlighting the presence of the 2009 winner, Luis León Sánchez (Astana). First in the first stage was Iván García Cortina (Movistar), who tried to find a surprise in the final sprint and finished seventh.
The agendas of the two main promoters of the international peloton coincided earlier than expected on the French roads. Tadej Pogacar already has the Tirreno-Adriatico and this year he chose to participate in Paris-Nice in search of the jersey he lacked. In a difficult and interesting route, Jonas Vingegaard chose to test himself in this race, following the planning set by Jumbo-Visma for Primoz Roglic when he sought to win the Tour. And, certainly, it will be difficult to see Pogacar and Vingegaard again in the same test before the ‘Grande Boucle’, which will be held on its usual dates from July 1 to 23.
Paris-Nice consists of 8 stages with a total of 1,200 demanding kilometers and a highly anticipated novelty, the team time trial of the third stage in Dampierre-en-Burly. This day against the clock will introduce a change with respect to the usual timing system and, instead of keeping the record of the fourth team member to cross the finish line, now only the time of the first to reach the end will be recorded. This novelty, which will force the teams to propose new strategies, will serve as a test bed to perform it in the Tour de France in the near future.
This Monday’s stage will have a 164-kilometer route between Bazainville and Fontainebleau and it will be another good chance for the sprinters to add another victory. The peloton had to be attentive to possible fans generated by the wind, which blows strongly in this area southwest of Paris.
Source: La Verdad
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