The 71st Paris-Nice begins on March 3 and will end the following Sunday in the azure city. As every year, it becomes a full-scale training session before the Tour de France, which will also take place on the Côte d’Azur. Here’s a brief overview of the stages and the numerous contenders for the final victory.
For this 71st Paris-Nice, the organizers have again crafted tricky stages over the 1,174 km course. After a prologue in the streets of Houilles (Yvelines), the cyclists will depart from St Germain-en-Laye towards Seine-et-Marne, specifically in Nemours. A stage designed for sprinters, similar to the second one between Vimory and Cérilly. The big names in world sprinting, such as Tom Boonen, Alessandro Pettachi, Jakob Fuglsang, Marcel Kittel, Nacer Bouhanni, winner of the last stage of the Tour of Oman, and many others (Spilak, Viviani, Beppu, Meersman, Bozic, De Gendt,…) will have to fight to break out from the pack.
On Friday, the Montagne de Lure and its 13.8 km ascent could very well be the turning point of this new edition. At an altitude of 1,600 meters, the highest finish in the history of the race, the winner of the stage would take a strong stance for the final victory. But watch out for the Nice weekend. On Saturday, we have the longest stage (220 km) between Manosque and Nice, ending on the Promenade des Anglais.
It’s especially on Sunday that the situation could be reshuffled. Just like last year and on the same course, the last stage will take place against the clock (1) towards the Col d’Eze. 9.6 km with a start on the Boulevard Bischoffen, winding through the Route de l’Observatoire and the Grande Corniche up to Eze. A chance for time-trial specialists and climbers to make their final move.
A long list of contenders for the final victory
In the absence of the defending champion, the Briton Bradley Wiggins (2), it’s quite difficult to place the favorite label on any of the competitors of La Route du Soleil. Team-Sky has not fielded their leaders for this Paris-Nice. Only Richie Porte and Vasilli Kiryienka might disrupt the order in the mountains and the last time trial.
However, the list remains exhaustive for the future winner of the race. Nonetheless, this new edition still features some big names. We can of course include in this shortlist the names of Ivan Basso, always well-positioned in the Grand Tours, Maxime Monfort (3), Thomas Lövkist, Denis Menchov, Robert Gesink, Nicolas Roche, Tejay van Garderen, Andreas Klöden. On the French side, there’s notable participation from Thomas Voeckler, Jérémy Roy, and Sylvain Chavanel, who could fit into the potential outsiders.
So, people of Nice, before thinking about the Tour de France time trial in the streets of the azure capital on July 2, perhaps come and see the next big hitters of the Grande Boucle on the weekend of March 9-10.
