DAY -1 : PARIS NICE NEWS
March 6 th 2021 - 18:01
Key points: > The 79th edition of Paris-Nice kicks off with a 166-km circuit around St Cyr L’Ecole on Sunday expected to suit the best sprinters of the field, among them Demare, Matthews, Bennett, Ackermann, Nizzolo, Philipsen, Bauhaus, Colbrelli, Laporte, Coquard or Pedersen.
> For the final GC in Nice a week later, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) appears like the overwhelming favourite even if the Race to the Sun is his first of the season. The current Vuelta champion can expect tough competition from a strong Ineos Grenadiers team led by former winner Richie Porte and 2020 Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers).
> French hopes are resting on the shoulders of Pierre Latour, Guillaume Martin, Warren Barguil and David Gaudu, all aiming at top ten of top five GC standings. Sprinters expected to shine
Sprinters exepcted to shine on day one
Paris-Nice race director François Lemarchand is expecting a more classic bunch sprint finish than in previous years in Sunday’s 166-km opener around St Cyr L’Ecole. “There are sections exposed to the wind on the two laps of the course but they’re less demanding than in recent editions,” Lemarchand told paris-nice.fr “There should be a solid bunch in the finale along the Palace of Versailles,” he added, citing riders like Sam Bennett, Arnaud Demare or Michael Matthews among the favourites. The former pro warned that a few bumps on the circuit might be treacherous, especially the Cote de Chateaufort, 15 km from the finish at the top of which a bonus sprint will be held. “The leading sprinters won’t be going for it but it could be an opportunity to drop some of them because it’s very steep,” he said. Among the sprinters to have held the yellow jersey early in Paris-Nice feature Matthews (2016), Demare (2017 and 2018) and Nacer Bouhanni (2013 and 2014). But lots of other strong finishers can hope to snatch the overall leading, aming them Sam Bennett, Pascal Ackermann, Giacomo Nizzolo, Jasper Philipsen, Phil Bauhaus, Sonny Colbrelli, Christophe Laporte, Bryan Coquard or Mads Pedersen…
Roglic – “I couldn’t wait for the start of the season”
Vuelta winner and Tour de France runner-up Primoz Roglic starts the 2021 season on the Road to the Sun as a clear favourite at the lead of a super-strong Jumbo-Visma team, including other experienced stage race specialists like Steven Kruijswijk, George Bennett or Sam Oomen, who joined from Team Sunweb this season. After pre-season training in Tenerife, the Slovenian made it clear he was eager to resume competition. “At the beginning of the season, it is always a matter of seeing how everything goes. I like the new bike and the disc brakes are a step forward. I also have confidence in the team”, he told his team’s official website. “When I saw how well the guys rode in the UAE, I couldn't wait for the start of the season. The altitude training camp in Tenerife went as planned and I want to be the best version of myself in the upcoming races,” he added. Sports director Grischa Niermann made it clear Paris-Nice was the first big goal lof the season for Jumbo Visma: “We are going for the win with Roglic in the general classification. After the third and fourth stages we can see whether we should defend a lead or attack in the final stages.” Roglic won his first races of the season both last year in the Tour de l’Ain and in the 2019 UAE Tour.
Geoghegan Hart wants to be “up there in the mix”
2020 Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart had a promising start to the season when he finished 10th in the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var and 2nd in the queen stage. In only his second Paris-Nice – he finished 32nd in 2019 as a team-mate of final winner Egan Bernal –, the Briton will spearhead Ineos Grenadiers along with 2013 and 2015 winner Richie Porte, with former time trial world champion Rohan Dennis also in the squad and looking forward to Tuesday’s TT in Gien. “It still feels a bit like the first race of my season almost, but that’s exciting. I have really great memories of this race from 2019, when Egan won. Of course it’s going to be hard to emulate that but we come in with a super, super strong and balanced team and we’re all excited for the eight days to come - it’s such a prestigious race with a lot of history,” the 25-year-old Londoner said. “I want to try and be up there in the mix. Haut Var, my first race, was a good first step this season and I feel like I’ve progressed since then in training. The first TT of the year will be interesting and with myself, Richie, Rohan of course for the time trial as well, and with the team we have here I think we can be competitive every day. It’s a race of two or even three parts but we’ll be looking to get involved every day,” he added.
How about the French?
While they do not start with the same ambitions as Primoz Roglic or Tao Geoghegan Hart, the Frenchmen on Paris-Nice will be looking for podium places. Among the four local riders expected to do well, Pierre Latour (Direct Energie) hopes to leave the painful memories of his crash in the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var behind by clinching “the best possible GC position”. “If it’s not feasible, why not go for a stage win?” The goals are exactly identical at Cofidis with Guillaume Martin, at his best last weekend in Ardeche and Drome: “The beginning of the week is crucial, you’ll have to avoid crashes and see whether it is possible to have a good GC result. Otherwise I will have to focus more on a stage win”, he echoed on his team’s website. Warren Barguil also displayed good form in the South of France in recent weeks, but David Gaudu did even better by winning the Ardeche race last weekend. Leading Groupama-FDJ in Paris-Nice for the first time, the Breton winner of two Vuelta stages in 2020 is up for the challenge: “I hope for the best possible overall standing, a top 10 at least. The icing on the cake would be to go for a Top 5.”
TV : 33 brodcasters
The images of the 2021 Paris-Nice will be broadcast in 190 countries thanks to 33 rights holders (vs 31 in 2020), including 24 broadcasters who will broadcast at least one stage live. Among them, Basque channel ETB will show for the first time the Race to the Sun live.