Cycling: what a start! Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that boring flat stage! On the first leg of the Paris-Nice long-distance journey, the spectators saw an exciting race. In the end, Frenchman Arnaud Démare (FDJ) won ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin). The field was torn into several parts by a strong side wind. As a result, many of the favorites already had to accept a deficit today. Emanuel Buchman (Bora-hansgrohe) is no longer there.
Sunweb, Bora-hansgrohe & almost all class riders gone with the wind
For many cycling professionals and fans, this is an excellent choice race to the sun the actual start of the new season. A top field of drivers will accompany us again this year on eight sections. Today started with a 148,5 kilometer flat stage starting and finishing in Bois d'Arcy. But it should definitely not come to a boring stage. Once again the crosswind swept through the peloton. The four escapees who broke away after five kilometers had no idea of this: Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie), Kristjan Koren (Cannondale-Drapac), Romain Hardy (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) and Gatis Smukulis (Delko-Marseille). While the quartet was able to extend their lead to more than seven minutes, the field split into several parts. Many names were traded, but the spectators only got a precise overview during the course of the race. From a German point of view, both positive and negative things were reported. Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) and André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) were in the first large field of around 30 drivers. However, Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) and the whole team from Sunweb and Bora-hansgrohe could not be found at the front. Likewise, most of the classification drivers. Only Jon Izaguirre (Bahrain-Merida), Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar), Sergio Henao (Sky) and Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) made it into the first group.
Behind for the favorites - Démare wins the opening stage
At this high speed, the escape group was caught up earlier than usual. The gap between the two fields of drivers meanwhile increased to more than a minute. The course of the race was reminiscent of a classic. Shortly before the finish - by the way very close to the Palace of Versailles - there was still a small climb on the program. There, the respective driver fields were further thinned out and the second group was able to reduce the gap again. Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) launched an attack. Together with the French top sprinter Arnaud Démare (FDJ) he opened up a gap. In the sprint, however, he had no chance. Strong performance by Démare, who was also able to conquer the leader's jersey. The two Germans Kittel and Greipel had to let go shortly before the finish. The arrival after this tough race was too difficult. After crossing the finish line, the spectators watched the clock: how big should the favorites be? Richie Porte (BMC) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r) arrived 47 seconds later. Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) even lost 64 seconds to the winner. Things went even worse for Emanuel Buchmann: The German couldn't finish the race after an early fall.
Paris-Nice Stage #1: The day's result
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Arnaud Demare | France | FDJ | 3:22:43 |
2. | Julian Alaphilippe | France | Quick Step Floors | st |
3. | alexander kristoff | Norway | Katusha Alpecin | + 0: 09 |
9. | Sergio Henao | Colombia | Sky | + 0: 09 |
10. | Gorka Izaguirre | Spain | Movistar | + 0: 19 |
16. | Richie porte | Australia | BMC | + 0: 47 |
17. | Romain Bardet | France | Ag2r | st |
18. | Ilnur Zakarin | Russia | Katusha Alpecin | st |
20. | Warren Barguil | France | Sunweb | + 1: 03 |
21. | Alberto counter | Spain | Trek-Segafredo | + 1: 04 |
23. | Jon Izaguirre | Spain | Bahrain-Merida | st |
24. | Simon yates | Great Britain | Orica Scott | st |
37. | Steven Kruijswijk | Netherlands | LottoNL Jumbo | + 2: 28 |
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