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Vlasov and Luis Leon Sanchez are just on the cusp of bridging across when the peloton sweeps up the move. Cyril Gautier (B&B Hotels) is the last man standing from the move, but he won't last long out in front alone.
-12km
Luis Leon Sanchez and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) are trying to bridge across to this group, which is dangling just 10 seconds or so ahead of the bunch.
Seven riders are in front: Tiesj Benoot, Pierre Latour, Cyril Gautier, Kristian Sbaragli, Edward Theuns, Mattia Catteno and David de la Cruz.
Kristian Sbaragli (Alpecin-Fenix) goes across to Latour, and four other riders are coming across to the two leaders...
-15km
Pierre Latour (Total Direct Energie) senses a lull after the sprint and he tries to break clear.
-15.5km
Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) accelerates to win the uphill sprint ahead of Tiesj Benoot (DSM) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo). Matthews has picked up five bonus seconds today but that was a big, big effort to make with the finish just over 15km away.
-17km
BikeExchange wind up the pace at the head of the peloton. Matthews may well be minded to seek more bonus seconds at the sprint.
-17.5km
Bike-Exchange, Bora-Hansgrohe, UAE Team Emirates and Groupama-FDJ are occupying the prime real estate at the head of the peloton as Goossens is eventually reeled in.
Goossens remains out in front with a lead of 8 seconds or so. He turns his head intermittently, as though expecting to be reeled in at any time, but the gap isn't closing as quickly as he'd anticipated.
-20km
Kobe Goossens (Lotto Soudal) carries a lead of 12 seconds into the final 20km.
The second intermediate sprint comes with 15.5km to go, with a 3-second time bonus for the first across the line.
Team BikeExchange, Cofidis and Groupama-FDJ occupy the front positions in the peloton, 22 seconds behind the lone leader Goossens.
-22km
Break:
Kobe Goossens (Lotto Soudal)
Peloton at 0:23
Another crash in the peloton sees Maxime Bouet (Arkea-Samsic) and Kaden Groves (BikeExchange) go down. Ben Swift was held up behind them, but he managed to avoid falling.
20 seconds for Kobe Goossens over the peloton.
-25km
Lotto Soudal continue their aggression, with another man in red and black slinging himself off the front of the peloton after the climb. Kobe Goosens has opened a small lead over the bunch.
-25.5km
Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) was in front as the peloton crested the summit. Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie) will wear the polka dots on the podium this afternoon.
The pace drops on the climb after the break was swept up, with the sprinters' teams content with the current detente as they approach the summit.
Gilbert, Perez and Oldani are caught by the peloton on the lower slopes of the Côte de Méridon (1.4km at 5.2%).
-27km
Break:
Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal), Stefano Oldani (Lotto Soudal), Anthony Perez (Cofidis)
Peloton at 0:06
-29km
Out in front, Doubey looked to have led over the climb to secure the king of the mountains jersey, even if the on-screen graphic suggests otherwise. In any case, Doubey has since sat up and been caught by the bunch. Gilbert, Perez and Oldani remain in front, but with just 14 seconds on the peloton.
Porte is back on his bike again, seemingly eager to continue the race. He is pedalling very gingerly but apparently keen to get to the finish of the day's stage at least.
Vlasov and Dennis are quickly back in the race. Richie Porte, meanwhile, looks to be injured. He remounts and starts riding gingerly but then he steps off his bike again and seeks aid from the race doctor. He leans against the car, grimacing, and it looks as though his race could be over.
Another crash in the peloton, with Richie Porte (Ineos), Connor Swift (Arkea-Samsic) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) among the fallers. Rohan Dennis (Ineos) was also held up behind the crash.
Gilbert continues to dictate the terms at the head of the break on the Côte de Senlisse. 25 seconds the gap to the bunch.
The escapees are approaching the category 3 Côte de Senlisse (1.1km at 5.5%), where Doubey will hope to pick up a point to secure the king of the mountains jersey this evening.
-35km
Arkea-Samsic begin to move up in the peloton on behalf of Nacer Bouhanni. The scramble for positions is slowly getting underway in the bunch ahead of what is sure to be a breathless finale.
Oldani, a second-year professional from Milan, is performing well alongside his Lotto teammate Gilbert in this break. Perez is coming through as well, and Doubey is contributing as best he can after a long time alone off the front of the race. This quartet still has 30 seconds in hand on the peloton.
A crash at the rear of the peloton sees a couple of riders end up on the ground. Matthias Brandle (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Sander Armee (Qhubeka-Assos) are the two fallers. Both are back on their bikes anc chasing back, though Armee is pedalling a little gingerly.
-40km
Break:
Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal), Stefano Oldani (Lotto Soudal), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie)
Peloton at 0:31
Bruno Armirail sets the pace in the peloton for Groupama-FDJ, 28 seconds down on Gilbert et al.
Delegations from Ineos and BikeExchange move towards the front row of the peloton as the road narrows slightly.
Gilbert is fully committed to his effort at the head of the race. The Belgian has raced as early and often as the often bare early-season calendar allowed, lining out in the GP La Marseillaise, Etoile de Besseges, Tour de la Provence and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where he placed 5th. Milan-San Remo - the one monument missing from his palmares - is the first major target of his campaign.
-46km
Break:
Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal), Stefano Oldani (Lotto Soudal), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie)
Peloton at 0:28
There is no change in attitude just yet from Groupama-FDJ, Trek-Segafredo and Deceuninck-QuickStep, who maintain a steady tempo at the head of the peloton.
Lawless sits up and is caught by the peloton, which is 19 seconds behind Gilbert, Oldani, Perez and Doubey.
Gilbert jumps again and only Perez and Oldani can come with him initially, while the two Total Direct Energie riders are caught flat footed. Doubey is the first to make it up to them, while Lawless is still trying to get across.
-51km
Break:
Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal), Stefano Oldani (Lotto Soudal), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Chris Lawless (Total Direct Energie), Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie)
Peloton at 0:18
-52km
Gilbert, Oldani, Perez and Lawless join Doubey at the front, 20 seconds clear of the peloton.
Gilbert asks for a turn from Lawless, who points to his earpiece and refuses. Gilbert throws up a hand in exasperation but he keeps riding and the quartet is about to bridge up to Doubey.
Anthony Perez (Cofidis) and Chris Lawless (Total Direct Energie) have come with the Lotto Soudal duo.
-57km
Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal) attacks from the peloton with teammate Stefano Oldani on his wheel.
Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) sets the tempo in the peloton, just over a minute down on the lone leader Doubey.
-58km
The peloton is navigating some exposed roads on this sector of the route but the relatively gentle wind means that echelons are not as much of a concern as they might have been. Even so, the GC contenders will be vigilant on the run-in.
The road rises gradually in the final kilometre and it's hard to say who exactly that will favour. Sam Bennett, Arnaud Demare and Michael Matthews all have a decent track record of winning sprints on gently rising finales.
-61km
Doubey's lead is continuing to fall even if the peloton is not yet racing with particular urgency. 1:19 the gap.
The opening stage of Paris-Nice felt like the private property of Arnaud Démare between 2016 and 2018, when he claimed the spoils in three successive years. The French champion has started Paris-Nice every year since 2015 but finished it just once, in 2019.
It doesn't appear that any riders suffered lasting injury that crash, with the fallers tumbling into the grass banking and quickly remounting.
A crash towards the front of the peloton sees a number of riders come down, including Laurens De Plus (Ineos). The Belgian is quickly back on his bike and chasing back on calmly in the company of Ben O'Connor (AG2R-Citroen).
-66km
Break:
Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie)
Peloton at 1:26
The pace is gradually rising in the peloton, which is now 1:39 down on Doubey. Gorupama-FDJ, Deceuninck-QuickStep and Trek-Segafredo are positioned near the front and a delegation from Ineos is now moving up.
-70km
Deceuninck-QuickStep, Trek-Segafredo and Groupama-FDJ are among the teams present in numbers towards the head of the peloton, which is 2:07 down on Doubey. It's difficult to imagine today's stage escaping the clutches of the sprinters, but the opening stage of Paris-Nice has a tendency to produce all sorts of drama, from last year's breathless finale in Plaisir to Romain Bardet's expulsion on the corresponding stage in 2017.
There's another intermediate sprint, again in Chateaufort, with 15.5km to go.
Doubey led the peloton through the first of the day's intermediate sprints at Chateaufort, incidentally, where he picked up 3 bonus seconds, while Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) won the sprint for 2 seconds in the peloton ahead of Ben Swift (Ineos), who collected one bonus second.
-74km
Break:
Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie)
Peloton at 2:38
Away from Paris-Nice, Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) has just continued his fine recent run with sprint victory at the GP Jean-Pierre Monseré ahead of one Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-QuickStep). The Belgian kicked from a long, long way out and although Cavendish finished strongly, he had too much ground to make up to take the win.
-83km
Doubey, meanwhile, has completed the first of the stage's two long laps and he came through the start-finish line with a lead of 3:25 over the peloton.
Sam Bennett and Arnaud Démare are perhaps the favourites for today's stage and they were certaintly among the peloton's outstanding sprinters in 2020. The Frenchman was absent from the Tour de France, however, while Bennett opted for the Vuelta instead of the Giro, so their head-to-head encounters were limited when the season resumed after the lockdown. Démare won two stages of the Tour de Wallonnie to Bennett’s one, but the Irishman had the better of their encounter at the Vuelta a Burgos when he summoned up a remarkably long effort to win in Roa de Duero. This is their first meeting in 2021.
-92km
The slow but inexorable process of paring down Doubey's lead is underway. His buffer is down to 4:10.
Declercq led the peloton over the Côte de Senlisse, while Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) led the peloton over the following Côte de Méridon. Bernard had previously taken third on the Senlisse, but the provisional lead in the mountains classification is, of course, with Doubey, who led over each ascent to pick up six points.
-103km
Tim Declercq has been setting the tempo at the head of the peloton on behalf of Sam Bennett and Deceuninck-QuickStep, keeping Doubey's lead at just over 5 minutes.
-114km
Doubey's advantage has stabilised at around the 5-minute mark, and the sprinters' teams will be content to hold him at that distance for the time being.
Doubey is over the day's first climb, the Côte de Senlisse (1.1km at 5.5%), and heading towards the second, the Côte de Méridon (1.4km at 5.2%). The race will come back and tackle this ascents again on the second of the two laps.
Per letour.fr, Doubey has covered 43km in the opening hour of racing, and his lead over the peloton has stretched out further, to 5:25.
-123km
Break:
Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie)
Peloton at 5:00
-128km
For the time being, the only man involved in racing at Paris-Nice is Fabien Doubey and the Total Direct Energie rider has stretched his lead out to five minutes.
Giro d'Italia champion Tao Geoghegan Hart is flanked by two-time Paris-Nice winner Richie Porte, Rohan Dennis, Laurens De Plus and Ben Swift in a strong Ineos team this week. "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," Geoghegan Hart said. "It’s a race of two or even three parts but we’ll be looking to get involved every day." Read more here.
-138km
Doubey continues to build his lead, which has now yawned out to 3:35 over the peloton.
The 27-year-old Doubey has yet to win a race as a professional but he is a puncheur who has had some solid results in short stage races, including 11th overall at last year’s Paris-Nice and 8th at the previous year’s Tour of Oman. He was also in the winning move at the Trofeo Matteotti in 2019, placing 4th behind Matteo Trentin.
-141km
Break:
Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie)
Peloton at 1:35
-146km
Nobody looks eager to come with Doubey, who appears to have been given his day pass by the peloton. The Frenchman has a lead of almost a minute over the bunch.
-150km
Fabien Doubey (Total Direct Energie) has managed to escape the peloton and open a small lead. The Frenchman arrived at Jean-Rene Bernaudeau's team this winter after four years at Wanty-Gobert.
Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) is back to defend his overall title, but the field of challengers is deep. Jai Hindley is here for his 2021 debut alongside DSM teammate Tiesj Benoot, Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk lead a strong Jumbo-Visma squad, while Ineos Grenadiers have brought Tao Geoghegan Hart, Riche Porte and Laurens De Plus. Aleksander Vlasov (Astana), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Lucas Hamilton (BikeExchange), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) are others to observe with interest.
-158km
The speed is brisk in the opening kilometres and no break has been able to form as yet.
Today’s opening stage lends itself to a sprint and the volume of fast men in the peloton means there should be plenty of teams minded to keep this race together in the finale. Among the fast finishers on show today are Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Michael Matthews (BikeExchange), Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) and Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic).
-166km
The peloton has passed through kilometre zero and the 2021 Paris-Nice is officially underway. The Race to the Sun often involves riding through some especially miserable conditions to get to the Riviera - witness the corresponding stage a year ago - but conditions are mercifully pleasant this afternoon. It's not warm - the temperature is 8°C - but the sun is shining and the wind is a gentle 8kph.
The peloton is making its way through the neutralised zone en route to kilometre zero. Today's stage is composed of two laps of a 50-mile circuit starting and finishing in Saint-Cyr-l'École on the western fringe of Paris. The circuit includes the category 3 climbs of the Côte de Senlisse (1.1km at 5.5%) and the Côte de Méridon (1.4km at 5.2%), but with 26km from the top of the latter to the finish, it's hard to see past the sprinters this afternoon. But then again, anything can happen on any given day at Paris-Nice - and it usually does.
After a typically enthralling edition of Strade Bianche, the WorldTour continues with Paris-Nice. Stage 1 starts and finishes in Saint-Cyr-l'École. There four category 3 climbs on the agenda but the fast men will fancy their chances of making it over those obstacles and fighting it out for the win. The stage gets underway in 13.00 CET.
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March 07, 2021 at 06:54PM
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Paris-Nice stage 1 - Live coverage | Cyclingnews - Cyclingnews.com
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