Paris-Nice Preview

This 12 months’s “race to the solar” guarantees to be illuminating with the duel between Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel because the headline contest, entertaining in itself, informative about future contests just like the Tour de France. Don’t name this a mini-Tour, there’s no solo time trial and there aren’t any lengthy summit finishes, do name it a rehearsal for July for a number of contenders and their groups.

Route reminder
Paris to Good, like a sandwich it’s what’s between that counts. There’s a full take a look at the route from December however in order for you a fast abstract:

It begins on Sunday with a gap stage with potential trapdoors to fall down.
Monday’s stage is for the sprinters however is uncovered if the wind will get up, the newest forecast says it might be stormy within the coming days however Monday afternoon is calm.
Tuesday is the crew time trial, with the “new” guidelines launched final 12 months the place riders get the time they cross the road with fairly than it being depending on a crew’s fourth rider and whereas this may be the speaking level, the course has climbing within the first half that’ll make issues difficult for the rouleur engines that the GC contenders depend on.

Wednesday is an intriguing stage, it appears onerous already on paper and the difficult Mont Brouilly end grabs consideration however there’s a troublesome method, it’s arguably the toughest stage of the race; the mountain levels to return are extra predictable
Thursday is a probable dash stage to Sisteron however with over 2,000m of climbing
Friday’s stage reaches the hills behind Good with extra climbing alongside the way in which and a troublesome hill in direction of the end to go well with the breakaway or punchy GC contenders.

Saturday is the massive set piece mountain stage with the climb of La Colmiane earlier than the ski station summit end in Auron
The race concludes on Sunday with the now basic finale. Simply 109km, it’s into the hills by way of Peille and Saint-Pancrace then the Col d’Eze and the Col des Quatres Chemins with the stinging Chemin du Vinaigrier, a kilometre at 13% because the final climb earlier than the descent into Good
There are time bonuses of 10-6-4 seconds on the end line and 6-4-2 seconds on the intermediate dash.

The Contenders

Primož Roglič has a combined relationship with Paris-Good. A win in 2022 constructed on the again of his well-known potential to dash for the road uphill and likewise with massive assist from Wout van Aert; however a loss in 2021 when he was main the race however crashed. On paper the race is made for him, the week-long format, the uphill finishes the place he can take stage wins and time bonuses. Whereas his season is all concerning the Tour de France, we’ll how he and his crew get alongside and a second win right here in all probability imply greater than the primary, a means of settling into Bora-hansgrohe after a profession spent at Jumbo. That is the place crew mate Aleksandr Vlasov is a possible second card to play and helpful on a course like this too. The entire crew appears good for the time trial and the likes of Danny van Poppel and Marco Haller are in all probability right here as bodyguards greater than sprinters.

Now in his sixth season as a professional already, Remco Evenepoel is about to do his first street race in France as he takes purpose on the Tour de France. He’ll discover it’s lots like all of the others he’s finished. The approaching week is one other check for his crew, first due to the TTT stage however crucially if he takes the race lead alongside the way in which can he and the squad defend it? Sans Mikel Landa he might be weak however frankly by himself he can deal with a lot too. His sprinting has improved lots so he can problem Roglič for the time bonuses, the plain situation is a repeat of Catalunya final 12 months the place he and Roglič have been away from the remaining and duelling for the win. There’s all the time the particular weapon the place he goes solo and entire groups battle to deliver him again. This race could be very a lot in his grasp, the one massive query forward of his Tour bid is how he copes with repeat, lengthy Alpine climbs and for that we’ll have to attend for the Dauphiné in June.

These two appear to be a stage above the remaining. It’s onerous to select between them, Evenepoel within the ascendency with Roglič because the grasp of 1 week stage races however can he keep on this perch. As they watch one another there are various extra contenders…

UAE deliver a roster that’s half crew, half field of fireworks. It’ll give us an perception of what to anticipate from the Tour de France crew which might be even stronger, with Tadej Pogačar after all, Adam Yates and hopefully Pavel Sivakov’s if his knee is alright. You take a look at the roster and there’s Nils Politt for the flat and so likes of Felix Großschartner and Marc Soler may be fetching bottles on hilly days, then bear in mind Austrian has been top-10 right here and Soler’s a previous winner of Paris-Good. Stage 4 to Mont Brouilly might be fascinating to see if they’re prepared to gamble. João Almeida leads the crew with Brandon McNulty and Jay Vine as different choices.

Ineos deliver Carlos Rodriguez and Egan Bernal. Each rode the O Gran Camiño race final week aka the “Arctic Race of Galicia” and got here away with combined outcomes, Bernal on the rostrum once more for the primary time since his Giro win, and Rodriguez a little bit off the tempo however he would possibly simply have been frozen. They each face an even bigger check, they’d in all probability signal as we speak for a podium end and it’ll be fascinating to see how they race. If Bernal gaining confidence then reminder that he’s a formidable racer who can exploit every kind of terrain. Because the cliché goes they arrive with a robust crew, with Tarling, De Plus and Turner they’ll fancy their probabilities for the crew time trial and this units issues up for extra.

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Within the absence of Jonas Vingegaard, Danish hopes relaxation on Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and he’s progressively bettering 12 months by 12 months. His massive objective this 12 months shouldn’t be the Tour however the Vuelta and his type in final weekend’s Boucles Drôme-Ardèche was good however not scorching. It’s onerous to see him profitable however he can place properly on GC.

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An identical story for Felix Gall, one other rider who had an excellent 2023, is on the rise and has simply had a very good weekend too however win right here? Decatlon-Ag2r La Mondiale are off to a flying begin however the crew time trial stage is perilous for them.

Visma-Lease a motorbike deliver a robust crew however right here’s a stage race that may slip by way of their grasp. Wilco Kelderman is dependable however not spectacular and new signing Matteo Jorgenson might be fascinating to observe, eighth general in Good final 12 months, second in Romandie however get forward of the remaining? He’s mentioned he’s “secretly aiming for a top-five”.

Second general final 12 months, David Gaudu doesn’t look in pretty much as good type now. His trip within the O Gran Camiño was spoilt by a crash on the opening day however his coach has additionally mentioned that Gaudu’s objectives are in April, within the Ardennes and Basque Nation. Plus Groupama-FDJ haven’t introduced Swiss guard Stefan Küng for the TTT. Having written all this he can shock on the upside, he’s additionally now a resident of Menton so the ultimate three days function his coaching roads and he’s nice on 10-20 minute climbs.

Amongst different names Pello Bilbao, Santiago Buitrago and Jack Haig deliver climbing energy for Bahrain nevertheless it’s onerous to see an outright win, however straightforward to think about Bilbao taking the ultimate stage in Good.

Luke Plapp (Jayco) felt the rash on the Tour Down Underneath and is engaged on turning into a GC rider, the timing may not go well with as he’s off his early season peak and the massive objective is the Giro however look to see how he climb with the larger names.

Evenepoel, Roglič