Paris-Nice Stage 1 Preview

Today’s stage features gravel road sectors late in the stage. There are two sections each covered twice on a finishing circuit that’s also got narrow roads, a steep “wall” climb and some tight bends. It’s all got the (cold) air of a spring classic.

Prologue Wrap: a surprise triumph by Michael Matthews. Top-10 in last year’s prologue he came back and beat Tom Dumoulin by one second. It made an antipodean top three with Paddy Bevin taking third place, another turn up from Down Under.

Among the GC contenders Dumoulin may have been beaten but could well find satisfaction later on this week as he’s first of the GC contenders. Ion Izaguirre did an excellent time, Geraint Thomas was close and Richie Porte was 11th, better than imagined. The big losers among the GC candidates were Pierre Rolland and Simon Špilak, both outside the top-100. But the short course kept all the time gaps small.

Two micro observations:

• Tissot are the new timekeepers. They brought a fancy new start hut with a big electronic display to identify the riders. Better still it means we don’t get served up daily reminders of Festina
• They had an on-screen speed graphic. It should have been done years ago instead of those awkward moments when the camera is pointed at motorbike’s wobbling speed needle

The Route: 150km across the open plains of the Paris basin where only village churches, small pockets of woodland and wind turbines break up the horizon. If you’re getting thoughts of Paris-Tours you’re right because if they went through today’s finish in Vendôme and kept going it’s not much further to Tours.

The finishing circuit of 23km has two gravel sectors, Tourteline which is 1300m long and Tertre de la Motte which is 750m and uphill. These are different from the strade bianche which are made from fine gravel and compressed by the regular passage of traffic. Instead the tracks here are a little more rocky, especially the second sector. It pays to pick your line and take the paths crunched by vehicles ahead.

But the gravel sections are almost the easy bits, the approach roads are just as hard. The approach to the first section sees the race turn off a medium sized road onto a narrow tree-lined road which narrows further for bridge over the Loire (pictured in the Google screengrab) before a sharp left hand bend onto the Tourteline path just after. So it’s all about the race to get into position for this.

The same for the second sector. The race nears Vendôme but suddenly does a hard right turn on a road that doubles back on itself – almost a hairpin – and then heads up a steep “wall” of a road, known as the Tertre de la Glacière. Here a rider with the wrong line can lose 20 places in a flash and waste energy in the process as they approach the second sector. Another tight corner with the route bending back and the Tertre de la Motte gravel sector begins, uphill but it’s not steep although enough to award the mountains jersey, a rare chance for a classics contender to take a polka dot jersey. It ends on a downhill slope with a tricky S-bend to line everyone out even more just by the local cemetery. Fitting for those who have seen their chances turn to dust.

The Finish: Vendôme is a charming town but the finish won’t show off the town’s best side. After all the hustle and bustle of the narrow approach roads, the gravel sections and the steep “wall” after a dead turn the finish run is banal. Just after the 1km banner there’s a regular 90 degree left hand bend and then a run along a main shopping street before another regular left hander with 500m to go and then a straight finish on a wide road lined by apartment blocks.

The Contenders: when the route was announced the gravel sounded novel, something where an unfortunate rider could see their chances turn to dust while most hold on tight for a bunch sprint. Having inspected the course it’s much harder and if the gravel isn’t inherently dangerous, the pressure of teams fighting for position will raise up the pace and the wall before the Tertre de la Motte section will help thin out the field and punish weaker riders.

Alexander Kristoff doesn’t fear a sharp climb and has a team ideally placed to drop him into position for the rough sectors and at the same time ensure Špilak and Zakarin are out of danger.

Tom Boonen would have been a firm pick a few years ago but his form seems questionable right now, a contender given the gravel and walls won’t scare him but will he fight hard for the sprint or just save himself for more important races to come and play bodyguard for Marcel Kittel who can rely on Etixx-Quickstep’s classics expertise with the likes of Stijn Vandebergh to shepherd him to a sprint win.

Who’d be against Michael Matthews now? He’s floating at the moment and sprints well and his team has the strength of Orica-Greendge’s classics riders to back him.

André Greipel is on the mend from a broken rib which reduces his chances and furthermore he’s without trusted sprint leadout Marcel Sieberg who didn’t start the race because of illness.

Nacer Bouhanni is in good form but his Cofidis team is a steam train compared to the TGVs other teams have got, they’ve probably not got the puff to deliver Bouhanni into position and then rally and repeat again and again over the cobbled sector before dropping him off with 200m to go. Julien Simon provides an extra option for Cofidis.

Arnaud Démare can sprint and wants to be a classics contender too so today is the day for him to get the edge on sprint rivals like Marcel Kittel, André Greipel and Nacer Bouhanni, to put them in the red.

Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto-Jumbo) is an unlikely sprint winner but has every interest to set his team to work and rip up the race so that he can lay down the power over the gravel section and escape with a few others. A similar story for Lars Boom (Astana) and Ian Stannard (Team Sky). Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) took it easy in the prologue, citing medical advice, but has promised to resume racing and a searing attack up the final climb is just his kind of move.

Third placed Patrick Bevin is also a quiet pick given his versatility and the wall will suit him but can he fight for position? As good as he’s been in the Oceania Tour trying to fight for space on the road against Etixx-Quickstep, Katusha, BMC Racing and Team Sky is bound to be a new test.

	Alexander Kristoff
	Marcel Kittel, Michael Matthews
	Boonen, Gilbert, Greipel, Bouhanni, Bevin, Felline, Démare, Vanmarcke, Theuns, Farrar, Boom, Lobato, Bonifazio

Weather: cold with a top temperature of 7°C and the possibility of snow showers. A moderate wind from the NNW wind of 20-30km/h will speed the riders along for much of the course.

Local rider: Tony Gallopin was born in Dourdan just to the west of Paris, the route passes by before skirting south towards Châteaudun, near the raucous-sounding Angerville where he lives today. Gallopin is from a big cycling family, the son of ex-pro Joël Gallopin and his uncle is a DS at Trek-Segafredo plus he’s married to ex-pro Marion Rousse.

It all started by accident when André, the eldest of the five Gallopin brothers, fell off a roof and broke his hip. The family bought him a bicycle to help with the rehab and eventually all the brothers got the cycling bug. Some years later Joël Gallopin had turned pro and was racing a criterium when the speaker Daniel Mangeas announced the birth of a baby boy called Tony to the crowds. Despite this cultural headstart and the DNA Tony often says he was never born with a big talent and that his results have had to be worked at, presumably a relative statement given he’s worn the yellow jersey and won stages in the Tour de France and more. But it’s true that he’s been a slow starter. He didn’t have huge junior wins and his pro career has been gradual. By the way galopin is French for “urchin” and a slang term for a small glass of wine or a half of beer.

TV: live coverage starts at 3.00pm and the first gravel section is forecast for 4.00pm Euro time and the finish is for 4.40pm. It should be on the same channel you watch the Tour de France and/or Eurosport. If not then cyclingfans.com, cyclinghub.tv and steephill.tv all offer alternative feeds.