The Col de Turini summit finish, a big climb for March with over 1,000m of vertical gain and more than a 40 minute effort.
Paris-Nice Stage 6 Preview
Breakaway or bunch sprint? A hilly route including some uncategorised climbs but 10 days out from Milan-Sanremo the kind of route that should encourage some sprinters and their teams to get to work. The sun’s shining but the race hasn’t escaped the crosswinds.
Thursday Shorts
Ineos looks like the likely replacement sponsor for Sky. Touted in the British press two weeks ago as a possibility, tipped yesterday in The Cycling Podcast as a probability, things are firming up fast.
Paris-Nice Stage 5 Preview
A time trial to shape the overall and see riders like Michał Kwiatkowski, Bob Jungels and Wilco Kelderman put time into Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana and George Bennett.
Paris-Nice Stage 4 Preview
Today’s stage features a surprisingly hilly finish with steep, twisting climbs through vineyards but not everything is different with the weather forecast warning of a storm and the wind could get up.
Paris-Nice Stage 3 Preview
Encore, the third flat stage and the wind should be back again but not as strong as the first two stages. This could be the last chance for many sprinters to challenge Dylan Groenewegen.
Paris-Nice Stage 2 Preview
Another day, another sprint stage and the conditions shouldn’t be as wild as yesterday’s stage.
Paris-Nice Stage 1 Preview
A short stage to ease into the race? On paper yes but that paper requires a paperweight today because of the forecast for strong winds meaning a nervous start to the race.
Paris-Nice Preview
The Race to the Sun with the emphasis on the preposition “to” as a cold and wet week lies ahead for the peloton in its traverse from the capital to the Côte d’Azur. In recent years the startlist has been light on stars but has been a great race nonetheless, this time the relatively flat route of Tirreno-Adriatico has encouraged the climbers to do Paris-Nice. Here’s a look at the route and contenders.
Team Victory Rankings
With a lull in the racig between the GP Le Samyn and the Strade Bianche this weekend a chance to take stock of the season so far. As ever the quantity and quality of wins are not the same thing, every team manager would happily trade 50 wins for the Tour de France but the chart is a chance to take stock of where teams are at.