Paris-Nice 2019 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

March 10, 2019

Paris-Nice 2019 – Stage 1 – Saint-Germain-en-Laye – Saint-Germain-en-Laye : 138,5 km

The format of Paris-Nice has often been tweaked over the years, but the fundamental characteristics of the event remain in place. The eight-day trek from the hinterland of Paris to the Côte d’Azur is replete with hidden pitfalls and always prone to the vagaries of March weather. Vigilance is a quality required by any potential winner. The summit finish atop the Col de Turini on the penultimate stage and the 25km time trial around Barbentane on stage 5 appear to be the pivotal days in this year’s race, and will certainly bring definition to the general classification, but the brutal truth is that Paris-Nice can be lost on any given day.

Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) came out on top in a pulsating opening stage at Paris-Nice with a win ahead of Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) and Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep).

Last year’s overall winner Marc Soler (Movistar) lost time, finishing in a second group, while other potential GC rivals also finished well down after the race was peppered with cross winds and crashes.

Groenewegen and his Jumbo-Visma team were well-placed throughout the race, and the Dutchman was too strong in the finale, taking his third win of the season. He came around Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) in the final 100 meters, after the Italian had opened his sprint far too early. Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) looked to be in the mix, but he had no response when Groenewegen hit the front. Ewan started his sprint further back, and although he came through the field, he was unable to challenge Groenewegen, who now leads the race lead.

“It was really hard finale and a really hard day. It was a short day, but hard. Did I enjoy it? I don’t know about that. It was windy, very open, and we know about that being from Holland. It was a great day,” Groenewegen said.

“There are a lot of really good sprinters here. It was really close, but we won, so I’m really happy. Caleb Ewan came really close I maybe beat him by one millimetre but it was enough. I already have a yellow jersey but now the real yellow jersey, so I’m really happy.”

The stage was marked by series of splits and crashes with Jumbo-Visma, Team Sky, Groupama-FDJ and AG2r La Mondiale all looking to put their rivals under pressure early on in the race.

A three-man group of Damien Gaudin (Direct Energie), Amael Moinard (Team Arkea-Samsic), and Romain Combaud (Delko Marseille Provence) had gone clear inside the opening kilometres, but with the battle for both the stage and the first yellow jersey of the race, it was unlikely that any attack would go the distance.

With 55km to go, and after Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) had crashed out, the trio at the front of the race saw their lead dip to under two minutes. Back in the peloton, the pressure was consistently applied whenever the race hit a section of cross winds, with Ivan Sosa (Team Sky) and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) both losing contact – although the EF Education First rider was able to regain a place in the main field before the finish.

AG2R’s Oliver Naesen, Stijn Vandenbergh and Tony Gallopin drove the race on, while Team Sky were well represented by Luke Rowe, with the Welshman almost singlehandedly protecting Egan Bernal before Team Sky dispatched reinforcements.

When the peloton split again, with just over 40km to go, several key GC riders including Domenico Pozzovio (Bahrain-Merida) found themselves on the wrong side of the fence. Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) – two riders who would have suited the flat finish – were also distanced as Team Sky, EF Education First and Jumbo-Visma patrolled the front of the bunch.

On the final climb of the stage, Warren Barguil (Team Arkea-Samsic) launched an optimistic attack, but even though he was joined by two more riders the attack failed to gain traction. A second group containing Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) made it back just after Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) had cleverly taken three bonuses seconds, but it was Team Sky and then QuickStep that threatened the sprinters’ chances inside the final 10 kilometres.

First Team Sky, with Rowe, Bernal and Kwiatowski, created a gap on an already relentlessly fast peloton, before QuickStep’s Philippe Gilbert launched a late attack with just over 2km remaining. Both moves were caught, with Jumbo-Visma well represented as the lead group positioned itself for the sprint.

A further two seconds in the final intermediate sprint gave Sanchez another bonus on his GC rivals, but the day belonged to Groenewegen, who leads the race from Ewan by four seconds, with Sanchez in third.

Results :
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 3:17:35
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
3 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
6 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
7 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
9 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
10 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Direct Energie
11 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
12 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
14 André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic
15 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky
16 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
17 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
18 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
19 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
20 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
21 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
22 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
23 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
24 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
25 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
26 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Direct Energie
27 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
28 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
29 Patrick Müller (Swi) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
30 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
31 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
32 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
33 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
34 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First
35 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
36 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
37 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
38 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
39 Arthur Vichot (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
40 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
41 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
42 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
43 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
45 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
46 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
47 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
48 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
49 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
50 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
51 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
52 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First
53 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First
54 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
55 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
56 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
57 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Sky
58 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
59 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
60 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
61 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:16
62 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:24
63 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:26
64 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:00
65 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
66 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:01
67 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
68 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
69 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team
70 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:02
71 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
72 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
73 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
74 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
75 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
76 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:03
77 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
78 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
79 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
80 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
81 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:01:04
82 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
83 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First
84 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
85 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:33
86 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:42
87 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:43
88 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
89 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
90 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:44
91 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
92 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Dimension Data
93 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
94 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
95 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:45
96 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
97 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
98 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
99 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:02:46
100 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
101 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
102 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
103 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
104 Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
105 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:47
106 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
107 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
108 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
109 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:48
110 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
111 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
112 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
113 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
114 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
115 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
116 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team
117 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
118 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
119 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
120 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
121 Bram Welten (Ned) Arkéa Samsic 0:02:49
122 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
123 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
124 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
125 Amael Moinard (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:02:50
126 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
127 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
128 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
129 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
130 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 0:02:51
131 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
132 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
133 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Direct Energie
134 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:52
135 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
136 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) CCC Team 0:02:53
137 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:30
138 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates
139 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:31
140 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
141 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
142 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
143 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:32
144 Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Sky
145 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
146 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
147 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:04:33
148 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb
149 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
150 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 0:04:34
151 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:07:36
152 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:08:49
153 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:08:50
154 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
155 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
156 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First 0:08:51
157 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
158 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:12:59

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 3:17:25
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:00:04
3 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:05
4 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
5 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:06
6 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 0:00:09
7 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:10
9 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
10 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
11 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
12 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
13 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
14 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Direct Energie
15 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
16 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
18 André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic
19 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
20 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
21 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
22 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
23 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
24 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
25 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
26 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
27 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Direct Energie
28 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
29 Patrick Müller (Swi) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
30 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
31 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
32 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
33 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
34 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First
35 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
36 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
37 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
38 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
39 Arthur Vichot (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
40 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
41 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
42 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma
43 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
45 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
46 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
47 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
48 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
49 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
50 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
51 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
52 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First
53 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First
54 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
55 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
56 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
57 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Sky
58 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
59 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
60 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
61 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
62 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:26
63 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:34
64 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:36
65 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:10
66 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
67 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:11
68 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
69 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
70 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team
71 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:12
72 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
73 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
74 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
75 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
76 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
77 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:13
78 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
79 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
80 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
81 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
82 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:01:14
83 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
84 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First
85 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:43
86 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:52
87 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:53
88 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
89 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
90 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:54
91 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
92 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Dimension Data
93 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
94 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
95 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:55
96 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
97 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
98 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
99 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:02:56
100 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
101 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
102 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
103 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
104 Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
105 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:57
106 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
107 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
108 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
109 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:58
110 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
111 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
112 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
113 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
114 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
115 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
116 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team
117 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
118 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
119 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
120 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
121 Bram Welten (Ned) Arkéa Samsic 0:02:59
122 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
123 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
124 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
125 Amael Moinard (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:03:00
126 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
127 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
128 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
129 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
130 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 0:03:01
131 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
132 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
133 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Direct Energie
134 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:02
135 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
136 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) CCC Team 0:03:03
137 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:40
138 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates
139 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:41
140 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
141 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
142 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
143 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:42
144 Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Sky
145 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
146 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
147 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:04:43
148 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb
149 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
150 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 0:04:44
151 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:07:46
152 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:08:59
153 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:09:00
154 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
155 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
156 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First 0:09:01
157 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
158 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:13:09