Paris-Nice 2020 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

March 8, 2020

Paris-Nice 2020 – Stage 1 – Plaisir – Plaisir : 154 km

Who is and who isn’t? Ian Brown’s repeated question from the stage of Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom all those years ago during a famous Stone Roses concert has been echoed in the days leading up to the 2020 edition of Paris-Nice. At the time of writing, seven WorldTour teams have confirmed their withdrawal from the Race to the Sun, citing concerns over the risk of contracting or spreading coronavirus Covid-19. The withdrawal of Team Ineos of defending champion Egan Bernal is also a mark of respect to the late Nicolas Portal, who died tragically earlier this week and whose funeral takes place in Auch on Monday. CCC Team, Mitchelton-Scott, Movistar, Astana, UAE Team Emirates and now Jumbo-Visma have pulled out of Paris-Nice – and the since-postponed slate of racing in Italy – strictly as a precaution against Covid-19. Earlier this week, however, the French ministry for sport gave the green light for Paris-Nice to go ahead, albeit with a caveat that local governments along the route retain the right to impose restrictions if the situation develops. As of Friday morning, France had 423 confirmed cases of Covid-19 distributed nationwide, but Emmanuel Macron’s government has for the time being stopped short of declaring a stage 3 epidemic in the country and taking dramatic actions similar to those decreed in Italy that forced the cancellation of all the March races.

Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) won a pulsating stage during the opening day of Paris-Nice on a day that saw the peloton battered by crosswinds, cobbles and echelons.

The German champion won from a four-man group with Dylan Teuns (Bahrain McLaren) and Tiesj Benoot (Team Sunweb) rounding out the top three. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who had been active in a 35km break alongside Benoot, finished fourth after running out of steam in the sprint.

“I’m really happy,” Schachmann said. “Actually, everything turned out a bit bad for me at first because just before the tailwind section there was an island in the middle of the road and I was on the left, so in the crosswinds I was almost in last position.

“But I made it step by step, and I have to thank my team, because at one point Peter [Sagan] really saved me, and then Felix [Grosschartner] did a fantastic job,” he said. “It was the first really hard race for me this year so I didn’t know how I was. The legs were a bit painful, but at the end I felt the others had more pain, so that gave me confidence.”

The win gave Schachmann – who was originally down for Tirreno-Adriatico – the first race lead in the Race to the Sun, but Alaphilippe picked up six bonus seconds during his breakaway that at least provide him with a platform for later in the race. Cees Bol won the sprint for fifth in the peloton.

In the overall standings, Schachmann leads Benoot by two seconds, with Teuns at four seconds. Alaphilippe sits seven seconds off yellow, but all the other GC contenders are at least 24 adrift.

Schachmann owed his win to a late attack on the cobbled climb before the finish. He was the first rider on Teuns’ wheel when the Belgian attacked, and the pair quickly linked up with Benoot and Alaphilippe in the closing stages.

The German attacked immediately but was closed down before Benoot tried with a move of his own. That was closed down by Alaphilippe, before Teuns opened the sprint. However, it was Schachmann who had the power and the resolve to take the win.

“On the last climb I went with Dylan and we bridged across,” Schachmann said. “It was a crazy last corner, but somehow I managed it and I’m super happy to win this for Bora-Hansgrohe. I planned to go to Italy but France has turned out pretty well.”

How it unfolded

The wind and rain were constant features throughout the stage and even when Romain Combaud, leading Jonathan Hivert, built up a healthy lead of five minutes, the peloton were never far from exploding into action.

After an early set of splits the race truly came to life inside the final 65km. Warren Barguil and Romain Bardet were both involved in a crash on the left side of a roundabout, with both riders struggling to re-start the race.

Bardet was the first back on his bike, but it took Barguil several minutes and two further stops before he eventually began to chase. By that point the early break had long been caught, and in the ferocious crosswinds the peloton split into several echelons.

The lead contained a raft of Sunweb and Deceuninck-QuickStep riders but few of the GC contenders. Nikias Arndt, Tiesj Benoot, Cees Bol, Soren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb), Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Zdenek Stybar (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Nairo Quintana, Connor Swift (Arkea-Samsic), Olivier Le Gac, Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ), Felix Grosschartner, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis), Krists Neilands (Israel-Start Up Nation), and Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels) were all present as EF Pro Cycling and Lotto Soudal fought to keep the gap at under 30 seconds.

With 45km to go the leaders had 25 seconds on the EF group as the rest of the peloton struggled to regain any form of contact with the front of the race. With Sunweb and QuickStep full of intent, and with numbers on their side, the leaders maintained their advantage until around 35km to go, when a slight rise before an intermediate sprint saw Alaphilippe and Benoot take off.

Nairo Quintana briefly tried to match them but just as the EF echelon made contact with the front of the race Benoot and Alaphilippe pushed out a fresh advantage of 18 seconds. Alaphilippe took the maximum of three bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, but with another sprint coming up with 15km to go the initial move designed through little more than optimism suddenly began to take shape as the Frenchman and Benoot started to take turns.

Allowing such a potent pair off the front in any race is a danger, and it was unsurprising to see both Bora and Bahrain McLaren attempt to hold the leaders at 40 seconds. Ivan Garcia Cortina laid down his chances of competing in the sprint by sacrificing his hopes for Teuns, but with 13km to go the two leaders still had 38 seconds, and more importantly, Alaphilippe had picked up another three seconds in bonuses. It was time to act.

The peloton still had the final climb and the uphill section of cobbles on which to launch a final assault, and with the lead slowly coming down to a more manageable 18 seconds with 4.4km to go the rest of the field at least had hope on their side. It would still take a colossal effort from Teuns and Schachmann to make the juncture with 2.3km to go, but even at that point it was unclear who the strongest rider was.

The two new members of the breakaway were obviously the fresher of the four, but when Benoot kicked for home with 1.1km to go it looked as though the Belgian would take a rare win. However, he was reeled in by Teuns before Schachmann pounced.

Results :
1 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:32:19
2 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain McLaren
3 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team Sunweb
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:03
5 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:15
6 Nils Politt (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
7 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
8 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Pro Cycling
9 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
10 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
11 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
12 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep
13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
15 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
16 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-Up Nation
17 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
18 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
19 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
20 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Pro Cycling
21 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
22 Michael Woods (Can) EF Pro Cycling
23 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
24 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation
25 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
26 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
27 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
28 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
29 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
30 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:30
31 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) NTT Pro Cycling 0:00:39
32 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:48
33 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis 0:01:36
34 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:44
35 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
36 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
37 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Pro Cycling
38 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:02:00
39 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:16
40 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) NTT Pro Cycling 0:02:42
41 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
42 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
43 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
44 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
45 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
46 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
47 Julien El Fares (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
48 Michael Hundahl (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
49 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
50 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
51 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
52 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie
53 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Pro Cycling
54 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
55 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis 0:02:57
56 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
57 Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
58 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
59 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
60 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis 0:03:06
61 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
62 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
63 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
64 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:09
65 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:16
66 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Nippo Delko Provence
67 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
68 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
69 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
70 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain McLaren 0:03:26
71 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:03:41
72 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
73 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
74 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
75 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
76 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
77 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
78 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
79 Dayer Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
80 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
81 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
82 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
83 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Pro Cycling
84 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:03:47
85 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
86 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis
87 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
88 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
89 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
90 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:04:06
91 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie 0:04:10
92 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
93 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
94 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:05:36
95 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:05:56
96 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:07:23
97 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling 0:08:51
98 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:33
99 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
100 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
101 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
102 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
103 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
104 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
105 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
106 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
107 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:10:51
108 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
109 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
110 Nico Denz (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:11:27
111 José Gonçalves (Por) Nippo Delko Provence
112 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:12:03
113 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
114 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:14:47
115 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
116 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
117 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
118 Michael Gogl (Aut) NTT Pro Cycling
119 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
120 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
121 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
122 Ben O’Connor (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
123 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
124 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Arkea-Samsic
125 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Pro Cycling
126 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
127 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
128 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
129 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
130 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
131 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
132 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
133 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
134 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
135 Pierre Barbier (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:31:12

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:32:09
2 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:00:02
3 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:04
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:07
5 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:24
6 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
7 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:25
8 Nils Politt (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
9 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
10 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Pro Cycling
11 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
12 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
13 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
14 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep
15 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
16 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
17 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
18 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-Up Nation
19 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
20 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Pro Cycling
21 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
22 Michael Woods (Can) EF Pro Cycling
23 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
24 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation
25 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
26 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
27 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
28 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
29 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
30 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:40
31 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) NTT Pro Cycling 0:00:49
32 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:58
33 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis 0:01:46
34 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:54
35 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
36 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
37 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Pro Cycling
38 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:02:10
39 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:26
40 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) NTT Pro Cycling 0:02:52
41 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
42 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
43 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
44 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
45 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
46 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
47 Julien El Fares (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
48 Michael Hundahl (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
49 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
50 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
51 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
52 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie
53 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Pro Cycling
54 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
55 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis 0:03:07
56 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
57 Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
58 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
59 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
60 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis 0:03:16
61 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
62 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
63 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
64 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:19
65 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:26
66 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Nippo Delko Provence
67 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
68 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
69 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
70 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain McLaren 0:03:36
71 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:03:51
72 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
73 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
74 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
75 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
76 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
77 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
78 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
79 Dayer Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
80 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
81 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
82 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
83 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Pro Cycling
84 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:03:57
85 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
86 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis
87 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
88 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
89 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
90 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:04:16
91 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie 0:04:20
92 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
93 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
94 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:05:46
95 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:06:06
96 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:07:33
97 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling 0:09:01
98 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:43
99 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
100 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
101 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
102 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
103 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
104 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
105 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
106 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
107 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:11:01
108 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
109 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
110 Nico Denz (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:11:37
111 José Gonçalves (Por) Nippo Delko Provence
112 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:12:13
113 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
114 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:14:57
115 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
116 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
117 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
118 Michael Gogl (Aut) NTT Pro Cycling
119 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
120 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
121 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
122 Ben O’Connor (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
123 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
124 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Arkea-Samsic
125 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Pro Cycling
126 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
127 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
128 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
129 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
130 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
131 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
132 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
133 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
134 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe