Paris-Nice stage 1 LIVE: Sprint teams trying to control race for bunch finish on hilly finale

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The Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes is the steepest of the day, averaging 8.3% for 1.1km, and could be the moment where the stage is won or lost. Can any attackers go clear? Will the sprinter teams manage to control the race? And which sprinters will be dropped out of contention on the climb?

The riders are crossing the finish line for the first time, ahead of two laps of the finishing circuit, each featuring an ascent of the Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes.

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Here are the updated KOM rankings. Pedersen is looking good to be in the climber’s jersey on the podium later this afternoon at this rate.

1 Pedersen 6 points

2 Le Berre 3 points

3 Walker 3 points

Walker took the final point on offer at the top of the climb; and, having taken what they attacked for, Pedersen and Le Berre have been brought back by the rest of the break.

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Pedersen has followed Le Berre and the pair are clear from the rest.

Mathis Le Berre has attacked out of the break. It looked like he was struggling to hold on, but was in fact giving himself space to wind up an attack and take the others by surprise.

Uno- Mobility are prominent at the front of the bunch, perhaps working for Rasmus Tiller, a fast finisher who is also capable of a punchy attack.

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Mechanical for Marc Soler, who had to change bikes. He might have more freedom to ride for himself later in the race, since his expected team leader João Almeida is not riding.

The tension is palpable – the riders will have to be careful not to crash.

The peloton is again spread all across the road, and the pace is notably up as the fight for position picks up.

The next climb of the day, Côte de Vaux-sur-Seine, is not for another 12km.

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The rankings at the top of the climb:

1 Pedersen 3 points

2 Walker 2 points

3 Le Berre 1 point

The peloton are also climbing, with NSN and Picnic-PostNL resuming control.

The break have started climbing the Côte de Gargenville, 1:15 ahead of the peloton.

There’s no one team in control of the peloton at the moment, with lots of different coloured jerseys massing towards the front.

Not long now until the riders take on the first of the day’s four climbs. The Côte de Gargenville is the gentlest of the four, averaging only 4.7%, but is also the longest at 2.3km, and will begin the wearing down process.

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There’s been another crash in the peloton, this time with multiple riders involved.

Iván Romeo used an uphill attack as the foundation for his overall victory at the Ruta del Sol earlier this year, suggesting he has the legs to try something – but that result also makes it less likely he’ll be given any leeway to do so.

There’s been a crash in the peloton, with Toms Skujiņš going down and needing a new bike. Along with teammate Mathias Vacek, he’s another rider who could potentially attack on the climbs, though that fall makes such a move less likely.

Laurence Pithie is the kind of rider we can look out for to try such a move. Though a quick sprinter, he’s unlikely to challenge in a big bench sprint, but has the explosiveness to potentially go clear on the hills, and was on promising form during Opening Weekend.

With four climbs in the final 70km, including two ascents of the 1.1km, 8.3% Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes, a bunch spring is far from guaranteed. While perhaps not hard to draw the GC contenders into attacks, there must be some explosive puncheurs who sense an opportunity to go clear and chase the stage win.

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Another pure fast finisher in the bunch is Phil Bauhaus. At his best he’d be difficult to beat in this field, but hasn’t finished higher than fifth yet this season, and is the kind of rider who would struggle in the hills.

Although Cofidis have not joined NSN or PicnicPost-NL setting the pace in the peloton, they have two contenders for the stage win in Milan Fretin and Bryan Cocquard (pictured below, at the start earlier today). The former was sprinting well at Ruta del Sol, where he won a stage, while the latter’s ability to navigate the climbs was on display at his victory at GP La Marseillaise.

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For PicnicPost-NL, Casper van Uden is arguably the purest fast sprinter here at Paris-Nice, with a Grand Tour sprint stage win to his name at the Giro d’Italia from last year. He’s had a slow start to the season, however, and failed to get in the mix for the sprints at the UAE Tour.

For NSN, Biniam Girmay has been in terrific sprinting form this season, winning bunch sprints at Volta Comunitat Valenciana and the Clasica de Almeria. If there’s a worry, it’s that he wasn’t climbing at his best during Opening Weekend, and therefore might struggle on today’s uphills, but normally this is the kind of terrain he thrives in.

The presence of NSN and PicnicPost-NL at the front of the peloton certainly suggests that they believe they can control the race for a bunch sprint.

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So how can we expect this stage to unfold? While there are a number of punchy hills in the finale to aid attackers, with the last crested just 10km from the finish, there is still a chance that the race comes down to a bunch sprint.

Another view of the day’s break, which remains out front for now.

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It looks like Walker is going to rejoin the break before long.

One of the riders in the break, Max Walker, has had a puncture.

The peloton really isn’t hanging about. Here are the riders all strung out in a long line, and the work being done has brought the gap to the break down to within one minute.

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…and the peloton chasing behind

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Here’s the breakaway up the road…

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Picnic-PostNL are assisting Jayco-AlUla at the front of the peloton. That would suggest they fancy their chances of ensuring a bunch sprint finish today, with their man Casper van Uden.

With two riders in the break, and Kelland O’Brien already abandoned, there are just four Jayco-AlUla riders left in the peloton at the moment.

The six riders at the head of the race.

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NSN have taken control of the bunch, and are keeping the six leaders on a tight leash for now. They are presumably controlling things for their sprinter Biniam Girmay, who is one of the fastmen who could survive the day’s punchy climbs.

Grignard, Pedersen and Max Walker (all pictured here) were the first to initiate the move, before being joined by the other three.

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These are the 6 riders in the lead group:

Patrick Gamper (Jayco-AlUla)

Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AlUla)

Casper Pedersen (Soudal-QuickStep)

Max Walker (EF Education-EasyPost)

Sébastien Grignard (Lotto Intermarché)

Mathis Le Berre (TotalEnergies)

Six riders have formed a group, and are in a promising position – they’ve grown a lead of 45 seconds from themselves back to the peloton.

Multiple attacks are being made, but nothing is sticking just yet. At the moment three riders lead the race by a small margin, with others trying to join them.

The riders in the neutralised zone, just before the flag dropped.

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The attackers who went clear have been brought back, and the peloton remains together.

Terrible news for Jayco-AlUla’s Kelland O’Brien. He must have had some kind of problem, as he has abandoned the race already after just a few kilometres.

There are early attacks, with about ten riders having a go.

The first half of the stage is much flatter than the second, so there are no obvious springboards for the kind of puncheurs we’d expect to compete for the stage win to get into the day’s break.

Here’s the peloton in the neutralised zone.

The weather today might be cloudier than forecasted, but there’s no sign of any rain or, crucially, strong winds.

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The yellow jersey, that Vingegaard and his opponents will spend the next week fighting for.

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The riders are in the neutralised zone, and will be racing for real in about a quarter of an hour.

The star name on the startlist is Jonas Vingegaard. With an exceptional record in stage races and strong team built around him, he’ll be seen as the man to beat, although his form is unknown having had to delay the start of his season, and he’s never before managed to win the yellow jersey at Paris-Nice.

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Despite the name of the race, proceedings are not kicking off in Paris exactly, but rather Achères, about 25km to the north-west of the capital. From there they will travel in a north-westernly direction, before looping back via a series of punchy hills for a finish at Carrières-sous-Poissy.

After the thrills and spills of yesterday’s Strade Bianche, it’s time for another of the early season staples: Paris-Nice. Since 1933 this race has heralded a transition towards the springtime, and continues that tradition once more this year.

Bonjour and welcome to stage one of the 2026 Paris-Nice!