Straight from the start the pace will and must be high since the straight road descents for the first 1.7 kilometres at 2.5%. Then comes a sharp turn, followed by a right and left turn after a few hundred metres. From kilometre 2.7 to kilometre 4.1 the road rises slightly at 2.1%. Still the pace will be high since there are no turns, but this changes when a sharp left turn at kilometre 4.5 will dampen the pace considerably. The last 2.2 kilometres are on a flat and straight road so blasting to the line, that’s the way to go now.
Last year it was Nacer Bouhanni winning the opening-race of Paris-Nice after a flat stage culminating in a bunch sprint.
Chances are chrono’s will have an huge impact on the overall in Paris-Nice 2015. Opening with the Maurepas prologue, the ‘Race to the Sun’ concludes with a climbing time trial up Col d’Eze on the last day.
The first rider leaves at 1.35 PM local time, while the last rider is off at 4.15 PM. Every minute a rider rolls of the start-podium.
Start times
The are the start times (CET) of the main contenders
16:03 Wilco Kelderman (nld)
16:07 Tom Dumoulin (nl)
16:08 Bradley Wiggins (gb)
16:09 Tejay Van Garderen (usa)
16:10 Fabio Aru (ita)
16:13 Rui Costa (por)
16:14 Jean-Christophe Peraud (fra)
Paris-Nice 2015: Images and more
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