Paris-Nice 2017 Route stage 1: Bois d’Arcy – Bois d’Arcy

Sunday, 5 March 2017 - At 148.5 kilometres, the 1st stage in Parijs-Nice runs on a predominantly flat circuit. Start and finish are in Bois d'Arcy, 30 kilometres west of Paris. The penutimate kilometre is marked by an average gradient of 6%, while the last 500 metres are a false flat.

In last two editions of Paris-Nice started with a prologue, resulting in victories for Michal Kwiatkowski (2015) and Michael Matthews (2016). Three years ago it was the last time the Race to the Sun took off with a regular stage, and Nacer Bouhanni sprinted to glory.

Stage 1 in Paris-Nice 2017 takes in a large loop around Bois d’Arcy. The route features the Côte de Senlisse twice. This 1.1 kilometre climb at 5.5% is crested at kilometre 55 and kilometre 132.5. Besides this uphill section the route is predominantly flat, yet the finale has a suprise up its sleeve as the penultimate kilometre is averaging 6%. Then a short drop catapults the riders into the false flat arrival of 500 metres.

The first three riders on the line in Bois d’Arcy take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while two intermediate sprints (after 55 and 132 kilometres) come with 3, 2 and 1 each.

Results/race report 1st stage Paris-Nice.