Plaisir lies to the southwest of Paris. Following a race on rolling roads the finale is pepped up by the partly cobbled climb of Neauphle-le-Château. The hill is 1.4 kilometres long and slopes at 7.8%. After a flat section of 2 kilometres the riders fly down a 2.5 kilometres descent to the line.
Halfway through the race the riders get a first taste of Côte de Neauphle-le-Château, while the Côte des Mesnuls appears very early on. This 1.2 kilometres hill at 5.7% is crested after 9 kilometres.
Last year’s Race to the Sun kicked off with a stage for pure sprinters. Dylan Groenewegen outgunned Caleb Ewan with an ultimate jump and young Fabio Jakobsen finished in third.
The first thee riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while two intermediate sprints (at kilometre 124 and at kilometre 136.5) come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Another interesting read: race results stage 1 Paris-Nice 2020.
Paris-Nice 2020 stage 1: route, profile, more
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