Male Team 04 - 11 Mar
Paris-Nice
1198 Kilometers 8 Stages
The 76th edition of Paris-Nice has got no easy days. Demanding in all respects, often under miserable weather and wide open until the very last finish line in the Promenade des Anglais, the French stagerace marks the start of the biggest multi-day events in the WorldTour calendar, those which hold the flavor of the golden era of the sport.
The ‘Course to the Sun’ will start at the metropolitan area of France’s capital city (Sunday 4th March), with a short (135km), intense route including the climb of Meudon (Cat-3; 2km at 5.4%) just before the finish. Stage two (Monday 5th) will be the only ‘classic’ flat day in this year’s race, a 187.5km journey towards Vierzon with crosswinds as the main threat.
Tuesday 6th will see the race already entering the Massif Central, with three Cat-3 ascents combined with a 1km, 4% slope right before Châtel-Guyon’s finish (210km). The second part of the race will end (Wednesday 7th) with a 18km ITT to Saint-Étienne, not easy at all as it features a long ascent (8km over 3% avg.) towards Saint-Héand and a short, sharp climb with four kilometers to go.
After what could -might- be the last chance for the sprinters in Sisteron (165km, Thursday 8th), the Paris-Nice course will go for its decisive trio of mountain stages. Friday 9th will offer an initial contact, a considerable effort on the southern côtes: 198km to Vence with five rated climbs that include the brutal Côte de la Colle sur Loup (1,800m at 10%), just ten kilometers from a slightly uphill finish.
Saturday 10th will bring a conventional, mountain-top finish in Valdeblore La Colmiane (Cat-1; 16km at 6.2%), with no other big climb just before the end but with four categorized ascents in its 175km route, including the Col de la Sainte-Baume (Cat-1; 17km, 4%) midway through. And on Sunday 11th, the classic, thrilling loop around Nice, with six ascents squeezed into just 110km and a big chance in the route: the Col d’Eze (Cat-1) will no longer be the final climb, rather than the Col des Quatre Chemins (Cat-2; 5.5km at 5.5%) just before the last descent.