If the rest of Paris-Nice is going to be as close as this, then we shall at least have a thrilling seven days. The French crowd would be happy too, if the rest of the week went as well as today given that home hero Arnaud Demare (FDJ) took the opening stage in a thrilling finish from Gorka Izaguirre, (Bahrain-Merida), taking victory with his very last pedalstroke in the affluent Parisian suburb of Meudon.
On the uphill run in, which was entirely cobbled, Izaguirre put in a major attack to reel in Alexis Vuillermoz of AG2R La Mondiale, and that appeared to be enough to take the stage win and with it, the leader’s jersey. However, the French Champion is as one of a couple who were just close enough to have the opportunity to claw him back, and his packed sprint proved to be enough to prevail in a photo finish.
Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) was third, Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) was fourth despite having what might have been the fastest finish of any of the leading group, with Mike Teunissen (Sunweb) fifth, and Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) sixth.
The early breakaway consisted of little quantity but much quality, with the trio of Pierre Rolland (EF-Drapac), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo-Samsic) and Jurgen Roelandts (BMC Racing) breaking clear early and managing to pull out a 3:15 lead, the biggest that they would have over the peloton during the 184 kilometres of the day.
That lead initially started at 2:30 but grew with three high quality breakaway artists working in tandem. However, nearly all the teams present had an interest in the finish today and it was not a surprise to see that their lead was cut by more than a minute in just 30 kilometres.
Comme l'an dernier, @ArnaudDemare s'impose sur la 1ere étape ! 🏆
Like last year, @ArnaudDemare gets the win for the 1st stage! 🏆
#ParisNice
There was wind on the road in France, and it did not help the leading trio - their lead being drawn back to 45 seconds before Mitchelton-Scott picked up the pace, sparking action in the peloton that would cost BMC’s Tejay Van Garderen dearly; he would fall badly in the ensuing chaos and be ruled out of the race, a massive blow for the BMC team that had invested a great deal in his chances for this week.
Rolland, Perichon, and Roelandts pressed on with a lead of 25 seconds as it began to rain down again but their day was over and it was soon down again.
The last action before the finish was the serious crash that brought down 10 riders, but most of the main favourites made it to the end, where Demare proved strongest.
