Paris – Nice 2024: stages, profiles, route, teams, participants and favorites
After the controversy of the first spring classics, the cycling season is starting to heat up. And this means, no more and no less, the arrival of one of the most prestigious stage races of the World Tour: Paris-Nice (from 3 to 10 March). Issue 82 “Race of the Sun” looks like another exciting year, with half a mountain for a flag, A distinctive feature of the French round. A highlight of the week will also be the participation of stars. Below are all the details.
Route
Paris-Nice 2024 will begin in the north of France, namely in Le Mureau, belonging to the Yvelines department. From here the route will always go in a south-easterly direction until it reaches Good, the city where the completion of tests at the eighth stage will take place.
Equipment
Since this is a UCI World Tour race, there will be 18 teams participating in the said category. Total 22 teams They are completed with the participation of four Pro Team squads. Two of the best in this division Lotto Dstny And Israel Premier Tech, They will be present with access to all top level racing as they are relegated teams in the last three years while TotalEnergy And Tudor They gain access by race invitation.
Favorites and absences
As is usually the case in Paris-Nice, there are a large number of world-class stars present here. The most notable are Primoz Roglic and Remko Evenepoel. Both start as favorites to win the French round, despite the Slovenian making his season debut and the Belgian not yet competing in the Carrera del Sol. Roglic, who will make his debut in Bora colors at the competition, Last year he already showed that he is capable of winning without a preliminary race, as he did at the last Tirreno-Adriatico. Remco, for his part, arrives full of confidence after winning everything he has managed to do this season: Figueira Classic and Algarve.
The fight for the title is expected to be close between both, as has already happened in the 2023 Volta Catalunya, but there are several contenders: David Gaudu (second last year), João Almeida and the Spanish duo forming Carlos Rodriguez And Pello Bilbao (3rd place in the recent UAE tour). Regarding absences, note that two of the three participants from the last episode will not be there: Tadej Pogacar (1st) and Jonas Vingegaard (3rd). The Slovenian is reserved for the Milan-San Remo match, while the Dane will be in Tirreno this week.
Stages and profiles
Stage 1: Le Mureau-Le Mureau, 158 km (mid-mountain)
A sequence of climbs in classic Ardennes style will mark the development of the first day. A double pass through Côte d’Urbeville with maximum gradients of 14% can break the main group long before the finish.
Stage 2: Thoiry-Montargis, 179 km (flat)
The first and only clear chance for victory for the sprinters at this Paris-Nice stage. This will be a flat route with only two mountain difficulties. Being in the initial part of the stage, nothing should prevent the outcome in the form of a mass sprint.
Stage 3: Auxerre-Auxerre, 26.9 km (CRE)
The team time trial returns to the French round, repeating the unique format that caused so much talk in the last edition. Moreover, the time at the finish line will be determined not by the fourth runner, as is usually the case, but by the one who arrives first from the team. Several climbs make the route quite difficult.
Stage 4: Chalons-sur-Saône-Mont-Brouilly, 183 km (mid-mountain)
Mid-mountain day and first arrival at high altitude. The circuit leading to the finish, with Le Chappe (5km at 7.3%) and Mont Brouilly (3km at 7.7%), is expected to be ideal for climbers and explosive runners.
Stage 5: Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagus-Sisteron, 193.5 km (semi-mountainous)
Once again, the main character is Mid-Mountain, although this time it’s more tolerable. There are four category 3 climbs to be climbed, which could be enough to eliminate the sprinters from contention for the stage.
Stage 6: Sisteron-La Colle-sur-Loup, 198.5 km (mid-mountain)
Five graded climbs (four of 2 and one of 3) provide enough difficulty for a solo runner to dominate the finish, or for a small group to challenge for victory in the sprint. With gradients of up to 19% in the kilometers to go, Côte de la Col sur Loup will be a real challenge.
Stage 7: Nice-Auron, 173 km (mountains)
Without a doubt, stage seven will be the royal stage Paris-Nice. A mountain day with three passes totaling 3750 meters of roughness, which has the most roughness in this episode. The finish will be uphill in Auron: 7.3 km with an average gradient of 7.2%.
Stage 8: Nice-Nice, 109.5 km (mid-mountain)
Finally, a classic outcome of the French tour, with a course of constant ups and downs that continues unabated around Nice.