After the first stage of Paris–Nice proved rather monotonous for a long time this Sunday, the Groupama-FDJ United team tried to add some excitement in the final with back-to-back attacks from Ewen Costiou and Quentin Pacher. Facing a still very large peloton, however, they were unable to prevent an almost full bunch sprint. Spared from the crashes in the closing kilometre, the two riders, along with Rudy Molard and David Gaudu, finished in the same time as the winner.
Just over 170 kilometres made up the opening stage of the “Race to the Sun,” whose outcome looked a bit uncertain. Considering the double ascent of the Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes (1.1 km at 8.3%) in the final thirty-five kilometres—and especially a last passage just eleven kilometres from the finish—the final could have offered some action and been less favourable for sprinters. However, it was indeed the sprinters’ teams that firmly took control of the chase when a breakaway of six riders formed from the start in Achères. Extremely cautious, the peloton never allowed the fugitives to reach a two-minute advantage. After the first climb of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, the bunch even increased the pace, closing the gap to just 40 seconds before the second ascent. The breakaway managed to reach the summit in the lead, but in the peloton it was Ewen Costiou who launched the fight. Soon followed by all the favourites, the Breton then handed the baton to Quentin Pacher, who also managed to go clear for a few moments ahead of a peloton that was trying to reorganise.
“We were in the fight at the key moment” – William Green
With eight kilometres to go, a peloton of around one hundred riders eventually regrouped in preparation for the expected sprint. “We tried, and we were in the fight at the key moment,” insisted William Green. “When you see the legs of Ewen and Quentin on final climb, it’s really positive, especially after a day with quite a high tempo. In the end it came down to quite a large sprint, but we can still take some satisfaction from what we saw in the final.” In the last kilometres, the breakaway was logically caught, and the sprint was marked by two crashes. David Gaudu, Ewen Costiou, Quentin Pacher and Rudy Molard, who were present in the main peloton, avoided the incidents. “The day could have been worse,” admitted William. “We just could have ridden a bit more together, because in races like this, you can lose a lot really fast because of the nervousness.” The Groupama-FDJ United quartet was classified this Sunday in the same time as stage winner Luke Lamperti, as a less demanding stage looms on Monday. “It should be a bunch sprint, and today we saw that Clément recovered well from the opening weekend in Belgium,” William concluded. “It will be a nice opportunity for him.”
