Paris-Nice 2024

Tour de France hopefuls come together for a challenging week at the race to the sun

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Paris-Nice

Dates 3 Mar - 10 Mar
Race Length 1,151 kms
Race Category Elite Men

Updated: 10 March, 2024

Paris-Nice stage 8: Matteo Jorgenson rides to overall victory as Remco Evenepoel takes the stage win

Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) took the biggest win of his career with the overall win at Paris-Nice, while Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) won the final stage.

Jorgenson was every bit the match for the former world champion as he attacked the stage to try and overhaul his deficit to Jorgenson and Brandon McNulty, the rider who held the jersey heading into the stage. While the first part of Evenepoel's plan worked as his attacks distanced McNulty with a few climbs remaining, Jorgenson held firm. The American even pushed Evenepoel and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), the other rider who could match Evenepoel's stinging attacks, every time the road pointed down with Jorgenson racing on home roads.

By the time the trio reached the final climb, it seemed all that was left to be decided was the stage result as Jorgenson was rock solid in his control over the virtual yellow jersey. With the strength of Jorgenson clear, Evenepoel went to the front and pushed the pace, dropping Vlasov and setting up the stage win. Behind a celebrating Evenepoel, Jorgenson pumped his fist as well as he clinched his first WorldTour overall victory.

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Paris-Nice stage 8: Matteo Jorgenson rides to overall victory as Remco Evenepoel wins stage

Paris-Nice stage 7: Vlasov wins on a shortened summit finish as McNulty ships time

Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) climbed to victory on the shortened stage with a tactically astute attack on the final climb to outwit and the men who sat higher on the general classification.

Behind Vlasov, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) lost a chunk of his overall lead as Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) pushed the pace behind Vlasov. The likes of Joāo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) all lost over a minute on the final climb.

While McNulty was dropped by the top of the climb, the American made a dogged effort to manage his time losses and ended the day with a lead of four seconds over Jorgenson, 35 seconds over Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and 36 seconds over Evenepoel heading into the final day of racing around Nice.

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Paris-Nice stage 7: Vlasov wins re-routed summit finish as McNulty's lead is slashed

Paris-Nice stage 6: Mattias Skjelmose wins from a late raid

Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) took advantage of a late GC breakaway to take his first win of 2024. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) took the yellow jersey after he bridged with Skelmose to Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) who attacked over the top of the steep final climb.

The Dane, who rode the coattails of the young American duo, was able to save energy in the final as McNulty and Jorgenson both pushed the pace to build their lead over the remaining group of favourites as pre-race favourites Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) failed to rally the chase behind after all their domestiques had been shed on the steep final climb. Roglič had even started the fight, driving the pace on the 15+ percent grades before Jorgenson surged over the top as the climb.

Immediately, all eyes went to Evenepoel and Roglič. The pair, however, seemed unwilling to pull the entire group of around 10 back to the flying Jorgenson. Once Skjelmose jumped with McNulty the posturing in the group behind on grew, as the number of riders working gave the advantage to the breakaway, with the three riders building an advantage of a minute by the finish.

Once all was said and done, McNulty ended the day with a 23-second GC lead over Jorgenson and a 34-second buffer to Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla). Evenepoel lead the group home behind, however he now faces a 1:03 gap to McNulty. Similarly, Roglič sits outside of the top ten, currently 1:44 back in 11th.

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Paris-Nice stage 6: Mattias Skjelmose triumphant after decisive three-up move

Paris-Nice stage 5: Olav Kooij gets a second win into Sisteron

Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) got the better of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) for the second time in this Paris-Nice after a hectic reduced bunch sprint on stage 5. Pascal Ackermann (Israel Premier Tech) rounded out the stage podium in third.

Climbs throughout the day slowly eliminated the pure sprinters, with both Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Fabio Jakobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL) unable to finish the stage after getting dropped with over 60km to go. The final climb, an uncategorised climb in the last 20km, was one last chance for a late move after the breakaway was caught. However, enough of the teams seemed set for a sprint, setting up the reduced finish.

The sprint itself was unruly as few teams had the numbers to mount a solid lead out beyond Mads Pedersen who was delivered to the front with 200 metres to go by his teammate Ryan Gibbons. Even without massive team support, Kooij was able to find a gap along the barriers and sail through to a convincing victory, his fourth of the season.

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Paris-Nice stage 5: Olav Kooij claims stunning sprint victory

Paris-Nice stage 4: Santiago Buitrago wins after late-stage breakaway

Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) won a punchy stage to Mont Brouilly ahead of Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek).

Buitrago attacked with Plapp ahead of the final climb and used the hesitation from the peloton behind to build a large enough advantage to hold off the chasers on the final run to the line. Plapp, in particular, pushed the pace hard from the front as he was close to the overall lead after the team time trial.

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) made a few attempts at breaking away from the select group of favourites on the final climb, but those attacks were snuffed out by an attentive albeit conservative collection of GC riders. Ahead, Buitrago attacked Plapp and got a gap immediately, as Plapp continued his pace to preserve his gap for the overall. While Plapp kept the gap to Buitrago close, the Colombian wouldn't be denied. Nevertheless, Plapp had enough to take the overall lead with a 13-second lead over Buitrago and 27 seconds ahead of the previous GC leader Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates).

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Paris-Nice stage 4: Santiago Buitrago climbs to victory as Luke Plapp grabs yellow jersey

Paris-Nice stage 3: UAE Team Emirates take the team time trial

UAE Team Emirates used their strength in numbers to win the crucial team time trial at Paris-Nice on stage 3 ahead of Jayco AlUla and EF Education-EasyPost.

The team brought four prospective GC hopefuls to the race and with the rules allowing for the time to be taken individually at the line, conventional wisdom suggested that a team would need to pick one leader to take the win. Nevertheless, UAE was quick enough to not only take the stage win, but also keep all four of their GC riders – João Almeida, Jay Vine, Brandon McNulty and Finn Fisher-Black – on the same time in the GC.

Beyond the UAE lock of the top four in the GC, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) is the next of the pre-race favourites at eighth in the GC, with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) in tenth. Bora-Hansgrohe took the brunt of the tough weather conditions which plagued some of the teams, with Primož Roglič’s team crossing the line in 11th place, 54 seconds down on the race leaders and losing critical time in the general classification.

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Paris-Nice stage 3: UAE Team Emirates take vital victory in team time trial

Paris-Nice stage 2: Arvid de Kleijn upsets the big-name sprinters

Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) broke through and got the WorldTour sprint win he had been searching for at the UAE Tour with a commanding sprint win at Paris-Nice against the bigger-name sprinters in attendance. Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) was a surprising second as well, gaining enough bonus seconds to put him in the yellow jersey heading into the stage 3 team time trial. Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) finished third on the day.

Beyond the sprint, the day was a bit of a snoozer as the wind never materialised on the long flat run south to Montargis. The peloton was slower than the expected finishing time, averaging a mere 37.9 kph over the 177km of racing, a far cry from the 43.7 kph of stage 1. Nevertheless, come the final 4km and it was off to the races once again as the sprinters teams battled tooth and nail for real estate on the road. Tudor, to their credit, came out on top into the final kilometre and De Kleij held onto his space at the front of the peloton before launching a well-timed bid for the win.

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Paris-Nice stage 2: Arvid de Kleijn upsets the big-name sprinters

Paris-Nice stage 1: Olav Kooij survives punchy finish to clinch victory from Pedersen

Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) sprinted to the win on a hectic opening stage of the "Race to the Sun" ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ). The stage win put Kooij in the overall lead of the race as well.

The race took on a punchy parcour around the French countryside around Paris with three climbs and one bonus second sprint coming in the back half of the race. The fight for seconds drew out the GC men first, with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) taking the full six seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers). Bernal was not done, however, with the resurgent Colombian launching an attack on the final categorized climb. This prompted a response from Evenepoel who was joined by Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe).

After the climb, the select group of GC riders who were able to match Evenepoel and Roglič made a brief attempt to force the pace. A lack of cohesion – particularly from Roglič – quickly stifled the move, setting up a reduced sprint to decide the day. Nevertheless, with the GC action already kicking off on one of the easier stages of the week, the race seems set for a fierce battle all the way to Nice.

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Olav Kooij survives punchy opening stage of Paris-Nice to clinch victory from Pedersen

Paris-Nice 2024 overview

Running March 3-10 in 2024, Paris-Nice is the first of the big French stage races that lead to the Tour de France later in the year. The race, which is the first European WorldTour stage race of the season, has been a key building block for many Tour de France contenders over the years.

Nevertheless, with over 80 years of its own history, the often-nicknamed ‘race to the sun’ is an institution on the calendar. When the peloton rolls out of Les Mureaux just outside Paris on Sunday, March 3, it will be more than just a dress rehearsal event as the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič, João Almeida and David Gaudu look to add an important feather to their cap early in the season.

Paris-Nice runs, as the name suggests, from the windswept north of France near Paris down through the country's centre until it reaches the blue waters of the Côte d'Azur in Nice. This year the finish will be of particular importance since it will be a dry run of the Tour de France finale and will tackle some of the same roads where the Tour will end this July. Over the eight stages, the riders will face possible crosswinds on stage 1 and 2, a rare team time trial on stage 3 and then five challenging stages that will provide a mix of opportunities for the eclectic mix of GC men, Classics riders and sprinters who are set to start the 2024 edition.

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Paris-Nice 2024 key information

When is Paris-Nice 2024? The race begins on Sunday, 3 March and will finish on Sunday, 10 March.

Where does the 2024 Paris-Nice take place? Paris-Nice takes place, as the name suggests, in France with stages running between the Paris area and Nice.

Who won Paris-Nice in 2023? Tadej Pogačar won the 2023 edition of Paris-Nice, ahead of David Gaudu and Jonas Vingegaard.

When did Paris-Nice start? Paris-Nice began in 1933 and has run for 81 editions. The race was on hiatus during WWII and the years after.

Who won the first Paris-Nice? Alfons Schepers won the first edition of the race. The Belgian also won the Tour of Flanders once and Liège-Bastogne-Liège three times.

Who has the most wins at Paris-Nice? Sean Kelly won Paris-Nice an extraordinary seven times in a row in the 1980s.

Paris-Nice 2024 route: a familiar but challenging week

The map for Paris-Nice 2024

The 2024 Paris-Nice follows the traditional formula of starting on the outskirts of Paris with a couple of stages for the sprinters where early spring weather always seems to bring wind to cause nerves and chaos in the GC battle straight away. These first two stages are also where the Classics riders who have opted out of the Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico combination come to the fore to build their form, protect their GC leaders and gamble for a stage win.

Stage 3 is where the race returns to an experiment from last year. The stage is a 26.9km team time trial with one twist: the time is taken from the first rider and not the third. This means that teams have the option to stay fast as a unit, which Jumbo-Visma used to great success last year, or launch a full team lead-out at the end, which was the tactic that UAE Team Emirates employed.

The team time trial will set the GC hierarchy if it hadn’t been set with crosswinds. Nevertheless, stage 4 will see that order shaken up again as the race tackles the first major mountains in the race with the summit finish after a hilly day on the short but steep Mont Brouilly. The next two stages are rolling but altogether easier race days than stage 4, before the final weekend showcase around Nice will decide the final result.

Stage 7 is a more traditional, Grand Tour-type mountain stage with 4,084m of climbing in 173km. The day which begins at Nice along the Mediterranean Sea heads into the Maritime Alps with two major climbs including the summit finish up to Auron at 1,600m. In all the ways in which stage 7 is conventional, stage 8 is a return to the classic, action-packed medium mountain circuit around Nice which will take on six climbs in 109km.

Which teams are racing the 2024 Paris-Nice?

Paris-Nice is a WorldTour race and all 18 WorldTeams will be on the start line, as well as four ProTeams. With teams of seven riders, the full peloton is 22 teams and 154 riders.

WorldTour

Alpecin-Deceuninck
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
Astana Qazaqstan
Bahrain Victorious
Bora-Hansgrohe
Cofidis
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
EF Education-EasyPost
Groupama-FDJ
Ineos Grenadiers
Intermarché-Wanty
Lidl-Trek
Movistar Team
Soudal Quick-Step
dsm-firmenich PostNL
Jayco AlUla
Visma-Lease a Bike
UAE Team Emirates

ProTour

Israel-Premier Tech
Lotto Dstny
Tudor Pro Cycling
TotalEnergies

What happened at Paris-Nice in 2023?

The final podium of Paris-Nice 2023

Tadej Pogačar won the 2023 in dominant fashion ahead of David Gaudu and Jonas Vingegaard. The race was the first rematch between Pogačar and Vingegaard in a stage race since the 2022 Tour de France. Pogačar took control of the race on stage 4 and didn’t look back, taking three stages and the overall win in Nice. The race was a part of Pogačar’s scintillating Spring campaign.

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