European champion Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) continued his fine run of form by picking up his fifth win of the season on the opening stage of Paris-Nice in Le Perray-en-Yvelines. Ideally set up by his teammates, the Belgian sprinter finished well clear of his rivals, who were led in by Frenchman Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), with Italy’s Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) in third place.
Winner of the race’s opening stage on his only previous appearance in ‘The Race to the Sun’ in 2023, Merlier fully lived up to his pre-stage status as the day’s favourite. The 32-year-old Belgian jumped across to the left-hand barrier as he opened his sprint with a little more than 200 metres remaining and never looked likely to be caught as he cruised to victory.
The success also put him in the race leader’s yellow jersey. The 10-second time bonus he received left him four seconds ahead of Démare and Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). The Ecuadorean champion, who won the Tour Down Under in January, is likely to be one the contenders for overall victory this week and underlined his GC intentions by winning the day’s intermediate sprint, 10km from the finish.
Run in mild conditions with very little wind, the racing was still typically fast and nervy, as the opening days of this race always tend to be. Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) and Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty) broke away right at the start, but were never given much leeway. Their lead maxed out at two-and-a-half minutes and the trio were reeled in 49km from home.
From that point on, the peloton remained tightly compact until the approach to the last of three third-category climbs with 22km left. Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) was the first to accelerate there, with Matteo Jorgensen (Visma | Lease a Bike) quick to follow, the American leading over the climb.
The next flurry came at the intermediate sprint at Les Mesnuls with 10km to go. Jorgensen was at the forefront once again, but was outpaced by Narváez, who took six bonus seconds, with Jorgensen bagging four and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) two for third place.
After sorties by Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) and Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) had been closed down, the latter’s teammate Josh Tarling was the next to try his luck. Joined by Matteo Trentin (Tudor) and with Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose tracking them, the pair opened a small gap, but never threatened to get out of the peloton’s range and were caught just before the 2km banner.
The key then was positioning going into a sweeping left-hand corner with 600m to the line. Soudal Quick-Step ensured Merlier was exactly where he needed to be, and once the Belgian opened up his sprint the result was never in doubt.
2025 Paris-Nice stage 1
1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 3:32:03
2. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, st
3. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling Team, st
4. Juan Sebastián Molano (Arg) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, st
5. Axel Zingle (Fra) Team Visma | Lease a Bike, st
6. Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) XDS Astana Team, st
7. Mick van Dijke (Ned) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, st
8. Timo Kielich (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck, st
9. Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) EF Educatiion-EasyPost, st
10. Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Jayco AlUla, st
General Classification
1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 3:31:53
2. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +4
3. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, st
4. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling Team, +6
5. Matteo Jorgensen (USA) Team Visma | Lease a Bike, st
6. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, +8
7. Juan Sebastián Molano (Arg) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +10
8. Axel Zingle (Fra) Team Visma | Lease a Bike, st
9. Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) XDS Astana Team, st
10. Mick van Dijke (Ned) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, st
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