Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Nacer Bouhanni wins Paris-Nice Stage 1, Alejandro Valverde takes Roma Maxima

FDJ.fr sprinter triumphs on opening day of Race to the Sun for second year running

Nacer Bouhanni of FDJ.fr has won the opening stage of Paris-Nice for the second year in a row. The 23-year-old, who had crashed earlier in the stage, beat Giant-Shimano’s John Degenkolb and Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Gianni Meersman to win the sprint in Montes-la-Jolie. Meanwhile, Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde won the second edition of Roma Maxima in Italy.

Bouhanni’s crash, which left him with a bloodied knee, was one of several during today’s first stage of the ‘Race to the Sun,’ while BMC Racing’s Tejay van Garderen abandoned through illness.

Last year Bouhanni crashed heavily on Stage 2 while in the leader’s jersey, landing on his face and having to be taken to hospital, but today’s chute was thankfully less severe, although he did have to drop back to the doctor’s car for treatment.

Today’s 162.5km stage took in four laps of a circuit based around Mantes-la-Jolie, and always looked likely to end in a bunch sprint, but it was contested by a smaller than expected group after a crash split the field with a little under 20km left, causing a number of riders to lose time.

Earlier, the day’s sole breakaway rider, Christophe Laborie of Bretagne-Séché Environnement, had been caught by the bunch having already amassed enough points on today’s climbs to ensure he will keep the mountains jersey for a couple of days.

BMC Racing said that van Garderen’s abandonment after around 80km was due to “Intestinal problems.” The American rider believes he could have caught a stomach bug while flying from Nice to Paris on Friday.

"It felt like my sickness was getting better,” he said. “Today, I woke up and I felt OK. But I was really just empty. I couldn't take in calories and just had nothing in the muscles."

The team’s director, Max Sciandri, told race radio that the team’s efforts will now be focused on British rider Steve Cummings.

Missing from the start of the race was last year’s winner, Richie Porte of Team Sky who changed his plans at the 11th hour and will ride Tirreno-Adriatico instead after Chris Froome pulled out of that race due to a back injury.

The late withdrawal didn’t impress race director Christian Prudhomme, who told AFP: “We find it cavalier to have the reigning champion pull out just before the start,” he said.

“We were told that to win points for the world rankings, the Tirreno was more favourable [for Porte] due to its technical characteristics and the presence of an time trial.”

In the Italian capital, Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde just held off a rapidly closing peloton in the shadow of the Coliseum to win the second edition of Roma Maxima.

The Spaniard had got away from the lead group with AG2R’s Domenico Pozzovivo with 37km left, but their advantage tumbled in the closing three kilometres or so.

Pozzovivo was overhauled metres short of the line, second place going to his team mate Davide Appollonio, with Bardiani-CSF’s Sonny Colbrelli third.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

1 comments

Avatar
Colin Peyresourde | 10 years ago
0 likes

A very well times sprint for the line by Valverde. He knew he has Pozzovivo in his pocket (as did everyone I would guess), but he literally waited till he could feel the peloton breathing down his neck. That's experience for you.

Latest Comments