Bernard Hinault takes matters in hand during a miners' protest at Paris-Nice in 1984.
Paris-Nice 2010: Peter Sagan announces his arrival in the ProTour with victory in Aurillac.
BMC owner Andy Rihs applauds Alexander Vinokourov in Cannes at Paris-Nice in 2004.
Santiago Botero on the attack at Paris-Nice in 2004.
Paris-Nice 2014. John Degenkolb wears yellow but narrowly loses out in the moustache classification.
Carlos Betancur beats Rui Costa in Fayence to win his second consecutive stage at the 2014 Paris-Nice.
Cold weather blighted Paris-Nice in 2004. Jean-Marie Leblanc tells Michele Bartoli, Ivan Basso and David Millar that stage 4 through the Auvergne has been cancelled.
Marc Madiot and Jean-Marie Leblanc share a light-hearted moment at Paris-Nice 2004.
The late Frank Vandenbroucke rode his final Paris-Nice in 2004 in the colours of Fassa Bortolo. He won the race overall in 1998.
World champion Philippe Gilbert crosses the line in Brioude, Paris-Nice 2013.
Riche Porte sealed Paris-Nice victory by winning the Col d'Eze time trial in 2013.
Jacques Anquetil pictured with his wife Janine after taking his fourth Paris-Nice victory in 1965.
Bradley Wiggins in yellow in Brive-La-Gaillarde, Paris-Nice 2012.
Laurent Fignon in the Col d'Eze time trial in 1987. He would finish third overall behind Sean Kelly, who claimed his sixth successive Paris-Nice title.
Scott Sunderland sits down with journalist Jeremy Whittle at Paris-Nice in 2004.
Alexandre Vinokourov won three stages at Paris-Nice in 2004, including the final leg to Nice.
The final time trial of Paris-Nice shifted from the Col d'Eze to the Promenade des Anglais in 1996, and Chris Boardman duly scorched to victory.
Remy Di Gregorio shelters at a bus-stop in Nevers ahead of stage 2 in 2008.
A fringale cost Alberto Contador the overall lead on the penultimate day in 2009, prompting a pointed tweet from then-teammate Lance Armstrong: "Amazing talent but still a lot to learn."
Floyd Landis gets a massage on the Phonak bus at the 2006 Paris-Nice.
A young Alberto Contador on the attack for Liberty Seguros at Paris-Nice in 2006.
David Millar lines up as Paris-Nice leader in Vatan in 2007.
Paris-Nice leader Bobby Julich and world champion Tom Boonen in Villemandeur in 2006.
Floyd Landis after winning Paris-Nice in 2006.
Christian Prudhomme helps Martin Elmiger and the Paris-Nice peloton find a path through a student protest on the road to Rasteau in 2006.
Fabian Cancellara wins in Montelimar at Paris-Nice in 2005.
Thomas Voeckler climbs Mont Faron as Toulon shimmers below, Paris-Nice 2005.
Lance Armstrong on the attack with Thierry Bourguignon at Paris-Nice in 1995.
ONCE teammates Laurent Jalabert and Alex Zulle finished first and third at Paris-Nice in 1995.
Lance Armstrong and Georg Totschnig on the cold road to Chabris, 2005.
Laurent Fignon organised Paris-Nice for three years before ASO took over.
Paris-Nice marks one of the great rendezvous of the season as stage racers and classics hunters alike clash swords on the long road south to the Côte d’Azur.
Billed as the Race to the Sun, the popular imagination associates Paris-Nice more readily with plummeting temperatures, driving rain and occasional snow, at least until that final weekend on the Riviera.
Allied to the rugged terrain of the Massif Central and the Maritime Alps, the conditions help to make Paris-Nice one of the most robust test of a bike rider’s credentials, as a cursory glance at the palmarès since the first edition in 1933 confirms.
This year’s Paris-Nice gets underway in Maurepas on Sunday and concludes a week later with the traditional time trial finale atop the Col d’Èze. In between, the peloton faces a particularly hilly edition, including a summit finish at the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret.
Ahead of Sunday’s start, Cyclingnews has dug into the archives for a gallery of striking images from Paris-Nice over the years, stretching back to Jacques Anquetil’s stylish wins of the 1960s to Carlos Betancur’s pugnacious victory last year, by way of a litany of starring riders including Laurent Fignon, Bernard Hinault and Tom Boonen.
To subscribe to the Cyclingnews video channel, click here
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
