Tim Merlier gave Soudal-Quickstep the first win of Paris-Nice when he took stage 1 victory ahead of Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) in a bunch sprint in La Verrière.
The day was marked by a number of breakaways and splits in the peloton, with a two-man breakaway of Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) and Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) riding alone for the majority of the day, before the last 10km saw short and sharp attacks coming from Neilson Powless, Tadej Pogacar and Florian Senechal.
A six-second time bonus won in Pogacar's short attack over the Côte de Milon-la-Chapelle saw him gain key time in the general classification, though, currently sitting in third place overall.
However, despite multiple attacks, the sprint teams were able to draw the pack together for the finish.
“It was a great effort from the team, and they believed in me and today and it was a great lead-out,” Merlier said following the finish.
“It was a hard day certainly, with a lot of strength in the peloton and the steep climb 9km from the finish, and we had to think tactically and we had two men in there and we come back on the last climb very well and Kasper Asgreen brought me to the front.”
“From there the team worked well together, I can’t say how great it is to be on this team,” he said. “It’s like a dream.”
The result marked Merlier’s fourth sprint victory this season, his first season with his new team Soudal-Quickstep.
How it Unfolded
The Race to the Sun set off to an aptly bitter cloudy afternoon in La Verrière, no doubt making the warm climes of Nice an appealing destination for the heavily layered peloton.
The race took in 169.4km, laced with short but steep ascents harsh enough to split the sprinters from the main field. The famous crosswinds of the Paris-Nice opening stages were notably lacking, though, reducing the threat of a major spit in the peloton.
The first 20km saw a slow pace in the peloton and a lack of any serious attacks, and when a duo of Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) and Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) broke clear over a small unclassified climb, it was largely without objection.
Riding clear with 150km remaining, the two were allowed a generous lead of over two minutes in a little over 5km of riding.
The break was allowed to stretch to over 3:30 over the next 40km, but as the 100km mark approached, and the Côte de Milon-la-Chapelle behind them, the peloton began to ramp up the chase and quickly cut minutes out of the two riders’ lead.
At the front of the peloton, Lotto-Dstny were making clear their intentions for Arnaud De Lie - tipped as a favourite for the stage - accompanied Alpecin-Deceuninck, who were likely placing hopes on a Kaden Groves stage win.
Ourselin and Gregaard were left undisturbed for the next 70km, with a manageable gap of around one minute, before the peloton picked up in pace and swallowed up the two riders with 30km remaining.
The peloton was now clocking in speeds of between 50 and 60kmh on the flat Northern French terrain, with the tension leading to a crash of around a dozen riders as the peloton squeezed through a small village sitting 25km from the finish.
UAE Team Emirates, EF Education Easypost and Jumbo-Visma began to rapidly increase the pressure at the front, trimming riders from the main peloton as the pack approached the final two classified climbs of the day.
Just inside the final 20km, on the final climb of Côte de Milon-la-Chapelle, aggressive attacks came from Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Neilson Powless (EF Education Easypost). The two were unable to break clear, but the climb saw a major split in the peloton amid the chaos, with a lead group in the split expanding out to a 20-second advantage.
The peloton reeled back the lead group within three kilometres, but a counter-attack came from Powless, who managed to carve a solo 20-second lead.
Despite a brave effort, Powless was caught with 7km remaining, on the ascent of Côte des Dix-Sept Tournants, just as Pogacar made his decisive attack over the summit - taking a six-second time bonus in the process - before riding clear with Vingegaard and Pierre Latour into the final 5km.
The three gave up the chase after a few minutes, allowing the peloton to move into formation at the 3km mark, prepared for a bunch sprint into the finish.
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