The 2019 Paris-Nice is set to be one of the best yet, with a stellar line-up of riders looking to hone their form – or at least test themselves out – over the eight-day race's sprint, hilly and mountain stages ahead of this year's Grand Tours.
While Paris-Nice has traditionally gone up against Italian stage race Tirreno-Adriatico to attract the world's best Grand Tour contenders and sprinters, the French race looks, at least on paper, to have nabbed the pick of the bunch, with Tirreno opting this year for a parcours that doesn't feature any high mountains or summit finishes, plumping instead for stages with the sorts of climbs you'd expect to find at the Ardennes Classics.
That may not be a bad thing, with Tirreno nevertheless attracting the likes of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Michael Valgren (Dimension Data), and even bigger names such as Team Sky's Geraint Thomas and Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo Nibali.
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But the traditional nature of this year's Paris-Nice has attracted most of the world's top sprinters for its opening flat stages for the sprinters, while the mountainous second half of the race has brought in a glut of big-name GC riders.
In attendance for the bunch gallops will be Dimension Data's Mark Cavendish, Lotto Soudal's Caleb Ewan, Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jumbo-Visma's Dylan Groenewegen, UAE Team Emirates' Alexander Kristoff and André Greipel (Arkea-Samsic), while the climbing has attracted overall contenders that include Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), EF Education First's Tejay van Garderen and Movistar's Nairo Quintana, with his teammate, and the defending champion, Marc Soler.
It makes for a veritable who's who of professional cycling, with barely a neo-pro among them, seemingly – and makes this the race to watch if you're after an inkling of what might happen at this year's Tour de France.
Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data)
Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale)
Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)
Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
André Greipel (Arkea-Samsic)
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/5-riders-to-watch-at-the-2019-paris-nice
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