France’s Nacer Bouhanni won the opening stage of Paris-Nice on Sunday after a sprint finish in Mantes-la-Jolie.
Nacer Bouhanni wins Paris Nice stage 1. Photo: AFP
The FDJ rider won the stage from John Degenkolb (Giant) and Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step).
The opening 162.5km stage contained some chaotic moments with there being a number of crashes, with Bouhanni himself going down at one stage.
However, he showed no ill-effects from that tumble as he burst clear in the final 200m to take the win and the yellow jersey.
The biggest causality on the day though was Tejay van Garderen (Team BMC) who was forced to retire with illness.
The eight-stage race runs until March 16 with Vincent Nibali, Carlos Betancur and Rui Costa among the favourites.
Britain’s Geraint Thomas is also expected to challenge as Team Sky look to win the race for the third successive year after the successes of Richie Porte (2013) and Bradley Wiggins (2012). – Eurosport
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