Paris-Nice 2021 stage 3 time trial start times

Stage 3 of Paris-Nice breaks up the trend of bunch sprints with the overall contenders coming to the fore in the 14 kilometre individual time trial in Gien. Normally a favourite for the stage win, especially in the absence of world champion Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Rohan Dennis heads into the stage on the back foot after crashing twice in the opening stage.

Dennis heads down the ramp in the first wave along with several other banged-up riders. The Ineos Grenadiers rider will be the 13th rider down the ramp after limping to the finish 2:38 behind the stage 2 sprint finish won by Cees Bol (Team DSM).

The youngest rider in the race, Daniel Arroyave Cañas (EF Education-Nippo), who suffered his second crash of the race on Monday after also falling on stage 1 struggled to the finish six minutes down and will start as the 11th rider.

On the other end of the start list is a block of fast men who sit atop the overall classification after two straight bunch sprint finishes. Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) will be the last rider down the ramp as overall leader, having taken the jersey from Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quickstep) on stage 2.

In the same stage in 2020, Matthews finished a creditable seventh in the time trial of a similar distance in Saint-Amand-Montrond, ceding just 12 seconds to eventual race winner Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and 18 to stage winner Søren Kragh Andersen.

After leading Paris-Nice from stage 1 to the finish in 2020, Schachmann heads into the individual time trial this year in a main group of 119 riders who trail Matthews by 14 seconds.

Also in that group are time trial favourite Victor Campenaerts (Qhubeka-Assos) and overall race favourites Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers), Jai Hindley (Team DSM) and last year's runner-up Tiesj Benoot (Team DSM).

The first rider to start, Maxime Bouet (Arkéa-Samsic) kicks off the stage at 1:07pm CET, with Matthews setting off at 3:45pm.