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Paris - Nice 2015: Stage 1

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Live coverage of stage 1 of Paris-Nice, 196.5 kilometres from Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse to Contres.

The opening road stage of Paris-Nice is often laden with unexpected pitfalls for the general classification contenders but, on paper at least, today's offering ought to be one for the bunch sprinters. After the early climb of the Cote de Bel-Air, it's an entirely flat road all the way to Contres, and the fast men will be very reluctant indeed to let this one get away from them.

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Delaplace's teammate Jonathan Hivert sparked the attacking this morning when he bounded clear on the Bel-Air, snaffling himself a day in the polka dot jersey in the process. Hivert built up a lead of 1:30 over the peloton in the first hour of racing but was gradually pegged back. Soon afterwards, 40 kilometres into the stage, his Bretagne-Séché stable-mate Delaplace tried his luck and quickly found a willing ally in the shape of Voeckler.

Hivert also picked up the three bonus seconds on offer at the first sprint in Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines during his excursion off the front, while Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) beat John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) to second place. The time bonuses move Degenkolb and Matthews to within striking distance of Michal Kwiatkowski's overall lead should either of them win the stage this afternoon.

This, incidentally, was how the general classification picture looked this morning:

Kwiatkowski's victory over Rohan Dennis (BMC) yesterday was a tight one. L'Equipe noted that Dennis was already being ushered towards the podium as Kwiatkowski entered the finishing straight, but the world champion summoned up the strength to pip the hour record holder by the tightest of margins. You can read the report here.

Speaking of reports, the findings of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission were published overnight and will rightly dominate the headlines for much of this week. You can read a summary of the full report here and details of who spoke to CIRC here.

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There was one non-starter today, and it's not good news for Nacer Bouhanni, as his Cofidis lead-out man Geoffrey Soupe has been forced out through illness. Soupe was part of the group that came with Bouhanni from FDJ during the off-season and will be a big loss as the sprinter seeks his first win for his new team. "It's a bit of a problem to lead out Nacer Bouhanni in the sprints but we'll have to adapt. We have solutions but I won't tell you which," Cofidis directeur sportif Didier Rous told letour.fr, channelling his inner Bill Belichick.

Tirreno-Adriatico has drawn some of the star power away from Paris-Nice in recent seasons, but two of the headline acts due to compete in Italy this week have today withdrawn from the race. For the second year running, Chris Froome has pulled out,

In a statement released by Giant-Shimano a short time ago, Kittel said: “I felt good enough to start the Tour of Qatar but during the race I started to feel worse and worse so with the team’s guidance we decided to step off the bike for a while. It was a very busy preparation time for me towards the first races and together with the virus and overreaching I am forced to rest now."

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Vandenbergh's efforts are making inroads into Voeckler and Delaplace's lead. The gap is down to a shade over three minutes.

Michal Kwiatkowski is safely ensconced in the main body of the peloton. The Pole strips off a layer as the stage enters its final 50 miles. After a relatively sedate opening, the pace will surely begin to ratchet upwards from here - though the sprinters' teams won't want to bring Voeckler and Delaplace back too soon, either.

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French cycling fans will be anticipating an Arnaud Démare-Nacer Bouhanni duel in the sprint this afternoon. The two young fastmen are both still to get off the mark this year and in need of a decent result after parting company during the off-season. Démare sits comfortably in the body of the peloton in his French champion's jersey.

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Vandenbergh went on to win the overall classification at that Tour of Ireland, and the race, which hasn't been held since 2009, was in the news this morning following a mention in the CIRC report. Speaking to RTE this morning, however, Pat McQuaid denied that there was any link between his decision to allow Lance Armstrong to ride the 2009 Tour Down Under without the requisite six months in the testing pool and the American's surprise participation in the Tour of Ireland late that year. "That was all done by my brother Darach, completely independent of me,” McQuaid said of Armstrong's participation in the Tour of Ireland.

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The average speed thus far is 34.9kph, long behind the slowest, 40kph schedule anticipated by ASO in the roadbook.

Bradley Wiggins is sitting comfortably towards the front end of the bunch. The Englishman was 14 seconds off the pace in yesterday's prologue, but his entire spring, of course, is staked purely on Paris-Roubaix, his final race in the colours of Team Sky.

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Prologues aren't Fabio Aru's forte and the Sardinian should be content to have made it into the top 20 yesterday and limited his losses to 33 seconds. The Astana man is a dangerman this week and he is well-placed near the head of the bunch, surrounded by a group of his teammates, including Paolo Tiralongo.

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For now, however, Stijn Vandenbergh continues to dictate the terms and conditions at the head of the bunch. And they're not especially stringent - the pace remains relatively gentle.

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German champion André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) is moving up in the peloton on the long, tree-lined straight near Chateau de Chambord. After missing Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne through illness, Greipel will be keen to test himself in the finale here.

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As William Bonnet guides Demare back the rear of the bunch, Rui Costa also fights his way back on after a reported crash. The Lampre-Merida man doesn't appear to have suffered any undue distress in the incident.

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Rui Costa, meanwhile, shares a joke with his brother, Mario, and appears to have been unhurt in the incident.

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Boonen had dropped back to get rid of a layer and he came a cropper as he looked to move up through the bunch. He is being attended to on the road by QuickStep doctor Yvon Van Mol and it looks as though his Paris-Nice is over. He is cluching his left collarbone. If it's broken, that would spell the end of his Classics campaign before it even begins.

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Etixx-QuickStep have since desisted at the head of the peloton, as Lotto-Soudal, Sky and FDJ instead move up. The two escapees remain 1:37 clear and will take the first two positions at the second bonus sprint.

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We can confirm that Tom Boonen has abandoned Paris-Nice. He will be taken to hospital for scans and we should have news later today about his prospects of lining up at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

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Etixx-QuickStep almost pulled off a perfect heist to guide Kwiatkowski to the bonus second for third place, but Geraint Thomas (Sky) was wise to the danger. The Welshman is third across the line and his overall deficit to Kwiatkowski is down to 13 seconds.

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Lotto-Soudal try to breathe some life into the chase behind. Bradley Wiggins is also present towards the front for Team Sky, who are massed on the left-hand side of the road.

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Giant-Shimano lead out the sprint for Degenkolb...

But Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) comes through and open his effort from distance, with Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) on his wheel...

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) wins stage 1 of Paris-Nice.

Bouhanni took second ahead of Bryan Coquard (Europcar).

Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) was fourth, ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing), Degenkolb sat up in the final 200 metres.

Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) will retain the yellow jersey of overall leader. Some consolation on a day marred for his team by Boonen's abandon.

Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) seemed well-placed entering the final kilometre but had to settle for 10th. Degenkolb, too, seemed in the box seat as the sprint began, but went too early and then faded.

Degenkolb banged his handlebars in frustration as he sat up, suggesting that he perhaps had a mechanical problem. There were certainly no issues for Kristoff. He had Jacopo Guarnieri for help in the final kilometre, before burning Bouhanni off his wheel with a powerful sprint finish to claim his fifth win of the season.

"I'm really happy. It's my first stage win in Paris-Nice and this is my fourth time coming here. It's a step-up for me," Kristoff says as he waits to mount the podium. "I was sitting in good position but Degenkolb went early and I wasn't sure if I would hold on until I crossed the line."

Result:

General classification:

Thanks for following our live coverage on Cyclingnews today. We'll back with more tomorrow, but in the meantime you can find a full report, results and pictures here as well as all the news from Paris-Nice, including an update on Tom Boonen's condition after he crashed out of the race in the finale this afternoon.

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