Paris-Nice: Démare wins stage 1 in Vendôme

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Tipped from early in his career as the man most likely to end France's long drought at Paris-Roubaix, Arnaud Démare (FDJ) seemed to lose his way during a lacklustre 2015 campaign. Where better, then, to find his way again than on the dirt roads around Vendôme at the end of a relentless opening road stage of Paris-Nice?

After a day that saw the peloton buffeted by snow and wind, Démare managed to hang tough on a demanding finishing circuit along dirt roads designed very much with Classics contenders in mind. He then reached for the other weapon in his armoury – his rapier finishing sprint – to take the stage win ahead of Ben Swift (Sky) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis).

Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) had succeeded in slipping away from a stretched-out peloton on the descent from the final dirt road section, the Chemin du Tertre de la Motte, and he looked a likely stage winner as he led into the finishing straight. Swift opened his sprint from distance, however, and overhauled the Belgian with a shade over 200 metres to go, only for Démare to swoop by him to take an emphatic stage victory.

Démare's sprint was all the more impressive given how much ground he made up in those final 200 metres. In a sense, it was a trip down memory lane, as the Frenchman overhauled Adrien Petit (Direct Energie) – his lead-out man when he won the under-23 Worlds in Copenhagen in 2011 – and then Bouhanni – his former FDJ teammate and eternal rival – before passing Swift to win the stage.

"This wasn't a normal sprint and things could have worked out differently because I was badly placed," Démare said of the confused finale. "I had to launch from sprint from a long way back. I'd decided to stick to Nacer's wheel because he still had two teammates with him and I was lucky to come around him and then jump Swift at the end."

Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) placed fifth in the reduced bunch sprint to retain the yellow jersey of race leader, though one wonders how he might have fared had he not lost teammate Daryl Impey to a puncture in the finale, or if he had not expended so much energy in sprinting to claim two bonus seconds on the first passage through the finish line with 14 kilometres remaining.

No matter, Matthews can still draw positives from what was his first road race of the 2016 season. The Australian was present and correct when the peloton split under the impetus of Sky and Etixx-QuickStep in the crosswinds with 40 kilometres remaining, and he was consistently to the fore, too, on the four dirt road sections in the grimly-contested finale. His overall lead now stands at three seconds over Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), with Patrick Bevin (Cannondale) third at four seconds.

Strade Bianche à la française

The thickets of snow that fell over Condé-sur-Vesgre were an augury for the kind of day that was to follow, and even though the weather cleared for the opening hour of racing, temperatures were scarcely above freezing and most of the peloton was swathed in jackets, gilets and leg warmers for much of the day.

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), French champion Steven Tronet (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Thierry Hupond (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) and Perrig Quemeneur (Direct Energie) zipped clear to no great reaction once the race had left the neutralised zone, gradually building a lead of ten minutes come the midway point, by which time flakes of snow had again begun to tumble from the charcoal skies.

When the sun eventually showed itself later in the afternoon, it was only because stiff winds had briefly dislodged some of the cloud cover, and when the race turned into a section of crosswind with a shade over 40 kilometres remaining, Etixx-QuickStep, Tinkoff and Sky made their presence felt at the head of the peloton.

Their forcing split the peloton into two distinct groups for much of the final hour, though Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) apart, none of the general classification contenders missed the cut and there was a regrouping of sorts in the finale. Even though the selection did not prove decisive, it was a fascinating early indicator of form at this Paris-Nice, with Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), Richie Porte (BMC), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Dumoulin all safely on board the front group of 30 riders.

By the time the race hit the first dirt road section, the 1,350m-long Chemin de Tourteline, the break's lead was down to just ten seconds, and they were all swept up shortly afterwards, as Team Sky took up the reins, with Luke Rowe particularly impressive.

Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) enjoyed a brief cameo off the front after he attacked near the top of the second dirt section, the Côte du Chemin du Tertre de la Motte, and he still led the race as it bundled through the finish line in Vendôme for the first time.

After Orica-GreenEdge shut down Perichon's solo move, Sky took over once again on the second time along the Chemin de Tourteline, and they continued to ride on the front on the final time up the Chemin du Tertre de la Motte, even after the leading group had doubled in size as the chasers latched back on.

"I felt good on the chalk road sections," Démare said. "They're nothing at all like the pavé to be honest, you turn your legs much quicker here."

Geraint Thomas was positioned towards the front all the way up the final climb, just behind Swift, and the Welshman tracked an attack from Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) over the top, with just four kilometres remaining.

By that point, with gaps opening on the descent, it was a case of every man for himself, as no one team had sufficient control to guarantee the sprint. Theuns sensed his opportunity and looked to have grasped it, too, only for Swift to overhaul him. Démare, in turn, would snatch victory from the Briton, his second of the season after a stage win at La Méditerranéenne last month.

"Last year I had a really difficult season," Démare said. "It's good to prove that I can still win a big one."

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