Paris - Nice 2018

Marc Soler (Movistar) took the biggest victory of his career after claiming the overall title at Paris-Nice just four seconds ahead of Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott). Soler had been 37 seconds behind the yellow jersey of Yates at the start of the day, but a near-50-kilometre attack with David de la Cruz and Omar Fraile (Astana) was enough for Soler to jump from sixth to first in the overall standings. De la Cruz took victory on the final day for the second year in a row.

2018 Paris-Nice stage 8 brief results

Overview

The 2018 Paris-Nice is back for a 76th edition that will once again serve as an early season test and building block for riders looking toward the Grand Tours later in the year. This year's eight-stage race from March 4-11 is the sixth WorldTour race on the 2018 UCI Calendar and comes in the thick of the early Classics after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade-Bianche. The French race overlaps Tirreno-Adriatico and ends just six days before Milan-SanRemo.

Defending champion Sergio Henao is in the roster for Team Sky,  but he'll likely face challenges from Katusha-Alpecin's Ilnur Zakarin, Mitchelton-Scott's Esteban Chaves and Simon Yates, Fortuneo-Samsic's Warren Barguil and Astana's Jakob Fuglsang, among others.

Sprinters lined up for the start in Chatou include Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors), Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin).