Paris-Nice: Olav Kooij pips Mads Pedersen on uphill sprint to win opening stage

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Olav Kooij (Visma–Lease a Bike) won the opening stage of Paris-Nice in a tight final sprint against runner-up Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).

Pedersen hit out first in the final 200 metres of the uphill finish in Les Mureaux, but Kooij had the strength to get back. Kooij came off Pedersen’s wheel with 75 metres to go and won by half a wheel. 

Groupama-FDJ’s in-form sprinter Laurence Pithie looked to be gaining on the pair in the run to the line, but had to settle for third.

It was a tricky final 20 kilometres, with attacks flying from General Classification favourites Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers). However, the sprinters’ teams brought back the moves to set up the bunch kick.

“We knew it would be hard, but we definitely wanted to go for it,” Kooij said at the finish about the stiff uphill finish. 

“I was in good position, and thanks to the guys. I had to suffer by way up the climbs, and then we knew we’d be fighting for the win. In the end, it was a really hard sprint. I’m happy to take a win."

Having won two stages in last year's Paris-Nice, Kooij finished second to Pedersen on stage 2 and knew the opening day could come down to a rematch.

“We knew this finish really suits him [Pedersen] and he’s been going really good this season. Last year we also had some good battles in the sprint here, and I was happy to win.

"I think tomorrow should be another sprint so it will be nice to race in the [leader’s] jersey. We’ll keep going and do the best we can."

How it unfolded

The first battle between the ‘big four’ of 2024 commenced on stage 1 of Paris-Nice as Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) took to the start line of the eight-day race.

The first day, on paper, wasn’t to suit the two riders taking aim at the Tour de France’s yellow jersey in July. It was more of an aim for the punchy sprinters at the race, of which there were several.

The stage rolled out of Les Mureaux on a typically cold, early spring morning. The peloton was happy to let Jonas Rutsch, Stefan Bissegger (both EF Education-EasyPost) and Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies) hop off the front on the Côte de Bazemont, the first categorised climb of the day. The Frenchman Burgaudeau took the first mountain points of the race.

Lidl-Trek, through Tim Declercq, took control of the peloton as they sought to guide Mads Pedersen to the finish. They let the lead drift out to three minutes over the first hour of racing.

Rutsch was first over the second climb of the day, the Côte d'Herbeville, which was due to be ridden again with 15km to go as the day’s final test.

In support of Olav Kooij, Team Visma-Lease a Bike began getting involved with the chase. They helped to bring the trio’s advantage down to just over a minute with 60 kilometres to go.

The breakaway was reeled in with 38km left, halfway up the second ascent of the Côte de Bazemont. Rutsch and Burgaudeau stayed at the front of the peloton though and sprinted for the points. The German was too strong and secured the overnight lead of the polka dot jersey.

The day was in the balance over the rolling terrain, with questions asked of how many fast-men would be able to make it to the finish. Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) was the first to be dropped.

The peloton went into cruise-mode entering the final 30 kilometres, with the big teams in control.

At 18km to go was the only sprint point of the day, a 10% kicker in Montainville. Paris Nice is often won by seconds, so every time-bonus gained can be crucial – six, four and two seconds were up for grabs.

The stress in the peloton seemed to rise on the approach to the sprint. Visma-Lease a Bike surged to the front for Matteo Jorgensen, alongside Jayco-AlUla, UAE Team Emirates and Lidl-Trek. As the road pitched-up, Evenepoel was brought forward by his teammates. Jorgensen went first and took the full six seconds, with Evenepoel in second and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) third.

The Belgian champion continued beyond the sprint, coaxing Jorgensen, Bernal and two from Lotto Dstny to go with him. The move was short-lived, however, as the chasers re-organised and brought them back. The acceleration did serve to drop several sprinters, including Fabio Jakobsen (Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny).

The riders immediately bounced straight into the final climb of the day up the Côte d'Herbeville, with Soudal-QuickStep keen to keep the pace high through the work of Gianni Moscon.

Towards the top of the climb, Bernal attacked and Evenepoel countered over the top, swiftly joined by Roglič. The duo were momentarily off the front together before being caught by a heavily-reduced peloton on the long plateau before the descent back to Les Mureaux.

The aggressive racing continued as Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) attacked off the front with 10 kilometres to go. He built a 15-second lead as the road began to descend. It was Cofidis with the numbers to chase as they looked to set up Bryan Coquard. Mads Pedersen, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) and Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) were other sprinters present in the group.

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale added their weight to the chase as Turgis’ gap began to melt away with 3km to go. Turgis was caught with two to go and Visma-Lease a Bike hit the front in support of Kooij, who was a late returnee to the front group and passed Pedersen in the final 100 metres for the win.

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