Christophe Laporte Leads in Paris-Nice. In a rare feat, Team Jumbo-Visma finished first-second-third on the opening stage of Paris-Nice. Christophe Laporte, starting only his second race after coming over from Cofidis, earned the stage victory. This result also gave Primoz Roglic, the overall favorite in the event, an early edge over the competition in the Race to the Sun.
Laporte was ecstatic, noting that his stage win was “crazy”, after finishing the stage in 3 hours, 48 minutes, and 28 seconds. Roglic, who finished second said that “we are the strongest guys here” , referring to Jumbo’s dominance.
With about 3 kilometers to go, the three team members rode at about 65 kph and held a good 15 second cushion over the rest of the pack. With 2 kilometers to go, the lead increased to 20 seconds. Just before the finish line, Roglic gave the nod to Laporte to cross the finish line first. In complete jubilation, the three team members rose their arms in unison to celebrate the first stage accomplishment.
Roglic and third-place finisher Wout van Aert indicated to Loparte with about a kilometer remaining that he would win the stage. The victory by Laporte gave him the overall lead in the points competition. Although not in the top ten during the stage, the early efforts by Matt Holmes gave him the king of the mountains jersey. Biniam Girmay was the first young rider to finish, earning him the white jersey for the second stage.
Finishing fourth in the stage was Pierre Latour of Total Energies, finishing 19 seconds back of the pack. Rounding out the top ten were Mads Pedersen, Biniam Girmay, Ivan Garcia Cortina, Fred Wright, Jasper Philipsen, and Florian Senecha.
