Paris-Nice 2014 - Stage 1

The 72nd Paris-Nice kicked off on the 9th March, with a 162.5 kilometre stage around Mantes-La-Jolie. The large circuit looked like it would favour sprinters like Nacer Bouhanni, John Degenkolb and Tyler Farrar, but a breakaway did try its hand. Christophe Laborie of Bretagne-Seche Environnement was the only man who escaped.

His lead hit over ten minutes after seventy kilometres of racing, but as he was out alone, the peloton had no real trouble bringing the Frenchman back. The peloton did have a tough time of it to do with crashes however, with Nacer Bouhanni going down early. He must have had flashbacks of last year's race, where he crashed out whilst in the leader's jersey.

He was okay to race and carried on, but more crashes affected the peloton. Among those going down were Vasil Kiryienka (Sky) and Alessandro Vanotti (Astana), until a bigger crash brought down big names including Andy Schleck, Simon Gerrans, Thomas Voeckler and Thor Hushovd. However, the man most affected was Tejay van Garderen, who had to pull out of stage one due to illness.

The peloton soon settled down for a sprint however, with Giant-Shimano, Belkin and Omega Pharma-Quickstep controlling things at the head of affairs. Giant-Shimano looked like they had set up John Degenkolb well for the win, but he was boxed in, and had to start his sprint early. Nacer Bouhanni capitalised on this, and made light of his crash by winning the first stage.

Bouhanni should enjoy some time in the leader's jersey, providing he does not crash once again. Despite Richie Porte not now being present at Paris-Nice, it looks like it should be an exciting race anyway. Lanterne Rouge's dark horse for the race is IAM Cycling's Sylvain Chavanel.