The Paris-Nice 2023 route, step by step
Who will succeed Primoz Roglic in the Race to the Sun? The Slovenian, tried to support him this winter, may not resume competition before the end of March. A participation in Paris-Nice therefore seems compromised, especially since his teammate Jonas Vingegaard, the outgoing winner of the Tour de France, has already hinted that he will be at the start of the first major World Tour stage race in Europe. year, whose course was unveiled this Thursday in Versailles. On the program: three stages for the sprinters, two for the adventurers, a time trial by rather special teams and a final weekend tailored for the climbers in the vicinity of Nice.
The profile of the 1st stage of Paris-Nice 2023. (ASO)
As tradition dictates, the race will start from the Yvelines department with a first stage in the form of a loop around La Verrière. Despite roads exposed to the wind and some difficult climbs, this appetizer should not scare off the sprinters, who have become used to reigning at the start of the event (Dylan Groenewegen in 2019, Sam Bennett in 2021 , Christophe Laporte last year at the end of a Jumbo-Visma festival which had occupied the three steps of the podium). The last bump listed is more than twenty kilometers from the finish.
The profile of the 2nd stage of Paris-Nice 2023. (ASO)
As often on the second day of Paris-Nice, it is the wind which will be the main adversary of the favorites (in the edges, David Gaudu had thus lost ten minutes following a fall last year) during a stage that will take the peloton to Fontainebleau, where a sprinter should raise his arms again.
The profile of the 3rd stage of Paris-Nice 2023. (ASO)
For the first time in thirty years and ONCE’s victory in Roanne in the 1993 edition, a team time trial will be on the Paris-Nice programme. Exceptionally long (32.2 km) on flat roads with long straight lines, it also includes a funny novelty since the time will not be taken on the 4th or 5th runner to cross the line, but on the first!
This significantly modifies the tactical approach of the exercise: a formation can choose to reach the finish with six or seven runners, another to give everything for its best pawn. This rule change allows Groupama-FDJ, for example, to ask Stefan Küng, its best rider, to sacrifice himself for David Gaudu, its overall leader, by placing him under the red flame.
The profile of the 4th stage of Paris-Nice (ASO)
An uneven stage in the form of a call from the foot to Julian Alaphilippe since this one will start from his hometown, Saint-Amand-Montrond, and will end at Loge des gardes, the nearest winter sports resort Paris, after a tough climb (6.7 km at 7.1%), unprecedented on the event. Two other difficulties will be listed in the last 50 kilometers, the Vernet coast (2.1 km at 5.8%) and the Cheval Rigon coast (5.7 km at 3.9%).
The profile of the 5th stage of Paris-Nice. (ASO)
The peloton is tackling a marathon stage of 212 kilometers where the first three difficulties should allow an interesting breakaway to form from the outset. The teams of sprinters will then be responsible for controlling the gap and clearing the Côte d’Aleyrac, about thirty terminals from the line. The finish will be in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, in Drôme Provençale.
The profile of the 6th stage of Paris-Nice 2023. (ASO)
As the final fireworks approach, the most explosive fighters in the peloton will be honored during this 6th stage which will almost reach the seaside in La Colle-sur-Loup, close to Nice. Five difficulties listed on the program, including the Côte de Cabris and its passage at 20% and, on the final circuit, the Côte de la Colle-sur-Loup, 10% on average and a passage at 19%, with an improved sprint at its top. The last 20 km will be downhill.
The profile of the 7th stage of Paris-Nice. (ASO)
The great mountain stage of the Race to the Sun will see the favorites tearing themselves apart on the slopes of the Col de la Couillole, which in 2017 became the highest finish in the history of the race (Richie Porte was there then imposed and Julian Alaphilippe, leader of the event, had lost his yellow jersey there). Six years later, the peloton will return there as the epilogue of a day which will start from Nice and where the Tourette-du-Château coast will favor the formation of a breakaway. But the final climb, 15 km long, will probably crown a cador.
The profile of the 8th stage of Paris-Nice 2023. (ASO)
The stage of all possibilities, the shortest and often the most beautiful of the race to the sun. Last year, it took a Wout Van Aert of very great days for Primoz Roglic to cling to his yellow jersey in the chain of passes in the Nice hinterland. There will be five this time and not the least: three 2nd category climbs in the first 50 kilometers, then the Peille coast (6.6 km at 6.8%) and finally the Col d’Eze (6 km at 7.6%), the summit of which will be located 15 km from the finish on the Promenade des Anglais.