Paris–Nice
Stage race | |
Organiser | Amaury Sport Organisation |
---|---|
Race director | Christian Prudhomme |
Web site | www |
History | |
First edition | 1933 |
Editions | 82 (as of 2024) |
First winner | Alphonse Schepers (BEL) |
Most wins | Sean Kelly (IRL) (7 wins) |
Most recent | Matteo Jorgenson (USA) |
Paris–Nice is a professional
One of the iconic races of cycling, Paris–Nice is part of the UCI World Tour and is the competition's first stage race in Europe each season, starting one day before its italian counterpart, the Tirreno-Adriatico/Race of the Two Seas.[1] It is organized by ASO, which also manages most other French World Tour races, most notably cycling's flagships the Tour de France and Paris–Roubaix. The roll of honour features some of cycling's greatest riders, including French riders Louison Bobet, Jacques Anquetil and Laurent Jalabert, Low Country riders Eddy Merckx and Joop Zoetemelk who each won the race three times, and Spaniards Miguel Induráin and Alberto Contador.[1] The most successful rider is Ireland's Sean Kelly, who claimed seven consecutive victories in the 1980s.
During the 2003 edition, Kazakh rider Andrey Kivilev died as a result of a head injury sustained in a crash.[3][4] His death prompted UCI to mandate the use of helmets in all competitions of cycling, except for the last part of a race with an uphill finish. The rule was later changed to require helmets at all times.
The 2020 Paris–Nice was the last international cycling event, as well as the last sporting event in France, before mass gatherings were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
History
Creation
Paris–Nice was created in 1933 by Parisian
The first Paris–Nice comprised six stages and was promoted as Les Six Jours de la Route (English: Six Days of the Road). The first stage ran from Paris to
The race was a success and was continued annually until 1939. Other newspapers from
In 1946 Ce Soir again organized the first post-war race, but although the event was a commercial success, the newspaper dropped its sponsorship and the race was discontinued between 1947 and 1950.[6]
The Race to the Sun
In 1951 the race was revived as Paris-Côte d'Azur by Jean Medecin, the mayor of Nice, who wanted to promote tourism to his fast-growing city and the entire
In 1959 the race was run as Paris–Nice–Rome, with a separate classification from Paris to Nice, a second from Nice to Rome in Italy and a third overall. The excessive length of the race — 1,955 kilometres (1,215 mi) in 11 days — was criticized, and the formula was not repeated. In 1966 Paris–Nice was the scene of a rivalry between French cycling icons Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor, whose legendary emulation divided French cycling fans for a decade. Anquetil won his fifth and final Paris–Nice, surpassing Poulidor on the final stage to Nice.[8][9]
In 1969, the final stage was moved from the seaside promenade in Nice to the top of the
In the 1980s Ireland's all-round specialist Sean Kelly won the race seven consecutive times from 1981 the winning record to date. The Race to the Sun produced several other foremost winners in the 1990s, notably Spanish Grand Tour specialist Miguel Induráin and Swiss Tony Rominger. French allrounder Laurent Jalabert won the race three consecutive times, the last time in 1997, and is still the last French winner to date.[6][N 2] In 2000, former cyclist Laurent Fignon took over the organisation of the race from the Leulliot family. In 2002, he sold Paris–Nice to ASO.[11]
World Tour Race
The 2003 race was marred by the death of Kazakh rider
In
In 2012 England's Bradley Wiggins won the race, as part of his build-up to the Tour de France.[16] Wiggins was the ninth rider who won the Race to the Sun prior to winning the Tour de France. In the last ten years, Spaniard Alberto Contador and Australian Richie Porte have won the race twice.[17][18][19]
The
Route
For many decades, the route of Paris–Nice has developed a traditional and recognizable format. The race starts on Sunday, most often with a prologue time trial near Paris, followed by a series of road stages southwards across France. Due to France's geography, the early stages are usually flat and suited for sprinters, before moving further south towards the Provence region. The latter, southern part of Paris–Nice normally contains several hilly to mountainous stages, which are the decisive portions of the race. The final stage on Sunday is either a road stage finishing on Nice's Promenade des Anglais or an uphill time trial on the Col d'Èze just outside Nice. Known as The Race to the Sun, Paris–Nice is often considered a mini-Tour de France, where riders need to be both competent time-trialists and capable of climbing mountains.[23]
Despite this format, some editions occasionally had more unorthodox courses. The 2014 edition was an unusual race with no time trials or summit finishes. In 2015 organizers returned to the traditional format, starting in Yvelines, west of Paris, before moving south. The key stages were the summit finish to the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret in France's Massif Central on stage 4 and the concluding time trial on Col d'Eze.[23] The 2016 edition included dirt road sectors in the first stage of the race and a passage on the lower slopes of Mont Ventoux in the fifth stage.[24]
Starts
Until 1962, the race began in the city of Paris. Since 1963, organizers have usually preferred to start in smaller towns and suburbs on the outskirts of Paris or even well outside the French capital.[25] Most editions started in the Paris region of Île-de-France, including nine from Issy-les-Moulineaux and six from Fontenay-sous-Bois. In 1982, the race started with a prologue in Luingne, Belgium; the event's only foreign start. Four other municipalities outside the Île-de-France have hosted the start: Villefranche-sur-Saône in 1988, Châteauroux in 1996, Nevers in 2001 and Amilly in 2008.[25] The last time Paris–Nice started in Paris was in 2000, with a prologue in the Bois de Vincennes.[26]
Finishes
This article needs to be updated.(April 2022) |
Paris–Nice has always finished in Nice and has only had three different finish locations on its territory. The seven pre-war editions finished on the Quai des États-Unis (Quay of the United States), before moving to the illustrious
In 1996, the finish was moved back to the Promenade des Anglais because of the low number of spectators on Col d'Èze and to take advantage of funding from the city of Nice. In 1996 and 1997 the final stage was a flat time trial in the streets of Nice, won by Chris Boardman and Viatcheslav Ekimov respectively. From 1998 to 2011, the final stage was a road race – usually on a hilly terrain with the climbs of the Col d'Èze and La Turbie – starting and ending in Nice. In recent years the race often returns to a final Col d'Èze time trial stage. Bradley Wiggins set a new climbing record in 2012 of 19' 12" on his way to overall victory.[27]
Jersey colours
Since 2008, the overall leader has worn a yellow jersey. At the creation of the race in 1933, the leader's jersey was blue and gold, evoking the Mediterranean sunny sky. In 1946, the leader's jersey was green. In 1951, the organization opted for a yellow jersey with orange piping; before changing to all-white from 1955 to 2001. In 2002, after the race was obtained by
The points classification leader's jersey has been green since 2008. It was green from 1954 to 1984, and there was no points classification from 1985 to 1996. The points jersey was pink and purple in 2000 and 2001, and green and white from 2002 to 2007.
The King of the Mountains jersey has white with red polka dots, as in the Tour de France, since the race's takeover by ASO. The classification was introduced in 1952 and the jersey colour changed several times. In the 1970s it was yellow and red; later, it was white and purple. In 1984 the jersey became yellow and blue (the colors of sponsor Crédit Lyonnais); the following year, it was blue. Agrigel became its sponsor in 1990, and changed the colors to yellow and blue.
The best young rider's jersey was introduced in 2002, when it was blue and white. It has been white since 2007.
Winners
Multiple winners
Riders in italics are active.
Wins | Rider | Editions |
---|---|---|
7 | Seán Kelly | 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 |
5 | Jacques Anquetil | 1957, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966 |
3 | Eddy Merckx | 1969, 1970, 1971 |
Joop Zoetemelk | 1974, 1975, 1979 | |
Laurent Jalabert | 1995, 1996, 1997 | |
2 | Maurice Archambaud | 1936, 1939 |
Raymond Impanis | 1954, 1960 | |
Fred De Bruyne | 1956, 1958 | |
Raymond Poulidor | 1972, 1973 | |
Miguel Induráin | 1989, 1990 | |
Tony Rominger | 1991, 1994 | |
Alexander Vinokourov | 2002, 2003 | |
Alberto Contador | 2007, 2010 | |
Richie Porte | 2013, 2015 | |
Maximilian Schachmann |
2020, 2021 |
Wins per country
Wins | Country |
---|---|
21 | France |
14 | Belgium |
8 | Ireland |
6 | Germany (including West Germany) Netherlands Spain |
3 | Colombia Great Britain Italy Switzerland United States |
2 | Australia Kazakhstan Slovenia |
Trivia
- The youngest winner of Paris–Nice was René Vietto in 1935, at the age of 21.[6]
- The oldest winner was Raymond Poulidor in 1973, at the age of 37.[6]
- France holds the record of most wins per nation, but no Frenchman has been victorious since Laurent Jalabert in 1997.[6]
- Twelve winners on the roll of honour have also won the Tour de France in their careers: Louison Bobet, Jacques Anquetil, Jan Janssen, Eddy Merckx, Joop Zoetemelk, Stephen Roche, Miguel Induráin, Alberto Contador, Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas, Egan Bernal and Tadej Pogačar. All bar Pogacar won their first or only Paris–Nice before they had won the Tour de France.
Notes
- ^ Jean Leulliot died in 1982. His daughter Josette succeeded him as head of Monde Six and race organizer.
- ^ The official site erroneously states Jalabert as a seven-fold winner.
- ^ Meanwhile, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to which the ProTour teams referred the case, declared itself unable to judge the legality of any penalties that might be taken against riders or teams.
References
- ^ a b c "Paris–Nice". UCI. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- Cycling News. Archived from the originalon 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ a b Jones, Jeff. "Kivilev dies of injuries". Cycling News. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Andrei Kivilev: September 21, 1973 - March 12, 2003". Cycling News. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen. "Paris–Nice to end on Saturday to help fight the spread of coronavirus". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g "History". letour.fr. ASO. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Paris - Nice 1933". siteducyclisme.net (in French). Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Paris-Nice1966". siteducyclisme.net (in French). Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ Guillerminet, Roger (2005). Roger Pingeon (in French). Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. pp. 63–68.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Paris-Nice 1972". siteducyclisme.net. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ Fignon, Valérie (2013). Laurent. Grasset. p. 180.
- ^ "Stage 3 neutralised after Kivilev's death". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ "Emotional Vinokourov does it for Kivilev". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ decaluwé, Brecht. "UCI says Paris–Nice agreement not unanimous". cyclingnews. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Paris-Nice 2011 Tony Martin wins race to the sun after Thomas Voeckler claims second stage on Cote-dAzur". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Bradley Wiggins wins Paris–Nice". The Guardian. Reuters. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Team Sky's Richie Porte becomes first Australian Paris–Nice winner". BBC Sport. 10 March 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- Skysports.com. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Richie Porte wins final ITT to take Paris–Nice title". Velo News. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ Longa, Jonny. "Paris–Nice will hold rest of race 'behind closed doors' because of coronavirus". cyclingweekly.com. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ "Schachmann holds on to win Paris–Nice". CyclingNews. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "Official classifications of Paris–Nice". Paris–Nice. ASO. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ a b Puddicombe, Stephen (4 March 2015). "Paris-Nice 2015 preview". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Guide historique de Paris–Nice" (PDF). letour.fr (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "67th Paris - Nice - 2.HC. France, March 5 - 12, 2000". cyclingnews.be. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Galagher, Brendan. "Paris-Nice 2012: Bradley Wiggins beats Lieuwe Westra in time trial to win race for the first time". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
External links
- Official website
- Paris–Nice palmares at Cycling Archives