Paris-Nice director general Yannick Talabardon believes that most teams taking part in the stage 3 team time trial will make the most of it as a useful early rehearsal for the Tour de France’s opening stage in July.
Stage 3’s team time trial of 23.5 from Cosne-Cours-sur Loire and Pouilly-sur-Loire this Tuesday is just four kilometres longer than the 19-kilometre stage 1 TTT of the Tour in Barcelona, set to run almost entirely through the Catalan capital on the afternoon of Saturday, July 4.
The positioning of the TTT so early in Paris-Nice also reinforces the similarities between the two. While this is the fourth straight year that the Race to the Sun will have a TTT, this summer’s Tour will be the first time the race has opened with a collective race against the clock since 1971. Paris-Nice director Yannick Talabardon confirmed to L’Équipe the decision to include the comparatively rare speciality in the 2026 edition of the race he organisers was anything but coincidental.
Article continues below
“I would have liked it to be more similar to the one in the Tour, but even if the elevation gain is the same, it’s more spread out,” Talabardon told L’Équipe. “Even so, it’ll be a good test for the teams in regard to the Tour.”
Talabardon added that in the early years of the Paris-Nice TTT, teams were not so enthusiastic about its inclusion, but given the team time trial in the Tour, “they’re very pleased to have a rehearsal at Paris-Nice…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…