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The organisers have touted a balanced route for the 2023 Paris-Nice, which begins in La Verrière on Sunday, March 5 and ends on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on March 12.
Paris-Nice, also known by its nickname, the “Race to the Sun”, celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2023 and has stages for the sprinters, climbers, puncheurs and a novel team time trial format.
The team time trial and the major mountain finish on the Col de la Couillole are the main features of the 81st edition of Paris-Nice.
Stage 1 – La Verrière – La Verrière
The race gets underway from La Verrière with a 169.4 kilometre stage that includes two trips over the short but steep Côte de Milon-la-Chapelle. It’s only 500 metres long but kicks up to a 12% gradient. It shouldn’t be too hard to dispatch the sprinters. However, a bonus sprint on the Côte des Dix-Sept Tournants comes just 5.9km from the finish and might disrupt the normal proceedings.
Stage 2 – Bazainville – Fontainebleau
If stage 1 was considered to be flat, then stage 2 from Bazainville to Fontainebleau is even flatter. The 164-kilometre stage hardly has a highway overpass to break up the stage. Another bonus sprint with 12.9km to go is followed by a slightly downhill run to the finish and the expected bunch sprint.
Stage 3 – Dampierre-en-Burly (TTT)
The team time trial returns to Paris-Nice in 2023 with a 32.2 kilometre route around Dampierre-en-Burly. The triangular circuit is not too technical and not too hilly but there is a twist: organisers have decided to set the time not on the fourth rider, but the first rider across the line. That means teams will be employing a sprint-style lead-out to launch their team leader to the fastest time.
Stage 4 – Saint-Amand-Montrond – La Loge des Garde
Stage 4 gives the sprinters a chance to relax because this is definitely not going to be their day. The 164.7km route from Saint-Amand-Montrond to La Loge des Garde has a finale for the climbers. The road begins tilting up at the first climb, the Côte du Vernet (2.1km at 5.8%) at kilometre 116, then keeps climbing higher. Next is the rather tame Côte de Cheval Rigon (5.7km at 3.9%) that precedes the bonus sprint with 15.4km to go to the hard finish at La Loge des Gardes, a 6.7km climb averaging 7.1% that…
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