Paris-Nice stage 1: Schachmann takes opener after attritional day in the rain

Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) took the opening stage of Paris-Nice Sunday, winning from a four-up sprint after a day of classics-style racing through northern France.

The German champion took the sprint ahead of Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-McLaren), Tiesj Benoot (Sunweb) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step). The foursome came together in the final five kilometers of the stage after Teuns and Schachmann bridged across to breakaway pair Benoot and Alaphilippe.

“I’m really happy it all worked out for me,” Schachmann said at the finish.

“It was the first really hard race of the year for me. I didn’t know how I am, and my legs were a little bit painful through the day. But in the end, I could see the others had even more pain. I’m really happy I could bring home this victory for Bora-Hansgrohe.”

While Schachmann could be very happy with his day’s work, GC contenders Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) both lost over two minutes on the likes of Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), all who finished in the main bunch behind the lead quartet.

The race, looping in and out of Plaisir, west of Paris, was battered by wind, rain and a succession of hills all day, and with a tough cobbled climb just five kilometers from the finish, looked a difficult prospect for the pure sprinters.

In the classics-style conditions, classics style racing ensued. The race blew apart with around 60km to go after pressure on the front from Groupama-FDJ and Sunweb, coupled with a handful of crashes, saw the race split down into a number of small groups. Around 20 riders went up the road, with Groupama-FDJ, Sunweb, and Deceuninck-Quick Step all getting several riders up front.

Benoot and Alaphilippe rolled the dice on 30km to go, attacking out of the lead group over a small climb, and the pair soon gained around 30 seconds of a gap.

When the chase group grew to almost 40 riders, the breakaway pair’s chances of making it to the line looked limited, and as the race came into the final climb before the finish, they only had around 12 seconds of a gap. Schachmann and Teuns were the next to gamble and jumped out of the peloton over the slick cobbled climb, and were able to bridge across to Alaphilippe and Benoot.

The four worked together to stay away from the chasing bunch before the attacks started flying in the final kilometer. Benoot went first, only for Teuns to counter with 500 meters to go. Schachmann managed to jump onto the Bahrain-McLaren rider’s wheel, and launched out from behind him with 100 meters to go, powering to a convincing victory.

The French race had gotten underway against the odds as the coronavirus epidemic has seen Italian WorldTour races being canceled and teams withdrawing from all racing for the near future. With the news that ‘rival’ race Tirreno-Adriatico was being scrapped, many riders used Paris-Nice to fill gaps in their schedule – and Schachmann was one of them. The last-minute call up to the race gave the German his first WorldTour win since scooping three stages at Itzulia Basque Country last year.

“I had already a great start at Volta ao Algarve. I missed a stage by a few centimeters and so I’m pleased to win here at a WorldTour race,” he said. “I had planned to go to Italy but actually France turned out as a good solve for me.”

Racing resumes Monday with a sprint stage into Chalette-sur-Loing.