The 2018 Paris–Nice was a

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...

that took place between 4 and 11 March 2018 in France. It was the 76th edition of the

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

and the sixth event of the

2018 UCI World Tour The 2018 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road bicycle racing, road cycling events throughout the 2018 in men's road cycling, 2018 men's cycling season. It was the tenth and final edition of the ranking system launched ...

. The race was won on the final day by the 's Marc Soler from Spain. Having started the final stage 37 seconds down on race leader Simon Yates () in sixth place overall, Soler attacked around halfway into the stage along with compatriot David de la Cruz (); the duo joined Omar Fraile () at the head of the race, and the trio managed to stay clear of the rest of the field by the time they reached

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Gorka Izagirre Gorka Izagirre Insausti (born 7 October 1987) is a Spanish former cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2009 to 2024. He is the brother of fellow racing cyclist Ion Izagirre. Career Both Izagirre brothers were signed by the for the 2014 ...

, moving ahead of teammate and brother Ion Izagirre due to bonus seconds won on the final day, 14 seconds behind Soler, who also won the white jersey as best young rider. won the two other jerseys on offer in the race;

Tim Wellens Tim Wellens (born 10 May 1991) is a Belgium, Belgian professional road bicycle racing, road cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Since turning professional in 2012, and coming from a family of professional cyclists, Wellens has taken almost for ...

won the green jersey for the points classification, taking five top-ten finishes over the course of the week, while Thomas De Gendt was the winner of the mountains classification. With the performances of the Izagirre brothers, were the winners of the teams classification.

Teams

As Paris–Nice is a

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

event, all eighteen

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

s were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team in the race. Four UCI Professional Continental teams competed, completing the 22-team peloton. Paris–Nice is the first race for under this nomenclature, as French insurance company Groupama signed a co-naming sponsorship deal with the team.

Route

The route of the 2018 Paris–Nice was announced on 9 January 2018.

Stages

Stage 1

;4 March 2018 —

Chatou Chatou () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Chatou is a part of the affluent suburbs of western Paris and is on the northwest ...

Meudon Meudon () is a French Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, on the left bank of the Seine. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of P ...

Stage 2

;5 March 2018 — Orsonville to

Vierzon Vierzon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Cher (department), Cher departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher (river), Cher with some light industry and a ...

Stage 3

;6 March 2018 —

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

to Châtel-Guyon,

Stage 4

;7 March 2018 — La Fouillouse to

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

, ,

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

(ITT)

Stage 5

;8 March 2018 —

Salon-de-Provence Salon-de-Provence (, ; or , ), commonly known as Salon, is a commune located about northwest of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department (Metropolis of Aix-Marseille Provence), region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It ...

to Sisteron,

Stage 6

;9 March 2018 — Sisteron to Vence,

Stage 7

;10 March 2018 —

Stage 8

;11 March 2018 — Nice to Nice,

Classification leadership table

In the 2018 Paris–Nice, four jerseys were awarded. The general classification was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses were awarded to the first three finishers on all stages except for the individual time trial: the stage winner won a ten-second bonus, with six and four seconds for the second and third riders respectively. Bonus seconds were also awarded to the first three riders at intermediate sprints – three seconds for the winner of the sprint, two seconds for the rider in second and one second for the rider in third. The leader of the general classification received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2018 Paris–Nice, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race. The second classification was the points classification. Riders were awarded points for finishing in the top ten in a stage. Unlike in the

points classification in the Tour de France The points classification () is a secondary competition in the Tour de France, which started in 1953. Points are given for high finishes in a stage and for winning intermediate sprints, and these are recorded in a points classification. It is co ...

, the winners of all stages were awarded the same number of points. Points were also won in intermediate sprints; three points for crossing the sprint line first, two points for second place, and one for third. The leader of the points classification was awarded a green jersey. There was also a mountains classification, for which points were awarded for reaching the top of a climb before other riders. Each climb was categorised as either first, second, or third-category, with more points available for the more difficult, higher-categorised climbs. For first-category climbs, the top seven riders earned points; on second-category climbs, five riders won points; on third-category climbs, only the top three riders earned points. The leadership of the mountains classification was marked by a white jersey with red polka-dots. The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. Only riders born after 1 January 1993 were eligible; the young rider best placed in the general classification was the leader of the young rider classification. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists in a team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest cumulative time.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris-Nice, 2018 2018 UCI World Tour

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

March 2018 sports events in France