Key points:
 From this coming 10 to 17 March, edition 77 of Paris-Nice will kick-off the major European stage race season. Sticking to tradition from the Yvelines Department to the French Riviera, the opening stages promise high-intensity sprints with a battle of generations between Mark Cavendish, Caleb Ewan, André Greipel and Alexander Kristoff.
 Excluding an unforeseen surprise, the decisive stages begin on day six, with a 25-kilometre time trial, followed by a weekend reserved for the climbers. The battle to come on top on the Col de Turini pass will be between a Columbian armada, led most notably by Nairo Quintana as well as Egan Bernal, and Richie Porte, Simon Yates, defending Paris-Nice champion Marc Soler and Romain Bardet.
This is the start of the season for everyone. Whether they are a sprinter, rouleur, climber or team mate, the serious business gets underway with Paris-Nice, the first WorldTour stage race of the year contested on European soil. For this race that sparks the conversations among the prognosticators, the roles seem straight forward where it will be the sprinters in the spotlight for the first day of action in the affluent Parisian suburb of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. And even though a similar scenario will be expected the following day in Bellegarde and then the day after that in Moulins, there will not be enough flower bouquets to go around for all the world-class sprinters that will line up at the start. In addition to Arnaud Démare, Dylan Groenewegen, John Degenkolb, Michael Matthews, Sam Bennett, Sonny Colbrelli, André Greipel and Alexander Kristoff who have all enjoyed success on Paris-Nice, the aforementioned sprint finals have peaked the interest of Mark Cavendish, who will make his debut in the race as will Caleb Ewan, and French riders Christophe Laporte and Bryan Coquard who will all pose a serious threat in these sprints. Only the strongest among them will be concerned about the finish at Pélussin whose surroundings could inspire attackers at the half-distance point of the race but also create a first selection among the favourites. Whoever is the big winner in this series of races, these riders will have a small chance to battle again at Brignoles if they manage to spoil the illusions of the breakaway specialists, but more surely, they will battle again a few days later in San Remo. And an entirely different strategy will take over after the Barbentane individual time-trial.

If Paris-Nice had to be raced in a national team format, Columbia would have the strongest line-up with six of its ten representatives on the provisional entry list from Nairo Quintana, to Esteban Chaves, Miguel Ángel López, Egan Bernal, Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Urán all are credible candidates for the overall victory. They will not necessarily be the fastest on the 25km time-trial on the outskirts of Avignon, where Richie Porte, Michal Kwiatkowski and Bob Jungels should feel right at home. However, they will be expected to star on the marquee stage, and its mountain finish on the Col de Turini, where it will be a nearly 15km long battle royal among the climbers that will include defending Paris-Nice champion Marc Soler, as well as Simon Yates, Romain Bardet, Domenico Pozzovivo, Ilnur Zakarin, Pierre Rolland, Warren Barguil or Lilian Calmejane. It will be when they reach the summit that they will know if they still have a chance for the win at the conclusion of the Nice stage on Sunday. Every one of them knows it is going to be a nail biter!

23 teams, the main participants (as of 26/02)
Australia
Michelton-Scott: Chaves (Col), S.Yates (Gbr), Trentin (Ita)
Bahrain
Bahrain-Merida: Pozzovivo, Colbrelli (Ita), Teuns (Bel)
Belgium
Deuceninck-Quick-Step: Jungels (Lux), Gilbert (Bel), Jakobsen (Nld)
Lotto-Soudal: Ewan (Aus), De Gendt (Bel)
France
AG2R La Mondiale: Bardet, Gallopin (Fra), Naesen (Bel)
Groupama-FDJ: Démare, Molard (Fra)
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits: Laporte, Edet (Fra)
Direct Energie: Calmejane (Fra), Terpstra (Nld)
Team Arkea-Samsic: Barguil (Fra), Greipel (Deu)
Delko Marseille Provence: Navardauskas, Siskevicius (Ltu)
Vital Concept-B&B Hotels: Rolland, Coquard, Gautier, Vichot (Fra)
Germany
Team Sunweb: Matthews (Aus), Kelderman (Nld)
Bora-Hansgrohe: S.Bennett (Irl), Grossschartner (Aut)
Great Britain
Team Sky: Bernal (Col), Kwiatkowski (Pol)
Kazakhstan
Astana Pro Team: Lopez (Col), I.Izagirre, G.Izagirre, LL.Sánchez (Esp), Cort Nielsen (Dnk)
Netherlands
Team Jumbo-Visma: Groenewegen (Nld), G.Bennett (Nzl)
Poland
CCC Team: De Marchi (Ita), Ten Dam (Nld)
South Africa
Team Dimension Data: Cavendish (Gbr), Boasson Hagen (Nor)
Spain
Movistar Team: Soler (Esp), Quintana, Anacona (Col)
Switzerland
Team Katusha Alpecin: Zakarin (Rus)
United Arab Emirates
UAE Team Emirates: Henao (Col), Kristoff (Nor)
USA
Trek-Segafredo: Porte (Aus), Degenkolb (Ger), Pantano (Col)
EF Education First: Urán, Martínez (Col), Van Garderen (Usa)

PARIS-NICE CHALLENGE
After three superb initial editions, Paris-Nice Challenge will be back on Saturday 16th March, the day before the professionals reach the race’s finish. This cyclo-sportive that winds through the countryside around Nice is the first major event of the season. It offers amateur cyclists the opportunity of riding along the same route as the last stage of Paris-Nice, just 24 hours before the professional pack.
Information and registration on timeto.com and www.parisnicechallenge.com
@ASO