Key points:
 Winner of the last two editions, Maximilian Schachmann returns at the helm of a strong and ambitious Bora-Hansgrohe with Aleksandr Vlasov and Sam Bennett: “We’re here to win”.
 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Adam Yates (Ineos-Grenadiers) will try to overthrow the German defending champion, and French climbers such as Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) also expressed their ambitions on the eve of stage 1.
 The Race to the Sun will quickly challenge its contenders with a tricky opening stage around Mantes-La-Ville. “They’ll jostle like it’s Belgium”, race director François Lemarchand announces.
 Ahead of stage 1, explore the legend of Paris-Nice with a 10-episode series about the great winners that marked the 79 editions leading to the 2022 Race to the Sun: https://www.paris-nice.fr/en/episode-80

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FRANÇOIS LEMARCHAND: “THEY’LL JOSTLE LIKE IT’S BELGIUM”
The opening stage of Paris-Nice features two loops starting and finishing in Mantes-la-Ville, over a total distance of 159.8 km, with an elevation (1,900m) already indicating the nature of the potential battles ahead. Leaving the city, the route takes riders into the particularly hilly Vexin natural park. The peloton will almost reach the department of Eure before they head to the south of Yvelines, then change direction again to reach Mantes with a headwind. Racing on the final circuit will be intense: 26 kilometres of bends and bumps which should propel hard racing similar to a classic. “You must also take into account that the intermediate sprints are located on summits and can be targeted by strong men”, race director François Lemarchand explains. “There will certainly be a sprint finish because the headwind will facilitate a regrouping, but how many riders will there be? The circuit opens opportunities for a team to put the hammer down. For example, there is a hairpin bend 7 km from the finish, just at the foot of the Breuil-Bois-Robert climb. To be near the front, they’ll jostle like it’s Belgium.”

SCHACHMANN-BENNETT-VLASOV: BORA ARE “HERE TO WIN”
Winner in 2020 and 2021, Maxi Schachmann returns alongside last year’s runner up Aleksandr Vlasov to carry Bora-Hansgrohe’s ambitions in the 80th edition of Paris-Nice. They are joined by Sam Bennett, who sprinted to victory on five occasions in as many participations in the race and took the first yellow jersey last year. “We know we have a great record here, but it’s a new race every year, and Paris-Nice has been a special one these past two years”, sports director Jens Zemke observes. “Our ambitions are always high, we’re here to win with a strong team. We have a super lead-out for Sam, great support for our climbers with the likes of Felix Grossschartner and an expert of the classics like Nils Politt. But when you look at the startlist here, it’s only the best of the best, for the sprints and for the general classification as well. So it’s gonna be a big battle!”

ZEEMAN: “WE LEAVE LAST YEAR BEHIND AND TRY AGAIN WITH ROGLIC”
The 2021 edition of Paris-Nice showed, again, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) is a serial-winner (3 stages) but the race ended with a bitter taste for the Slovenian when he crashed out of the yellow jersey on the final stage. “Primoz already knew that he can often win stages, but we, as a team, all learned that we need to stay focused all day every day, and you also need some luck”, sports director Merijn Zeeman said ahead of a new attempt. “Last year was really unfortunate. We leave that behind and we try again. Every race where Primoz starts, he’s one of the favorites and that’s also the case here.” The Dutch squad’s line-up also features “some guys from the classics. They are here for their final preparation towards the classics and obviously we want to take the chances we can see, with Wout Van Aert or Christophe Laporte,” Zeeman added. “Wout is mainly here to help Primoz and to see if he gets an opportunity.” The Belgian all-rounder is racing Paris-Nice for the first time a week after his winning start of the season in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

“YATES IS THE PRIORITY” FOR INEOS
Ineos-Grenadiers (and Team Sky before them) have won six of the last ten editions of Paris-Nice, with five different riders (Wiggins, Porte, Thomas, Henao and Bernal). Will they put another one on the highest step of the podium next week-end? Adam Yates is among the favorites in his first participation, after finishing 2nd of the UAE Tour. “He was very happy with his performance”, sports director Steve Cummings describes. “The TT result was really good and he was very aggressive on the mountain. He is the priority but we always try to protect two riders in this team, so it will be Adam and Dani [Martinez].” The Colombian lieutenant, winner of the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2020, participated once in Paris-Nice, and took the stage win up the Col de Turini, in 2019. The two leaders will enjoy a strong support with the likes of Luke Rowe, who has accompanied a rider from Ineos to victory in his last four participations in the race (2015, 16, 17 and 19).

GUILLAUME MARTIN: “I HAVE GOOD POINTS OF REFERENCE”
Cofidis will battle on several fronts this week with two in-form leaders, who have distinguished themselves in their own registers since the start of the season. While Bryan Coquard will target sprints in worn out bunches, Guillaume Martin comes to fight for the general classification. The French climber finished 6th last year and, facing his third participation, he’s well aware of the pitfalls of the Race to the Sun. “In 2020, I had crashes and I was caught in echelons on the first stages. Once we get to the end of the week, it should be good”, he says after finishing 7th at La Colmiane on two occasions. “But at the start it’s very nervous because everyone wants to be up front at the beginning of the season. I know what to expect.“ With good results in the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var (2nd of the final stage) and the Drôme Classic (2nd), Martin can approach the week with serenity : “Physically I have good points of reference and confidence, but I will know more after the time trial. It’s not that short, 14 kilometres, when you know that Paris-Nice is often won by a few seconds at the end of the week.”

GAUDU: „THE GENERAL IS NEVER DONE, NOT UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT“
Groupama-FDJ remains the last team to have placed a French rider on the Paris-Nice podium. This year, it will be David Gaudu’s ambition to succeed Arthur Vichot (3rd in 2014) as he returns to the Race to the Sun for a second participation. Aware of the many hazards of the event that saw him crash in 2021, the French climber is focused on what he considers to be the first major race of his year. “This is the race that I have prepared myself for, it’s important for a Frenchman who is aiming for World Tour races. I come for the general and I did a recon up the Col de Turini. For the podium, we’ll have to see how things stand after the time-trial. I feel that I have made progress this winter in this area and it showed in Algarve.” Satisfied with his progress over the past two years, the Breton considers himself capable of competing with the best, but also knows that Paris-Nice is a difficult race to tame: „You have to be focused all the time, something can happen at any time. The general is never done, not until the last moment, that’s the characteristic scenario in Paris-Nice. And it’s also difficult to say where I stand. Roglic was perhaps not 100% in Ardèche but he has a solid team around him. The leaders will be there, there is no doubt about it.”

A SPECIAL TROPHY FOR THE 80TH: THE SUN OF THE WINNER
The title contenders are preparing to follow the tracks of a prestigious line of winners as they head South, but the fastest among them will also leave Nice with a new trophy created for this anniversary edition. Even in a crowded medal room, the object should stand out and immediately show potential visitors a glimpse of the event in which it was conquered. The sunbeams of the French Riviera are surrounded by waves of the Mediterranean Sea and leave a space in which the winner can frame his playful face at the end of a victorious battle. The reference to the warm atmosphere of the Paris-Nice finale also marks the return of the peloton to the Promenade des Anglais, where the finish had not been set since 2019.

For its 5th edition, Paris-Nice Challenge is giving all cycling enthusiasts the opportunity to slip into the shoes of a real professional rider under the Côte d’Azur sun on Saturday 12 March 2022. The cyclosportive in the heart of the Nice backcountry marks the launch of the season in an idyllic setting. Just 24 hours before the peloton, it will offer more than 1,000 cyclists the opportunity to ride the route of the last stage of Paris-Nice: 127 km, 2,300 m of positive altitude difference and 5 timed climbs.