Paris Nice 2014

[Parrulo]

Route Map:

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Stage 3:

 

[Parrulo]

Stage 4:

Stage 5:

Stage 6:

Stage 7:

 

[Parrulo]

Stage 8:

Provisional Start list:
http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Paris_nice_2014-Startlist

IT should be a very open race but it won't be selective enough to create real gaps

I mean i love the idea of an edition based on classic races, but that's not what they have done. 5 massive sprints and 3 easy hill stages doesn't scream classic to me. . .

 

[Jspear]

Does anyone know which sprinters will be racing here?

 

[Afrank]

Looking forward to what kind of racing we get on these parcours. Hopefully the riders make good use of them.

Nibali is confirmed to start? I remember there was some conflict with him wanting to race TA and Vino wanting him at PN.

Does anyone know which sprinters will be racing here?

Bouhanni, Degenkolb, Coquard, Kristoff, Boonen, Meersman, Hofland, EBH, Hushovd, Felline, Goss, Farrar, Rojas, Richeze according to the preliminary startlist.

 

[coimbrawu]

Bouhanni, Degenkolb, Coquard, Kristoff, Boonen, Meersman, Hofland, EBH, Hushovd, Felline, Goss, Farrar, Rojas, Richeze according to the preliminary startlist.

Coquard will smash all in the race

 

[Jspear]

Looking forward to what kind of racing we get on these parcours. Hopefully the riders make good use of them.

Nibali is confirmed to start? I remember there was some conflict with him wanting to race TA and Vino wanting him at PN.



Bouhanni, Degenkolb, Coquard, Kristoff, Boonen, Meersman, Hofland, EBH, Hushovd, Felline, Goss, Farrar, Rojas, Richeze according to the preliminary startlist.

hmm...wish Cav would be there. He need's some more wins under his belt.

 

[Roude Leiw]

It's the first time a take a real look at the profiles, but I kind of like them. Some flat stages for sprinters, perhaps if the wind is willing one of them offers the possibility of echelons, 5 hilly stages where it should be very difficult to rein in all serious attempts by the Voecklers of this world, but not hard enough that all is decided on the first serious stage.

The route has potential if the riders want to use it.

 

[red_flanders]

It's the first time a take a real look at the profiles, but I kind of like them. Some flat stages for sprinters, perhaps if the wind is willing one of them offers the possibility of echelons, 5 hilly stages where it should be very difficult to rein in all serious attempts by the Voecklers of this world, but not hard enough that all is decided on the first serious stage.

The route has potential if the riders want to use it.

+1. I was just going to say the same thing.

 

[42x16ss]

It's the first time a take a real look at the profiles, but I kind of like them. Some flat stages for sprinters, perhaps if the wind is willing one of them offers the possibility of echelons, 5 hilly stages where it should be very difficult to rein in all serious attempts by the Voecklers of this world, but not hard enough that all is decided on the first serious stage.

The route has potential if the riders want to use it.

The potential is there for some good attacking racing but is it selective enough? Just one decent cat1 MTF would be perfect, stage 4, 5 or 6 would have been a good time in the race. No TT is a surprise but not that big a deal.

 

[will10]

I hope the weather is terrible else this will be decided on bonus seconds.

 

[veji11]

Paris Nice ils always a matter of tens of seconds anyway. I like the Route. The only downside are the teams of 8. Gives us this route with teams of 6 like on the Tour of Poland, and it becomes a lot harder to control an you can really get some action.

I know Prudhomme, ASO's boss, has said before that he would like to have less riders per team in general in races, including GTs (he wants to go from 9 to 8 to begin with in GTs). The success of this race could really hinge on this. Give the Giant Shimano or Sky a couple more gregarii and they can keep the lid shut. Have less teammates and the peloton becomes weaker against breakaways, needs broader coalitions, etc...

Really when you remember last years tour of Poland, with Riblon's attacks or Phinney's stage win against the Peloton, it does seem to show what could be gained from smaller teams.

 

[Parrulo]

I hope the weather is terrible else this will be decided on bonus seconds.

Pretty much how i feel.

 

[theyoungest]

I hope the weather is terrible else this will be decided on bonus seconds.

The weather is (almost) always a factor in Paris-Nice, and TBH with this course the race will probably be more exciting than the usual Team Sky procession on an uphill finish. It's just unfortunate that Tiernan-Locke won't be there to affirm his dominance on the Mur de Fayence.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Weird parcours. Looks like a battle between classics guys like Stybar, Chavanel etc. Sagan and Kwiatkowski should definitely have ridden this.

I expect the race to be a havoc, though, and it might actually be very entertaining. Smaller teams and guys could definitely fancy their chances of a very big win here.

 

[Miburo]

What a ****ty parcours...

Oh well it wasn't that amazing in the previous years anyways.

 

[Netserk]

What a ****ty parcours...

Oh well it wasn't that amazing in the previous years anyways.

It's better than T-A.

 

[trifun]

A parcourse for high intensity training. Attractive in the light of coming classics.
An unexpected winner, in sense that he wouldn't normally be considered for a candidate, could take this.
Maybe they should've thrown in a proper mountain, summit finish, stage on the coast, though.
The time will tell.

 

[Roude Leiw]

I get when you guys want harder stages or bad weather for an epic race, but i have a feeling that especially in the early season races, they would just softpedal to the line or race the last 10 k. Now teams of 6 would be fantastic

 

[BigMac]

People want everything, and even when they get everything, they get nothing.

This route will prove to be very nice. Give other guys the change to win WT races GC.

You see, one looks at the profiles and It's almost impossible to make a confident prediction on who is going to win. I like that. No TimeTrial is a bonus.

Nice, nice route.

 

[Peter von]

I like that the parcours of TA and PN aren't appealing to the same type of riders this year, last three years PN have been quite boring because most of the top names went to Italy.

Maybe a French winner this time?

 

[rghysens]

Stage to Fayence is a huge disappointment, the other stages are as expected.

 

[veji11]

Stage to Fayence is a huge disappointment, the other stages are as expected.

The idea I think is that making it significantly harder would have made it the obvious queen stage, and the whole point of this parcours is to avoid having a clear cut queen stage. At least that is my reasoning.

 

[Parrulo]

Stage to Fayence is a huge disappointment, the other stages are as expected.

This, if the stage to Fayence was like the 2009 one it would turn the route into a much better one imo.

 

[veji11]

This, if the stage to Fayence was like the 2009 one it would turn the route into a much better one imo.

Non because it would become the clear queen stage everyone would wait for. It worked in 2009 because you had the Montagne de Lure stage before, and everybody was taken aback by how hard this was. but with the parcours we have this year, they would all have waited for that stage. But it sure would have been a fun one...