You can not win a race on the first stage, but you can certainly lose it – or so one of pro cycling’s most oft-used clichés tells us. And it certainly rang true for some of the leading GC contenders at Paris-Nice, with several riders already looking to be out of contention for the overall prize. With no time trials or big summit finishes on this year’s route, the chances to claw back the one minute deficit the likes of Romain Bardet, Thomas Voeckler and Simon Gerrans suffered are slim.

Bardet is one of French cycling’s most prestigious talents, with big things expected of him in the months to come, but he suffered on day one. There was nothing, really, he could have done other than being further forward in the bunch when the peloton-splitting crash occurred – but not everybody can be at the head of the race. Organisers ASO chose the parcours in order to keep the race open until the very last stage – and a well-timed escape by any of the aforementioned riders could see them right back in contention. Their race is certainly not over, but they face an uphill struggle of Ventoux proportions if they are to claw themselves back in contention for the yellow jersey.