Stage three of Paris-Nice gave the sprinters a chance to shine ahead of lumpier stages to come – and Magny-Cours provided the perfect setting for it, too.
The race track hosted the final 4.5km of the stage, with the peloton racing on the roads where once Formula One’s best went wheel-to-wheel.
And John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) followed up two second-place finishes with his first win of this year’s race in front of the track’s grandstand.
Marcel Kittel is now seen as Giant-Shimano’s number one sprinter but the win was Degenkolb’s fourth of the year to accompany victory in the points classifications at both the Etoile de Besseges and Tour Mèditerranèen.
But before the climbers and rouleurs take over, what did we learn from stage three of Paris-Nice? Read on for our five observations.
