Other riders to watch
Other riders to watch
Plenty of other riders will be looking to prove their form at Paris-Nice, with a stellar line-up set for what remains one of the biggest stage races on the WorldTour calendar.
Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) has enjoyed an excellent start to his third season as a professional, with the 22-year-old Luxembourg rider winning the Etoil de Besseges and finishing tenth at the Ruta del Sol.
Rafal Majka will be the main man for Tinkoff-Saxo and stage four’s steep finish is well-suited to a rider who won two stages and the King of the Mountains classification at last year’s Tour de France.
Other strong contenders include Wilco Kelderman (Team LottoNL-Jumbo), whose fourth place at last year’s Criterium du Dauphine and seventh at the Giro d’Italia, showed he is growing into the leadership role.
Movistar’s Benat Intxausti and Ion Izagirre – backed by Gorka Izagirre – will also be among the riders to watch, while Astana have plenty to prove as the UCI’s request for their WorldTour licence to be withdrawn is considered. The Kazakh-based team boast a strong provisional line-up for the race with Fabio Aru and Jakob Fuglsang leading the way.
Finally, British interest includes Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEDGE), whose form will be interesting to see after a stunning debut year, while Sir Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) face off against the clock.
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