Paris-Nice 2021 start list: Line-ups for the 79th Race to the Sun

Paris-Nice will returns for 2021 as the first major European stage race of the season, with a stellar line-up expected for the 79th edition of the Race to the Sun.

Last year’s event was the final stage race to go ahead before the coronavirus pandemic caused a complete cessation of racing until August, however the eighth and final stage was scrapped due to the continuing escalation of the pandemic. German Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) was confirmed the winner of the 2020 edition after seven stages, beating Tiesj Benoot (then Sunweb) to the overall victory. Both riders return for the 2021 race.

This year the race will be back with eight stages, including some enticing hilly stages, flat runs for the sprinters, the decisive mountain stages, and a crucial individual time trial. All the WorldTour teams are included of course, with Alpecin-Fenix qualifying automatically for a place as the highest-ranked ProTour team last year. B&B Hotels p/b KTM, Arkéa-Samsic, and Total Direct Energie fill the wildcard places.

There’s already some serious GC talent confirmed on the Paris-Nice 2021 start list: Vuelta a España winner Primož Roglič will chase victory alongside Steven Kruijswijk for Jumbo-Visma, while Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart will start for Ineos along with Richie Porte and Rohan Dennis. The Brit will come up against his rival from the Giro, Jai Hindley (Team DSM) for the first time since they finished first and second in Italy last October. Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) will no doubt be aiming to stay in the mix for the overall win, as will Astana’s Aleksandr Vlasov. Frenchmen David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) will be outside bets at taking a surprise win in their home stage race.

There’s also a raft of sprint talent on the start list, including Ireland’s Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), French champion Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Italian champion Giacomo Nizzolo (Assos-Qhubeka), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange), and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) among a host of others. Classics riders like Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Oliver Naesen (Ag2r-Citroën), and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) will hope to disrupt the sprinters on the flatter stages as they use the race as preparation for their spring campaigns.

Other notable inclusions on the start list include Thomas De Gendt and Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal), Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM), Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), and Sep Vanmarcke (Israel Start-Up Nation) on a star-studded start list.

The 2021 Paris-Nice starts on Sunday March 7 in Saint-Cyr-L’École and finishes on Sunday March 14 in Nice.

Paris-Nice 2021 start list

Bora-Hansgrohe

SCHACHMANN Maximilian

Lotto-Soudal

GILBERT Philippe
DE GENDT Thomas
DEGENKOLB John

UAE Team Emirates

KRISTOFF Alexander
COSTA Rui
TRENTIN Matteo

Team Qhubeka-Assos

NIZZOLO Giacomo
CAMPENAERTS Victor
ARU Fabio
HENAO Sergio

Bahrain-Victorious

COLBRELLI Sonny
POELS Wout
TEUNS Dylan

Jumbo-Visma

MARTIN Tony
BENNETT George
KRUIJSWIJK Steven
ROGLIČ Primož

Astana-Premier Tech

SÁNCHEZ Luis León
VLASOV Aleksandr
IZAGIRRE Ion
LUTSENKO Alexey
FRAILE Omar

Ineos Grenadiers

PORTE Richie
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
DENNIS Rohan

AG2R-Citroën Team

PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien
NAESEN Oliver
SARREAU Marc
JUNGELS Bob

Bora-Hansgrohe

ACKERMANN Pascal
SCHACHMANN Maximilian
GROßSCHARTNER Felix

Cofidis, Solutions Crédits

MARTIN Guillaume
LAPORTE Christophe

Deceuninck – Quick-Step

MØRKØV Michael
BENNETT Sam
CAVAGNA Rémi

EF Education – Nippo

CORT Magnus
KEUKELEIRE Jens
POWLESS Neilson

Groupama – FDJ

DÉMARE Arnaud
GAUDU David

Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux

MEINTJES Louis
EIKING Odd Christian

Israel Start-Up Nation

VANMARCKE Sep
BARBIER Rudy
HOFSTETTER Hugo

Movistar Team

JORGENSON Matteo
ROJAS José Joaquín
MÜHLBERGER Gregor

Team BikeExchange

MATTHEWS Michael
JANSEN Amund Grøndahl

Team DSM

KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren
BENOOT Tiesj
HINDLEY Jai

Trek – Segafredo

STUYVEN Jasper
PEDERSEN Mads
ELISSONDE Kenny

B&B Hotels p/b KTM

DEBUSSCHERE Jens
HIVERT Jonathan
COQUARD Bryan

Arkéa-Samsic

BARGUIL Warren
BOUHANNI Nacer

Alpecin-Fenix

PHILIPSEN Jasper
RIESEBEEK Oscar

Total Direct Energie

VUILLERMOZ Alexis
LATOUR Pierre
BOASSON HAGEN Edvald