The 81st edition of Paris will start from La Verrière and will be animated by a new-look team time trial

A venerable stage race born 90 years ago, Paris-Nice will innovate this year with a team time trial in a new format in which the winner of the Tour de France Jonas Vingegaard will take part.

Exercise acclaimed by some, decried by others, the team time trial had not made its appearance on the “race in the sun» for 30 years and the victory in Roanne of the ONCE team in 1993. For his big comeback in this 81st edition, which will take place from March 5 to 12 and whose course was presented Thursday in Versailles, he will propose a novelty supposed to spice up the debates between leaders.

Rather than taking the time of each team on the fourth or fifth runner to cross the line, the clock will thus be stopped when the first to arrive passes.

«One can imagine that one kilometer from the finish, there are only two riders left in a team and that one of them launches his leader to finish in the sprint. It will be interesting to see what tactics the teams will adopt“, explains to AFP the race director François Lemarchand.

«It also allows us, he adds, to perhaps avoid seeing the team that wins the time trial placing several riders at the top of the general classification.in a race that is often played out in seconds like last year when Slovenian Primoz Roglic won the final victory with only 29 seconds ahead of Briton Simon Yates.

The team time trial, a completely flat 32.2 km loop in Dampierre-en-Burly in Loiret, will take place on Tuesday March 7, after two first stages in the Chevreuse valley and towards Fontainebleau. The next day, the race will arrive at La Loge des Gardes, above Vichy.

Before a final weekend around Nice, with the ascent of the highest peak in the history of the event, the Col de Couillole (1,678 m) on Saturday, and a last stage on Sunday taking the traditional Col d’Eze , where Roglic almost lost everything last year.

For 2023, the organizers of Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) have succeeded in attracting for the first time the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, winner of the last Tour de France.

This seems more compromised for his Slovenian rival Tadej Pogacar who has preferred for the past two years to align himself with Tirreno-Adriatico, an Italian stage race placed on the same dates and which takes advantage of the proximity of the Strade Bianche to attract runners.

The route (1,201 km):
March 5: 1st stage La Verrière (Yvelines) – La Verrière (Yvelines), 169.4 km.
March 6: 2nd stage Bazainville (Yvelines) – Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne), 163.7 km.
March 7: 3rd stage Dampierre-en-Burly (Loiret), team time trial of 32.2 km.
March 8: 4th stage Saint-Armand-Montrond (Cher) – La Loge des Gardes (Allier), 164.7 km.
March 9: 5th stage Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise (Rhône) – Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (Drôme), 212.4 km.
March 10: 6th stage Tourves (Var) – La Colle-sur-Loup (Alpes-Maritimes), 197.4 km.
March 11: 7th stage Nice – Col de la Couillole (Alpes-Maritimes), 142.9 km.
March 12: 8th stage Nice – Nice, 118.4 km.