Stage 0: Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 6.1 km Full Results and Report
| 
As first man down the ramp, Rémy DI GREGORIO (Delko Marseille Provence) kicked off the Prologue for Paris-Nice 2016 | 
Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) surprised many with his prologue ride | 
1st Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) in 7:39.38 beating Tom DUMOULIN (GIANT - ALPECIN) by less than a second | 
2nd Tom DUMOULIN (GIANT - ALPECIN) + 1s | 
3rd Patrick BEVIN (CANNONDALE) + 2s | 
5th Jon IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI (MOVISTAR) + 6s | 
9th Sylvain CHAVANEL (DIRECT ENERGIE) + 9s | 
10th Jerome COPPEL (IAM CYCLING) + 9s | 
11th Richie PORTE (BMC RACING) + 10s | 
14th Wilco KELDERMAN (LOTTO NL - JUMBO) + 13s | 
27th Alberto CONTADOR VELASCO (TINKOFF) + 16s | 
He looked fast, but Romain BARDET (Ag2r La Mondiale) finished 53rd + 25s | 
Your Prologue winner, Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) | 
With several sprint stages ahead, he'll likely keep the Yellow Jersey until late in the week when we hit the mountains |
Stage 1: Condé-sur-Vesgre → Vendôme, 195 km Full Results and Report
| 
Tom BOONEN interviewed at the Stage 1 Conde-sur-Vesgre sign-in | 
Alberto Contador | 
| 
BMC | 
A moment of silence for Young French cyclist Romain Guyot, killed by a truck last week. | 
Dropping the flag on cold, windy stage 1, 198 km from Conde-sur-Vesgre to Vendome | 
| 
Early break with DE GENDT, QUEMENEUR, TRONET and HUPOND | 
Ominous skies | 
| 
Break again | 
| 
The peloton taking their time 8 minutes back | 
| 
Race leader Michael MATTHEWS (Orica GreenEDGE) enjoying winter conditions | 
Snow flurries throughout the day | 
| 
| 
| 
Dirt section near the finish | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
The front of the race | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Marcel Kittel struggled today wasn't a factor in the sprint finish | 
The bunch sprint in full flight in Vendome | 
1st Arnaud DEMARE (FDJ) 4:29:53, 2nd Ben SWIFT (SKY), 3rd Nacer BOUHANNI (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS), 4th Adrien PETIT (DIRECT ENERGIE), 5th Michael MATTHEWS (ORICA GreenEDGE), 6th Tom BOONEN (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) | 
Post race interview with the winner and Frenchman, Arnaud DEMARE | 
Your Stage 1 winner, Arnaud DEMARE (FDJ) | 
Michael MATTHEWS (ORICA GreenEDGE) extended his overall lead thanks to intermediate sprint points |
Stage 2: Contres → Commentry, 214 km Full Results and Report
| 
France's favorite son, Thomas VOECKLER (Direct Energie) being interviewed prior to Stage 2, Contres | 
Race leader, Michael MATTHEWS (Orica GreenEDGE) signing in | 
| 
The rollout from Contres to Commentry (213.5 Km) | 
| 
Early break | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
The ill-fated break with a 3:10 advantage | 
| 
| 
Orica GreenEdge bringing the race back together | 
Nacer BOUHANNI (Cofidis) led out the sprint, but took too much of the road in preserving the win, seen here boxing out Michael MATTHEWS (Orica GreenEdge) | 
The overhead view of the sprint. It's amazing that both riders especially Michael Matthews didn't go down. | 
Michael MATTHEWS' (Orica GreenEdge) complaint was justified and the race committee overturned Nacer BOUHANNI's win | 
Your Stage 2 winner, Michael MATTHEWS (Orica GreenEdge) | 
Michael MATTHEWS (Orica GreenEdge) once again increased his overall lead today |
Stage 3: Cusset → Mont Brouilly, 166 km Full Results and Report
| 
Nacer BOUHANNI (Cofidis) talking about having his win taken away from him the previous day | 
A new day for Nacer BOUHANNI (Cofidis) | 
Race leader, Michael MATTHEWS (Orica GreenEDGE) | 
| 
Alberto CONTADOR (Tinkoff) | 
Tinkoff DS and Lars BOOM | 
Getting ready for a difficult day in the saddle, Cusset to Mont Brouilly (168 Km) | 
Stage 3 rollout | 
| 
Today's break | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Deteriorating conditions | 
The four man braving the conditions | 
| 
| 
| 
Riche Porte and Alberto Contador | 
Getting very slushy | 
The race was stopped after 100 km | 
Conditions at the finish were much better | 
Some light snow flurries but no accumulation | 
Fans the near the finish | 
No podium ceremony for Stage 3 |
Stage 4: Juliénas → Romans-sur-Isère, 194 km Full Results and Report
| 
Nacer Bouhanni has his game face on this morning | 
| 
Andrew Talansky (USA/Cannondale) | 
The belated Stage 3 jersey presentations | 
Romain BARDET talking to Eurosport prior to Stage 4 in Julienas | 
Alberto Contador in good spirits looking ahead to the first mountain stage tomorrow | 
Game face | 
Stage 4 start ceremony | 
The stage 4 rollout from Julienas to Romans-sur-Isere (195.5 km) from vineyard to vineyard | 
| 
Today's main break escaped 6 km into the stage: Florian VACHON, Mattew BRAMMEIER, Thomas VOECKLER and Evaldas SISKEVICIUS | 
13:28:57 Tomas Voeckler leads the 4 man early break st4 paris-nice st4 2014 132857_7R9A3202.jpg | 
| 
Team Sky: Nicholas Roche, Geraint Thomas and Ben Swift | 
Lots of gentle climbs through the vineyards | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Race leader, Michael MATTHEWS (Orica GreenEDGE) retained the race lead | 
14:29:14 the 4 man break early on st4 paris-nice 2016 142914_IMG_7501.jpg | 
Peloton moving through vineyards in Beaujolias | 
| 
| 
Thomas VOECKLER stretching his legs after two hours at the front of the race | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
The break after 3.5 hours at the front of the race, passing through one of the latter sprint point | 
| 
A new late break | 
But, today ended in a sprint in Romans-sur-Isere. The sprint finish in full flight with 100m to go | 
A Cofidis teammate of Nacer Bouhanni confidently sits up | 
Digging for the line | 
| 
| 
| 
Redemption for Nacer BOUHANNI (Cofidis) as he easily claimed Stage 4 ahead of 2nd Edward THEUNS (TREK - SEGAFREDO), 3rd André GREIPEL (LOTTO SOUDAL), 4th Alexander KRISTOFF (KATUSHA), 5th Michael MATTHEWS (ORICA GreenEDGE) | 
| 
| 
| 
Your Stage 4 winner, Nacer BOUHANNI (Cofidis) | 
| 
Michael Matthews retains the race lead | 
A much more pleasant post race interview today |
Stage 5: Saint-Paul-Trois-Chteaux → Salon-de-Provence, 198 km Full Results and Report
| 
Pierre Rolland | 
Ruben Fernandez | 
Tom Dumoulin | 
Geraint Thomas | 
Lieuwe Westra | 
Geraint Thomas | 
Evaldas Siskeviciius | 
Frank Schleck | 
Alberto Contador | 
Alberto Contador | 
Alberto Contador | 
Start scene for Stage 5, Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux - Salon-de-Provence (198 Km) | 
| 
Mont Ventoux in the distance | 
| 
Break on col de la Madeleine | 
The break headed for the slopes of Mont Ventoux | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Chalet Reynard below Mont Ventoux was the high point | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Solo attack by Alexey LUTSENKO (Astana) with 20 km to go | 
The finishing stretch | 
| 
Alexey LUTSENKO (Astana) checks his margin of victory (21 seconds) | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Field sprint for 2nd | 
2nd Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) + 21s followed by the race leader, Michael Matthews | 
| 
Your Stage 5 winner, Alexey LUTSENKO (Astana) | 
| 
| 
Still the race leader, Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) | 
| 
KOM leader Jesus HERRADA LOPEZ | 
Antoine Duchesne, in the breakaway for much of the day, now interviewed by Mrs Gallopin on French Eurosport | 
Sean Kelly interviewing race leader, Michael Matthews |
Stage 6: Nice → La Madone d’Utelle, 177 km Full Results and Report
Stage 7: Nice → Nice, 141 km Full Results and Report
| 
Yesterday's Stage 6 winner, Ilnur Zakarin (Russia/Katusha) | 
Race leader, Geraint Thomas rolling in for Stage 7 | 
Alberto Contador already has his game face on | 
Pre-Race Interview with the race leader, Geraint THOMAS | 
Alberto Contador in high demand | 
Thomas was popular too | 
Geraint THOMAS says a few prayers before a hard, epic day | 
Alberto Contador talking about his plans for going on the attack | 
Jersey leaders, Thomas and Mathews are ready to roll | 
| 
One last photo-op | 
And we are off for Stage 7 around the Nice mountains and back for 141 km | 
| 
| 
Voekler was dropped at the start line | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
French Canadian Antoine DUCHESNE wrapping up his KOM Jersey win | 
| 
Team Sky trying to keep the race under control for their race leader | 
Alberto Contador attack from the GC group with over 40 km to go | 
| 
Alberto Contador would attack Geraint Thomas over and over again any time the road went on this hilly/mountainous stage | 
Tom Wellens at the front of the race about to be joined be Contador and Richie Porte | 
| 
Wellens, Contador and Porte held off the GC group | 
But, Wellens took the win and the valuable 10s bonus away from Alberto Contador | 
| 
| 
| 
Tom Wellens (Lotto) wins epic Stage 7 | 
2nd Alberto Contador, 5s ahead of Thomas + 6s bonus left him 4s short of the overall win. 3rd Richie Porte which gave him 3rd overall. | 
Finish perspective | 
Contador checking the gap back to Thomas | 
A thrilling stage thanks to the aggressive exploits of Alberto Contador | 
| 
Geraint Thomas crossed in the next group having worked extremely hard on the final descent to save the overall win | 
| 
Tom Wellens (Lotto) post race | 
Your relieved overall winner, Geraint Thomas | 
Christian Prudhomme looking proud of himself after another great edition of Paris-Nice | 
Contador spent and disappointed at the finish | 
Your Stage 7 winner, Tom Wellens (BEL/Lotto) | 
| 
Your overall winner, Geraint Thomas (Sky) | 
| 
Geraint Thomas (Sky) can hardly believe he beat Contador and Richie Porte | 
KOM winner, Antoine Duchesne (Canada/Direct energy) | 
Points jersey for the Michael Matthews | 
Alberto CONTADOR (Tinkoff) congratulates Geraint THOMAS (Team SKY) after trying to knock him off the top step in the final hour of racing | 
Your 2016 Paris-Nice GC Podium: 2nd Alberto CONTADOR (ESP/TINKOFF) + 4s, 1st Geraint THOMAS (GBR/SKY) 27:26:40, 3rd Richie PORTE (AUS/BMC RACING) + 12s | 
| 
| 
| 
Moviestar won the team award |
|
Email This • 
Mail This • 
Tweet • • 
• 
