Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) looked set for victory on the opening stage of Paris-Nice today until a late charge saw Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) take it on the line.
The Irish rider, who also made the front group when the race split on a late climb, hit the front a little early in the final sprint after 169.4km into La Verrière. And while Bennett looked like he was running out of speed as the line approached, he managed to hold off all the best sprinters apart from Merlier.
Indeed the Belgian champion, who won two stages at UAE Tour at the very start of the season, put in a finishing kick that was much faster than everyone else, winning it well in the end.
Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) was 3rd with Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) in 4th and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) in 5th place.
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The stage was marked by plenty of interesting activity off the front with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) contesting the sprints for bonus seconds and taking six seconds. After the final intermediate sprint, he pressed on and pulled clear with Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies).
However, they were marked immediately by Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), who got onto them with ease. While that trio pulled clear, and could have stayed away had they committed, Vingegaard was unwilling to share the work with Pogačar and Latour and they were soon caught.
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That paved the way for the bunch sprint, where Soudal-QuickStep took control in the final few kilometres before Danny van Poppel hit the front deep inside the final kilometre with Bennett on his wheel. However, they went a little early, and though Bennett looked like he had the victory in the bag with about 50m to go, Merlier came through like a train to take the win.
On the basis of the evidence from today, and from his 2nd and 3rd placings at UAE Tour, Bennett is sprinting very strongly and is not too far away from his best form.
More to come.
