2013 Paris–Nice

The 2013 Paris–Nice was the 71st running of the Paris–Nice cycling stage race, often known as the ''Race to the Sun''. It started on 3 March in Houilles and ended on 10 March in Nice and consisted of eight stages, including a race-commencing prologue and a race-concluding mountain individual time trial. It was the second race of the 2013 UCI World Tour season.

The race was won by Australia's Richie Porte of , who took the lead after winning the race's queen stage – the fifth stage – to La Montagne de Lure, and also won the final time trial at Col d'Èze, to become the first Australian rider to win the race. Porte won the general classification by 55 seconds over runner-up Andrew Talansky (), who was winner of the race's third stage. Talansky also won the white jersey for the young rider classification, as he was the highest placed rider born in 1988 or later. 's Jean-Christophe Péraud completed the podium, 26 seconds behind Talansky and 81 seconds down on Porte.

In the race's other classifications, 's Sylvain Chavanel was the winner of the green jersey for the points classification, amassing the highest number of points during stages at intermediate sprints and stage finishes, and Johann Tschopp was the winner of the mountains classification for the team, who were making their World Tour début at the race. were the winners of the teams classification on their World Tour return, having missed the Tour Down Under after temporarily losing their World Tour status before successfully appealing the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Teams

As Paris–Nice was a UCI World Tour event, all UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Originally, eighteen ProTeams were invited to the race, with four other squads given wildcard places, and as such, would have formed the event's 22-team peloton. subsequently regained their ProTour status after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. With not originally invited to the race, race organisers announced their inclusion to the race, bringing the total number of teams competing to twenty-three.

The 23 teams that competed in the race were:

Among the 184-rider start list was only one previous race winner; Andreas Klöden, who triumphed in 2000, competed for the team.

Stages

Prologue

;3 March 2013 — Houilles, individual time trial (ITT)

The opening stage of the 2013 Paris–Nice was a short, flat, yet technical individual time trial stage in and around the Yvelines. Packed into just under of racing were numerous 90-degree bends, requiring riders to make short, sharp bursts of acceleration. As such, the stage itself was not suited towards any kind of time trial specialists; instead, riders who had a track background, rouleurs or certain sprinters who had sufficient pace to complete the course in a favourable time. Weather was not expected to be a major factor in the stage proceedings, unlike previous race-opening time trial stages. Marco Bandiera was the first rider to start the stage, on the World Tour début for his team, .

Bandiera recorded a time of 3' 55" for the course, but was almost immediately bettered by 's Yuri Trofimov and rider Stijn Vandenbergh. Vandenbergh's time of 3' 50" was marginally beaten by Sébastien Minard of , setting the tone for most of the stage with numerous placings set to be settled by tenths of a second. sprinter Nacer Bouhanni, riding a road bike for the course, was the first rider to go beneath 3' 50", as he set a time of 3' 47". However, his stay at the top was also short-lived as 's Maarten Tjallingii went three seconds quicker to move to the top of the timesheets. sprinter Borut Božič was the next rider to assume the stage lead, as he set a time of 3' 40"; his time was ultimately good enough for a final placing of eighth. Božič's time provided a stiff test for the majority of the field, as his time held on at the top for over half an hour, but Peter Velits () ultimately went quicker by less than a second to take the lead.

Another sprinter, and former French under-23 time trial champion, Geoffrey Soupe was the first rider to go underneath 3' 40", but he would ultimately lose out on white jersey honours – for young rider classification leader – to Tjallingii's teammate Wilco Kelderman, who completed the course marginally quicker. French national champion Sylvain Chavanel was next to assume the lead for , going a second faster than Kelderman, but immediately after, Damien Gaudin – a former team pursuitist on the track for France – knocked another second off the benchmark for . Gaudin's time of 3' 37" held until the end of the stage, and gave him his first victory as a professional, a performance he later described as "mad". Besides Chavanel, Lieuwe Westra recorded the best time of the overall contenders for , finishing less than a second off Gaudin's stage-winning time, in third position. Both riders were satisfied with their performances post-stage.

Stage 1

;4 March 2013 — Saint-Germain-en-Laye to Nemours,

The first mass-start stage of the race was set up ideally for the sprinters, with very little on the course to threaten the peloton. Over the course of the parcours, there was very little fluctuation of altitude, even with only one categorised climb en route. The fourth-category Côte de Buthiers ascent offered the first points towards the mountains classification of the race, but at long and a gradient of 4.2%, was not going to test the riders too much. Intermediate sprints at Malesherbes and La Madeleine-sur-Loing offered bonus seconds towards the general classification, the latter coming on a loop around Nemours, before the stage finish.

A trio of riders – 's Bert-Jan Lindeman, rider Romain Sicard and Yannick Talabardon of  – made the early breakaway from the field, and managed to extend their advantage to the peloton to almost seven-and-a-half minutes at one point during the stage, before eventually stabilising at the five-minute mark for the majority of the stage. Lindeman took maximum points on offer during the stage; he crossed each of the two intermediate sprint lines in first position, ahead of Talabardon and Sicard on both occasions, while it was the same order at the Côte de Buthiers, where Lindeman secured the polka-dot jersey for the day. After the climb, there was a crash in the peloton, which forced Rui Costa () to withdraw from the race, with a wrist injury, bruising and stitches.

As the leaders were brought back towards the main field, an increase of pace in the peloton caused it to separate, and caught out several of the expected stage challengers, such as 's Marcel Kittel and 's Tom Boonen, who won the first mass-start stage in the 2012 edition of the race. Both riders would eventually finish in a group that finished just under two minutes behind the lead group. The lead trio were eventually caught with around remaining, with the sprinters' teams moving towards the front of the peloton from there on, before the finish in Nemours. tried to set it up for Leigh Howard but their sprint train was overhauled by Boonen's teammate Sylvain Chavanel, who launched his sprint first. French national champion Nacer Bouhanni () launched his sprint off Chavanel's wheel, and went side-by-side with Alessandro Petacchi of , with Bouhanni just prevailing ahead of Petacchi and 's Elia Viviani. With ten bonus seconds on the finish line, Bouhanni took the leader's yellow jersey from 's Damien Gaudin, who finished in the main field.

Stage 2

;5 March 2013 — Vimory to Cérilly,

The second stage was run predominantly in a north-to-south direction, starting in Vimory in the Loiret department and finishing in the Allier commune of Cérilly, via a finishing loop of in length, and two intermediate sprint points – one in Les Choux, while the other came on the first passage of the finish line in Cérilly – respectively. Although there were no categorised climbs during the stage, the final kilometre of the stage – at the end of a long stretch of road – was uphill, reaching a gradient of 4% in certain places. However, the stage was still designed to suit the sprinters, with the uphill finish also aiding the chances for the puncheurs.

Strong headwinds were prominent during the stage, although this did not stop three riders attacking in the opening kilometre; Kris Boeckmans of was joined by 's Mads Christensen and 's Gatis Smukulis, and the trio remained together until Les Choux, when Boeckmans elected to return to the main field after winning the intermediate sprint. Smukulis and Christensen soldiered on with a lead of around four minutes, but the peloton were back together by the mark, as established the pace of the group, to keep the overall leader Nacer Bouhanni out of danger. After around of stasis within the field, two of Boeckmans' teammates – Thomas De Gendt and Juan Antonio Flecha – attacked, along with rider Mikel Astarloza and Maxime Bouet of , and their advantage reached a similar mark to that achieved by the first breakaway, at around four minutes. continued to set the pace on the front, bringing the lead gap to around a minute with remaining.

However, Bouhanni hit the ground heavily while negotiating a left-hand bend, falling face first. He had to abandon the race with two broken teeth, and required eight stitches for a burst lip. The peloton was neutralised as Bouhanni was receiving treatment by the roadside, but the pace lifted once again, after confirmation of Bouhanni's abandonment had been received by his teammates. The breakaway was negated with left to cover of the stage, when the sprinters' teams started to make early headway towards the front of the peloton. , and moved forward ahead of the second intermediate sprint, where Elia Viviani took maximum points for , ahead of Sylvain Chavanel () and the rest of the field. Several solo attacks were neutralised on the loop around Cérilly, which set up a sprint finish. tried to launch Alessandro Petacchi first, but Marcel Kittel () finished strongest down the right-hand side of the road and achieved his second win of the season by three bike lengths. Finishing just behind was Viviani, who became the race's third leader in successive days, as well as taking the lead of both the points and young rider classifications.

Stage 3

;6 March 2013 — Châtel-Guyon

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