Les Mureaux, Sunday, March 3rd – First Stage. Already a stage winner last year on Paris-Nice, Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) made it two on Sunday when he surged on the line to outsprint pre-race favourite Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in Les Mureaux. The Dutchman, one of few sprinters able to stay in the front despite the bumpy terrain, made the most of the day to seize the yellow jersey ahead of a sprint stage to Montargis on Monday. In-form New Zealander Laurence Pithie was third in the 157.7-km ride which saw the GC contenders battle it out in the finale, Remco Evenepoel showing a lot of ambition in the last two hills of the day. Other stage’s laurels went to Germany’s Jonas Rutsch (EF-Easypost) who took the KOM lead thanks to the points collected on the day’s three-man break.
STAGE CLASSIFICATION
- Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) en 3h36’28’’
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +00’’
- Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) +00’’
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
- Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) en 3h36’18’’
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) + 4’’
- Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) + 4’’
