2012 Paris - Nice

[steve]

Running from Sunday March 4th to 11th 2012, the 70th Paris-Nice will be made up of 8 stages and will cover a total distance of 1,155.5 kilometres.

The first Paris–Nice was in 1933, and was won by Alfons Schepers from Belgium. The most successful cyclist in Paris–Nice was Sean Kelly from Ireland, who won seven consecutive titles from 1982 to 1988.

Although the name is Paris–Nice, the race does not always start in Paris. It often starts in towns near or south of Paris. The last stage finishes every year on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The last or penultimate stage often passes the Col d'Eze, a mountain pass close to Nice.

Official Website: Paris - Nice




Stage Date Route Distance Results Stage 1 Mar 4 Dampierre-en-Yvelines - Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse 9.4 km Stage 2 Mar 5 Mantes-la-Jolie - Orléans 185 km Stage 3 Mar 6 Vierzon - Lac de Vassivière 194 km Stage 4 Mar 7 Brive-la-Gaillarde - Rodez 183 km Stage 5 Mar 8 Onet-le-Chateau - Mende 178 km Stage 6 Mar 9 Suze-la-Rousse - Sisteron 176.5 km Stage 7 Mar 10 Sisteron - Nice 220 km Stage 8 Mar 11 Nice - Col d'Èze 9.6 km
Race Map

http://www.letour.fr/2012/PNC/COURSE/docs/parcours.pdf

Recent Winners 1990 Miguel Indurain (ESP) Banesto 1991 Tony Rominger (SUI) Toshiba 1992 Jean-François Bernard (FRA) Banesto 1993 Alex Zülle (SUI) ONCE 1994 Tony Rominger (SUI) Mapei-CLAS 1995 Laurent Jalabert (FRA) ONCE 1996 Laurent Jalabert (FRA) ONCE 1997 Laurent Jalabert (FRA) ONCE 1998 Frank Vandenbroucke (BEL) Mapei-Bricobi 1999 Michael Boogerd (NED) Rabobank 2000 Andreas Klöden (GER) Team Telekom 2001 Dario Frigo (ITA) Fassa Bortolo 2002 Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) Team Telekom 2003 Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) Team Telekom 2004 Jörg Jaksche (GER) Team CSC 2005 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 2006 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 2007 Alberto Contador (ESP) Discovery Channel 2008 Davide Rebellin (ITA) Gerolsteiner 2009 Luis León Sánchez (ESP) Caisse d'Epargne 2010 Alberto Contador (ESP) Astana 2011 Tony Martin (GER) HTC-Highroad
Start List

 

[steve]

Saved /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[pennstater]

Strong field this year. I'm looking forward to the mountain TT on the Col d'Èze.

 

[steve]

Stage 1: Dampierre-en-Yvelines - Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse 9.4km
For the third year running, the start of Paris-Nice will take place in the Yvelines department. This event will take place in a land of cycling tradition, for a time-trial in the very heart of the Chevreuse Valley, which played host to the greatest moments of the Grand Prix des Nations.

Stage Profile


Stage Map

The Climbs Km 1.8 - Côte des Dix-sept Tournants - 1.1 km climb @ 6.2 %

 

[limerickman]

Nice win for Larsson in the prologue too!

 

[limerickman]

Stage 3 looked pretty interesting today.

This race has come too early in the season for the likes of Basso - he was in the bus nearly all day.
Weather looked cold out there today although some riders rode in short sleeves and shorts.

Very good sprint finish between Gerrans and Valverde. Valverde just got the nod.

Wiggins remains in yellow but he said that Sky aren't interested in defending a 6 sec lead. Overall vicctory is what he's after. Nice to see Poulidor on the podium presentation.

 

[Rochefan]

Is the final time trial the exact same as it was in the 80's? I think there used to be a 2 km of flat before the climb, would be interesting to see how King Kelly's time would compare to modern riders

 

[pennstater]

After some research it looks like it is different. This years TT is 9.6k, but in the 80's some were 11K. Also, looking at the 2012 stage preview, the climbing begins once they leave the start house.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/paris-nice-2012/stage-8

 

[grandamn]

I've been following this and I'm a little confused. I remember at the end of last season they were saying that Radioshack-Nissan (or maybe BMC?) were supposed to be a super mega team. Are they just a disappointment or did something change?

 

[pennstater]

Originally Posted by grandamn .

I've been following this and I'm a little confused. I remember at the end of last season they were saying that Radioshack-Nissan (or maybe BMC?) were supposed to be a super mega team. Are they just a disappointment or did something change?

The season just started and both teams are probably going into these early season races to get some racing in their legs. Their ambitions will be focused on the classics for riders like FC and the grand tours for Evans and the Schlecks.

Rough day for Levi. I was really looking forward to seeing Wiggins and Levi battle it out in the TT/overall GC.

 

[Rochefan]

watched the tt today, was surprized wiggins rode tt bars the entire way. His style was pure class, hardly any movement of upper body.I thought it was interesting what eurosport were saying, that in the 70's the course was 100m further 3rd place today was only 30 sec quicker than Poulidor. Considering the better bike, tt bars, skinsuit, traning etc...

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by Rochefan .

watched the tt today, was surprized wiggins rode tt bars the entire way. His style was pure class, hardly any movement of upper body.I thought it was interesting what eurosport were saying, that in the 70's the course was 100m further 3rd place today was only 30 sec quicker than Poulidor. Considering the better bike, tt bars, skinsuit, traning etc...

Conditions could play a part in that, so could the off the bike preparation riders may or may not be doing these days. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[vspa]

i would like to see Wiggins or Froome from Sky winning the Tour this year or the next, they were dissapointing two years ago, had bad luck last year and still seem to come back to winning big races, the kind of long term commitment that cycling needs from their sponsors and cyclists,

 

[swampy1970]

Quote:Originally Posted by steve .
Conditions could play a part in that, so could the off the bike preparation riders may or may not be doing these days. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
 



Steve, Steve, Steve... These days? Really? I think you need to remove you rose tinted glasses when it comes to the riders of the 60s, 70s and even the 80s. Poullidor was one of the few big name riders not to fail a test. Guys like Anquetil openly taking lots of doping products while other riders that won Paris Nice the odd time or seven were known to fail at least three dope tests... A good win for Wiggo. I bet Westra is kicking himself for that very slow and rather crappy victory salute the other day. Whether he lost 8 seconds doing that is up for debate but there were a fair few seconds that were left out of the road...