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Belfast
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Paris-Nice 2024 a taster for the Tour de France / Photo: © AFP
Paris-Nice 2024 a taster for the Tour de France
The route for the Paris-Nice eight-day bike race unveiled Tuesday has the added draw of resembling more than ever a mini Tour de France, which also ends on the Riviera in 2024 so as to avoid the Olympic Games in Paris.
Won last year by Tadej Pogacar as Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard came third on the Promenade des Anglais finish line in downtown Nice, organisers hope to also attract rising Belgian star Remco Evenepoel for the 2024 edition.
"There's hope he'll be on the roster this year," said race CEO Christian Prudhomme.
Known as "The Race to the Sun", the eight days of action are packed with a variety of challenges starting with a team time-trial and the vast and windy plains south of Paris.
The race speeds down the Rhone and Loire valleys, takes in the remote Ardeche and then the rugged peaks of Haute Provence.
But with two mountaintop finishes, there is a taste of the Alps before a downhill dash to the seafront at Nice on March 10.
"Paris-Nice will serve as a dress rehearsal and the riders love to practise in race conditions," said Prudhomme.
Pogacar won three stages in 2023 and relegated French climber David Gaudu to second with eventual Tour de France winner Vingegaard third at 1min 39sec.
The final two days cover many of the roads upon which the 2024 Tour de France finale will play out as the world's biggest bike race finishes outside Paris for the first time in its history.
H.King--SFF
