Arnaud Demare has a hat-trick of first stages of the Paris-Nice race
ADVERTISEMENTIn one of the closest ever sprint finishes, ever the French rider Arnaud Demare edged his wheel across the line to win the first stage of the Paris-Nice.
The biggest casualty on day one of the Race to the Sun was Tee Jay VanGarderen.
The BMC rider abandoned after a crash with 30k remaining.
The final climb at the end of the stage saw the AG2R La Mondiale rider Alexis Vuillermoz go clear.
But he was reeled in by the Frenchman and the Spaniard rider Gorka Izagirre.
But it was the French cyclist, who also won the first stage last year and two years ago, who crossed the line with the tinest of margins.
Stage two takes the peloton 187.5 kilometers from Orsonville to Vierzon