Christophe Laporte wins first Paris-Nice stage for dominant Jumbo-Visma

The Frenchman Christophe Laporte led Jumbo-Visma to a dominant podium one-two-three on the first stage of Paris-Nice on Sunday. Laporte joined forces with his teammates Wout van Aert and Primoz Roglic to power away from the dwindling bunch on the short final climb of the 159.8km stage which started and finished in Mantes-La-Ville, north-west of Paris.

A final bunch sprint had been anticipated but the sprinters fell away on that final ascent with Laporte, who signed for Jumbo-Visma for the 2022 season after seven years at Cofidis, launching the decisive attack which left the peloton trailing.

Laporte worked effectively with Roglic and Van Aert to distance the chasers and he finished in 3hr 48min 38sec and took the leader’s jersey. The time gained by Roglic, Jumbo-Visma’s team leader from Slovenia, is likely to prove significant come the end of the eight-stage race.