The French call it La Course au Soleil, the Race to the Sun, and the name tells you everything about what Paris-Nice promises. Eight days of racing from the grey skies and rolling hills of the Ile-de-France to the warmth and light of the Côte d’Azur, with enough climbs, crosswinds, team time trials and mountain finishes along the way to expose every weakness a general classification contender might be hoping to hide. In 2026, the 84th edition departs from Achères on Sunday 8 March and arrives in Nice a week later, and for the first time since 2022, it does so without either of the two Slovenians who have so thoroughly dominated modern cycling. Tadej Pogacar is at Strade Bianche. Primoz Roglic is at Tirreno-Adriatico. The door is open, and two riders in particular are very keen to walk through it.
Paris-Nice History: Eight Decades of the Race to the Sun
Paris-Nice is old enough to carry genuine weight. The first edition was held in 1933, organised by a coalition of regional French newspapers and promoted, with characteristic Gallic flair, as Les Six Jours de la Route. The Belgian Alphonse Schepers won it from start to finish, and the formula was considered successful enough to repeat annually until the outbreak of war in 1939. When cycling resumed after the conflict, the race was revived in 1951 under the name Paris-Côte d’Azur by Jean Medecin, the mayor of Nice, who had the sharp commercial instinct to realise that a race ending in his city was excellent publicity for the region. The name Paris-Nice was restored in 1954, and it has been building its reputation ever since.
The roll of honour reads like a who’s who of cycling royalty. Jacques Anquetil won it five times between 1957 and 1966. Eddy Merckx claimed three consecutive editions from 1969, winning the final time trial each year in the manner of a man who simply did not understand the concept of defeat. But the name most inseparably linked to Paris-Nice belongs to Ireland: Sean Kelly won the race seven consecutive times between 1982 and 1988, a record that still stands and that, given the current depth of talent in the professional peloton, looks increasingly permanent. Kelly’s dominance was built on an ability to handle the cold and chaotic early stages through central France whilst still climbing well enough in the Alpes-Maritimes to keep the pure grimpeurs at bay. No rider since has managed anything remotely similar.
The 1990s and 2000s gave the race a succession of high-quality winners: Miguel Indurain, Laurent Jalabert (three consecutive wins from 1995, the last Frenchman to win on home roads), Alberto Contador, and the quietly brilliant Luis Leon Sanchez. Bradley Wiggins won in 2012 with a famous time trial up the Col d’Eze, a performance that preceded his Tour de France triumph that summer by just a few months and established Paris-Nice’s reputation as a reliable form guide for the season ahead. Richie Porte won twice, Geraint Thomas once, Egan Bernal in 2019, and Maximilian Schachmann in both pandemic-affected editions of 2020 and 2021.
The modern era has been characterised by Slovenian dominance. Primoz Roglic won in 2022, Tadej Pogacar delivered a masterclass in 2023 and then the race found a new champion in Matteo Jorgenson, the Visma rider from California who won back-to-back editions in 2024 and 2025 with a combination of tactical intelligence, team strength and impeccable time trialling. Jorgenson will not be here to make it three: he has chosen Tirreno-Adriatico instead. Someone new will be crowned in Nice on Sunday 15 March.
Paris-Nice Past Winners: 2016 to 2025
| Year | Winner | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Matteo Jorgenson | Visma | Lease a Bike |
| 2024 | Matteo Jorgenson | Visma | Lease a Bike |
| 2023 | Tadej Pogacar | UAE Team Emirates |
| 2022 | Primoz Roglic | Jumbo-Visma |
| 2021 | Maximilian Schachmann | Bora-Hansgrohe |
| 2020 | Maximilian Schachmann | Bora-Hansgrohe |
| 2019 | Egan Bernal | Team Ineos |
| 2018 | Marc Soler | Movistar Team |
| 2017 | Sergio Henao | Team Sky |
| 2016 | Geraint Thomas | Team Sky |
Paris-Nice 2025 Review: Jorgenson Wins Again as Vingegaard’s Injury Hands Him the Yellow Jersey
The 2025 edition was shaping up to be a genuine battle between the two strongest teams in world cycling. Visma | Lease a Bike took the yellow jersey through their expected team time trial dominance, with Matteo Jorgenson in the leader’s seat. But it was Jonas Vingegaard who sparked the race to life on stage four, attacking on the road to La Loge des Gardes to prise the lead from his teammate, who appeared content to wait for the final weekend. For a few days, the race felt as though it might produce an unexpected champion.
Then came stage five and the moment that shaped everything. Vingegaard crashed heavily on the road to La Côte-Saint-André, injuring his wrist badly enough to lose time on the steep finish as Lenny Martinez danced away to a stage win. Jorgenson re-inherited the jersey. The following day Vingegaard abandoned, his Paris-Nice over before the mountains had even properly begun, and Visma were left to defend yellow through crosswind chaos on stage six, which Mads Pedersen won with typical bravura, before navigating the final weekend with clinical precision. Michael Storer won on Auron. Magnus Sheffield claimed the final stage. Jorgenson stood on the Promenade des Anglais as champion, Florian Lipowitz and Thymen Arensman completing the podium. It was a thoroughly professional defence of the title, even if the race never quite reached the heights it might have done had Vingegaard stayed upright.
Paris-Nice 2025: Final General Classification
| Position | Rider | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matteo Jorgenson | Visma | Lease a Bike |
| 2 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe |
| 3 | Thymen Arensman | INEOS Grenadiers |
| 4 | João Almeida | UAE Team Emirates |
| 5 | Lenny Martinez | Bahrain Victorious |
Paris-Nice 2026 Course Guide: Stages, Key Climbs and the Unusual Finale in Nice
The 84th edition covers eight stages and approximately 1,245 kilometres, departing from Achères in the Yvelines department, which makes its debut as a Paris-Nice start town and becomes the 30th locality in that region to host the race. The overall character of the parcours is familiar: a difficult opening day, a sprint stage, a team time trial, and then an escalating series of uphill finishes as the race heads south. The total elevation gain across the week sits at approximately 16,460 metres of elevation gain.
Stage 1 (Achères to Carrières-sous-Poissy, 170.9km) breaks immediately from the Paris-Nice tradition of opening with a bunch sprint. Nearly 2,000 metres of climbing are packed into the day, with the decisive moment coming on a finishing circuit featuring two ascents of the Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes, a punchy 1.1km ramp at 8.3%. The second ascent comes eleven kilometres from the line, leaving enough distance for a group to reform but enough gradient to cause early GC splits. Stage 2 (Épône to Montargis, 187km) offers the sprinters their primary opportunity, though crosswinds through the exposed Gâtinais plains could turn it into an echelons stage if conditions are right.
The race’s first genuinely decisive day comes on Stage 3: a 23.5km team time trial between Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire and Pouilly-sur-Loire. This is the fourth consecutive edition to feature a TTT, and in 2026 the format carries additional significance as a dress rehearsal for the Tour de France, which opens with a TTT in Barcelona. The best-equipped squads can bank significant time here, and history shows that the yellow jersey won on stage three almost always makes the final podium. Stage 4 (Bourges to Uchon, 195km) delivers the first uphill finish, with a closing 8km to the summit at Uchon that averages a deceptively gentle 4.5% but rears up savagely after the flamme rouge, hitting 16% in the final ramp. Riders will be split here for the first time.
Stage 5 (Cormoranche-sur-Saône to Colombier-le-Vieux, 205km) is the longest and most demanding stage of the week, with 3,020 metres of climbing and three steep ascents in the final 35 kilometres. Stage 6 (Barbentane to Apt, 179.3km) is hilly throughout, with the final 4km climb to Apt potentially decisive for any riders who have lost time and need to claw it back before the big weekend. Stage 7 (Nice to Auron, 139km) is the queen stage: a summit finish atop the 7.3km, 7.2% average climb to the Auron ski station, preceded by the Côte de Carros and Côte de Bouyon to soften legs early. This is where the race will in all probability be settled.
The final day is different to recent editions. Municipal elections in Nice have forced the organisers to abandon the traditional finish on the Promenade des Anglais and the Col d’Eze, moving instead to the Allianz Riviera stadium on the western outskirts of the city. Stage 8 (Nice to Nice, 145km) features three categorised climbs: the Col de la Porte (7km at 7.2%), Côte de Châteauneuf-Villevieille (6.6km at 6.6%) and the Côte du Linguador (3.3km at 8.8%, peaking at 14%), which crests less than 20km from the finish. With a largely flat run-in, a small breakaway or a reduced sprint from a lead group are both plausible outcomes. It is, by the organisers’ own admission, an unknown quantity.
Paris-Nice 2026: Race Details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Dates | Sunday 8 March to Sunday 15 March 2026 |
| Category | UCI WorldTour (2.UWT), Men Elite |
| Stages | 8 stages |
| Total Distance | Approx. 1,245km |
| Grand Départ | Achères, Yvelines, France |
| Final Stage Finish | Allianz Riviera, Nice, France |
| Daily Coverage Starts (approx.) | 13:10 GMT (14:10 CET) |
| Daily Finish (approx.) | 16:00 GMT (17:00 CET) |
| Organiser | ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation) |
Paris-Nice 2026 Favourites: Can Vingegaard or Ayuso Finally Break Visma’s Grip on the Race?
The Clear Favourite: Jonas Vingegaard
Any stage race that Jonas Vingegaard enters without Tadej Pogacar in the field starts with one overwhelming question: can anyone beat the Dane? Paris-Nice is, remarkably, a race Vingegaard has yet to win despite being one of the strongest GC riders in the world. He finished third here in 2022, was leading comfortably in 2025 before a crash on stage five ended his race, and arrives in 2026 with a point to prove. He arrives in 2026 with a delayed start to his season behind him, a training crash in Malaga and subsequent illness having ruled out his planned UAE Tour campaign, but his ability to produce extraordinary performances from a standing start is well established. This is a parcours that suits him enormously: the team time trial plays to Visma’s collective strength, Auron is a climb made for his particular brand of sustained power, and the new finale, while unfamiliar, should not disadvantage him. He is the clear favourite by some distance.
Main Contenders
The transfer of the winter has injected considerable intrigue into the race. Juan Ayuso left UAE Team Emirates for Lidl-Trek in the off-season and has already delivered at his new team, winning a stage and the overall at the Volta ao Algarve in February against a field containing several of the same riders he will face this week. At 23 and making his Paris-Nice debut, the Spaniard’s record in adjacent races speaks for itself: winner of Tirreno-Adriatico last year, runner-up the year before. He can time trial, he can climb, and he is riding with the confidence of a man who has just proved a point. Lidl-Trek have lost Mattias Skjelmose to a wrist tendinitis injury, which reduces their tactical options, but Ayuso is more than capable of carrying the race on his own terms. Several analysts are backing him over Vingegaard precisely because he already has a stage race in his legs.
INEOS Grenadiers are doing something interesting this year. Rather than nominating a single clear leader, they have given the keys to two riders whose profiles complement each other almost perfectly: Oscar Onley, who is the stronger climber, and Kevin Vauquelin, who is the better time trialist. Both riders finished in the top five at the Volta ao Algarve and both are in just their second month at the team following winter transfers. The tactical flexibility this gives INEOS in the mountain stages is genuine: if either rider gains time in the TTT and holds it through the first uphill finishes, the other can serve as the attacking option on Auron. Carlos Rodriguez is also in the squad as additional insurance.
The late withdrawal of João Almeida through illness has disrupted UAE Team Emirates XRG’s plans considerably. Brandon McNulty steps up as leader and is a more than capable handler of a parcours like this, but he inherits the job at very short notice and without the team structure that had been built around Almeida. The American is a rider who tends to thrive when freed from expectation, which might actually work in his favour here. He will need his squad to perform in the TTT, where UAE found themselves on the back foot last year.
Lenny Martinez won a stage here in 2025 with an attacking ride on the steep finish to La Côte-Saint-André and arrives with strong early-season form for Bahrain Victorious. The young Frenchman is developing into exactly the kind of rider who can cause problems in the mountains if the GC battle between the bigger names creates the right kind of chaos. David Gaudu, riding for Groupama-FDJ on home roads, brings motivation and local knowledge to a race that has historically been unkind to French winners.
Dark Horses Worth Watching
Aleksandr Vlasov has quietly put together a very consistent start to his 2026 season, finishing seventh overall at both the Volta Comunitat Valenciana and the Vuelta a Andalucia. The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe climber does not make headlines but has a knack for arriving at the right moment in mountain finishes, and the combination of Auron and the new Nice finale could play to exactly his strengths. Dani Martinez is a complementary option for the same team.
Tudor Pro Cycling’s Mathys Rondel is a name to watch on his good days, capable of staying with the best on tough mountain stages. The Tudor team have shown ambition in race selection, and Rondel represents a credible outside option if the race fractures in unexpected ways. Ion Izagirre for Cofidis brings veteran experience on these roads, whilst Sergio Higuita for XDS-Astana is a climber who can produce results when the pressure is highest. Visma’s Davide Piganzoli, the Italian youngster who joined in the winter, could himself be a GC factor on the right day.
Paris-Nice 2026 Outsiders: Stage Hunters and Sprint Contenders to Watch
For all the GC intrigue, Paris-Nice has always been a race that offers something to riders of every profile, and 2026 is no different. Olav Kooij, Tim van Dijke, Bryan Coquard and Cees Bol are among those who will contest the sprints, whilst Anthony Turgis of TotalEnergies and Rémi Cavagna of Groupama-FDJ represent the puncheur-breakaway hybrid profile that the opening and middle stages of Paris-Nice so often reward.
For those chasing stage wins in the mountains rather than the overall, the summit finish at Auron has historically attracted breakaway specialists who can climb at high tempo without necessarily being able to sustain it over an entire week. Torstein Traen of Uno-X, Harold Tejada of XDS-Astana and Eddie Dunbar of Pinarello-Q36.5 are among the riders who could find themselves in a breakaway on the key stages if the GC teams are slow to react. The new finale in Nice is an unknown for everyone, which always benefits the opportunist.
Paris-Nice 2026 TV Coverage, Live Streaming and Daily Start Times by Country
The weather across the opening days in the Yvelines and Loire valley looks typically early-March: cool, with the possibility of crosswinds in the exposed plains of stage two. The race heads south as the week progresses, and conditions in the Alps-Maritimes for the weekend mountain stages are expected to be mild and dry. All broadcast times below are in GMT. Coverage typically begins in the early afternoon each day, with the race finishing between 15:30 and 16:30 GMT, depending on the stage profile.
| Broadcaster | Country / Territory | Platform / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TNT Sports / Eurosport | United Kingdom | TV and Discovery+ (subscription) |
| France Télévisions | France | TV and france.tv (free stream) |
| L’Equipe TV | France | TV and lequipe.fr |
| Sporza / VRT1 | Belgium | TV and VRT Max (free stream) |
| RAI Sport | Italy | TV and RaiPlay (free stream) |
| Eurosport | Europe (various) | TV and Discovery+ (subscription) |
| Viaplay | Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland | Streaming (subscription) |
| SBS | Australia | TV and SBS On Demand (free stream) |
| NBC Sports / Peacock | United States | Streaming (subscription) |
| FloBikes | Canada and international | Streaming (subscription) |
| DAZN | Germany, Spain, Japan, Canada | Streaming (subscription) |
| Cycling.TV | International | Streaming (subscription) |
All broadcast times are approximate and subject to change. The team time trial on Stage 3 may have a different coverage window. Check your local broadcaster’s schedule for the latest confirmed times each day.
