Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard . The presence of these great champions is enough to raise the hype of the Paris-Nice which starts on Sunday 5 March and which will end on Sunday 12 after 8 stages (category 3 race, therefore there will be many points up for grabs for the fantamanagers).

After the epic clash at the last Tour de France, concluded with the success of the Danish Jumbo Visma, the two face each other again, after having already dominated the respective short races in which they participated at the beginning of the season, along a not easy path which includes two uphill finishes, including the demanding Col de la Couillole on the penultimate stage and La Loge des Gardes in the fourth stage . The first two fractions should not be underestimated either, due to possible bad weather and fans, and the team time trial of the third day, 32 km long, with the new rule of the team time taken on the first rider at the finish line.

The last stage, then, with start and finish in Nice of only 118 km , has revolutionized the classification several times and will force the big teams to be very careful so as not to waste time and precious positions in the general classification.

Speaking of teams, Jumbo Visma seems to be the team to beat with, alongside Vingegaard, the time trialists Tobias Foss, Rohan Dennis and Edoardo Affini as well as Olav Kooij for the sprints. Less quality, however, in the Pogacar team, which will include, among others, Tim Wellens and Matteo Trentin .

Daniel Martinez and Pavel Sivakov of Ineos, Simon Yates of Team Jayco AlUla, Jack Haig of Bahrain, Neilson Powless of EF, David Gaudu of Groupama, Matteo Jorgenson of Movistar, Kevin Vauquelin of Arkea, Romain Bardet could do well for the general classification of Team Dsm and Mattias Skjelmose of Trek. Beware of surprises for stage victories, especially the French ones.

Despite the few sprints available, there will be challenges between some sprint champions: in addition to Kooij, in fact, there will be Arnaud De Lie of Lotto, Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick Step, Arnaud Demare of Groupama, Sam Bennett of Bora, Kaden Groves from Alpecin and Alexander Kristoff from Uno-X. A lot of curiosity to see Trek's Mads Pedersen , who has raced little so far but who, given his class, could already be a protagonist even in the more difficult stages.

Photo Sprint Cycling