Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) upset pre-stage favourite Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) by winning the Paris-Nice prologue by a single second in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.
The Australian powered around the technical course, which included a sharp climb of around 200m near the finish, in 7-39 to set the best time and take the first yellow jersey of the race in what is his first race of the season.
Minutes earlier, Dumoulin had knocked Cannondale's Patrick Bevin off the top of the leaderboard by just a second but his time wasn't good enough to see off Matthews.
Team Sky's Geraint Thomas crossed the line in seventh place, seven seconds down on the leader, gaining nine seconds on general classification rival Alberto Contador (Tinkoff). Movistar's Ion Izagirre finished a second ahead of Thomas in fifth place
Paris-Nice prologue, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (6.7km)
1. Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, 7-39
2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, at 1s
3. Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale, at 2s
4. Jesus Herrada (Esp) Movistar, at 6s
5. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, st
6. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana, at 7s
7. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, st
8. Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling, at 8s
9. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie, at 9s
10. Jerome Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling, st
Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
-
-
Bryton takes on Garmin again with new Gardia R300L radar tail light
The Taiwan-based company's new light alerts cyclists of approaching vehicles and undercuts its rivals on price
-
Cycling kit industry branded 'deeply broken' as yet another brand closes down
After Presca, Velofixen, Milltag and Machines for Freedom, Kitsbow is the latest cycling apparel company to announce its end of operations this year.
-
Team BikeExchange-Jayco out of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana after positive covid results
Australian team withdraw from race ahead of stage three
-
Team BikeExchange-Jayco release new kit, will ride Giant and Liv bikes
Australian WorldTour team goes blue for the men and aubergine for the women in Alé designed strips
-
Team BikeExchange Jayco focussing on widespread wins with confirmation of 2022 roster
The Australian team are optimistic they can achieve more success next season with their 28-man squad
-
BikeExchange interested in Tom Dumoulin for 2023 'if he wants to carry on with GC ambitions'
Dumoulin will be free at the end of 2022, when his contract with Jumbo-Visma runs out
-
The Mayor of Nice doesn't want Paris-Nice to finish on seafront as planned
The local leader has concerns about the impact the race during the lockdown
-
Nairo Quintana takes final stage seven as Max Schachmann hangs on for Paris-Nice overall victory
The Colombian took the summit finish victory as Schachmann survived to finish atop the GC
-
Mitchelton-Scott release full list of Zwift races with pros, including Simon Yates and Amanda Spratt
Mitchelton-Scott sets up a month of events on Zwift where anyone can ride in special events with some of the biggest names in the team
-
Adam and Simon Yates will now both ride the Vuelta a España in pursuit of progression
Bonus extra grand tour for Adam after the Tour de France
