The Paris-Nice got underway with a 6.1km prologue earlier today. Michael Matthews (Orica-Greenedge) clocked the best time of the day to take the first yellow jersey of the race. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) was 2nd and Patrick Bevin (Cannondale) finished 3rd.
Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka did not have a specialist for today’s violent prologue effort, as our roster is concentrated on the tough climbing stages still to come this week. Our fastest finisher on the day would be Tyler Farrar, the American’s 8’14” was just 35 seconds off Matthew’s winning time.
Our remaining 7 African Team riders all finished within a minute and 4 seconds off of Matthew’s, setting up an exciting week of racing. Tomorrow will be the first road stage of the Paris-Nice, a mostly flat 198km that could be one of the few opportunities for the sprinters. There will be a few gravel sectors in the final 30 kilometres of the stage though that could shake things up a little.
Tyler Farrar – Rider
Quiet a surprise. I thought Serge or Daniel would be faster than Tyler.