Paris-Nice reveals key riders by team as provisional start list takes shape

Vingegaard was not originally pencilled in for the Race to the Sun, but added Paris–Nice to his programme after he was forced to scratch the UAE Tour due to a crash and illness. In France, the Visma | Lease a Bike leader is set to be supported by, among others, Edoardo Affini, Bruno Armirail and Axel Zingle.

The Dane will have plenty of competition, too, with several major rivals already appearing on the provisional list. Lidl-Trek is expected with Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose and Lennard Kämna, while UAE Team Emirates–XRG is listed with João Almeida, Marc Soler, Igor Arrieta and Pavel Sivakov.

INEOS Grenadiers is also set to bring a strong line-up, including Kévin Vauquelin, Oscar Onley and Carlos Rodríguez. Joshua Tarling and Dorian Godon have also already been announced.

Other potential overall contenders named so far include Lenny Martinez and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon CMA CGM), Harold Tejada and Sergio Higuita (XDS Astana), plus Max Poole (Picnic PostNL).

Also included on the provisional start list are Daniel Felipe Martínez and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Cian Uijtdebroeks and Iván Romeo (Movistar), as well as Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello Q36.5).

The opening days of Paris–Nice often provide more chances for the fast men. Among the sprinters already mentioned are Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Biniam Girmay (NSN), Alberto Dainese (Soudal Quick-Step), Bryan Coquard and Milan Fretin (Cofidis), Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM), Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies), Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL), Laurence Pithie (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) and Matteo Trentin (Tudor).