Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) won the opening stage of Paris-Nice with a ferocious sprint finish. The Irishman continued his winning streak having claimed a brace of stage wins at the UAE Tour to come out on top in a bunch sprint again, beating Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo).
All the GC favourites finished in the bunch, apart from Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers), who abandoned after crashing earlier in the stage.
Bennett becomes the first Irishman since Stephen Roche in 1990 to wear the overall leader’s jersey at Paris-Nice, and he paid tribute to his Deceuninck-QuickStep team’s efforts in the finale. “The guys did a fantastic job again.
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