March 10, 2019 (Saint-Germain-en-Laye, FRA) – Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team finished 21st on Stage 1 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 138.5km, as  Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma made the best of the great team work on a windy and eventful day to take the first stage of Paris-Nice and put the yellow jersey on his back.

Already winner of a stage in Vierzon a year ago, the Dutch sprint rocket was a little bit too fast for Australia’s Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), who had to settle for second place. The day, animated by countless echelons, was tarnished by the absence in the finale of Australia’s Michael Matthews, forced out of the race by a crash with 50 km to go.

“There was a lot of action and a lot of wind today,” said Houle in a Sportcom interview. “It was very stressful as a day. There were several breaks in the peloton and it was necessary to remain vigilant and placed in front. For me it was a beautiful day, it was good and I was strong. But we lost one or two leaders in the final so it’s not very good for the general.”

Although he was pleased with his own form, Houle was disappointed that two of his team-mates, Miguel Angel Lopez (81st at 1 minute 4 seconds) and Ion Izagirre Insausti (128th, at 2 minutes 50 seconds), did not manage to stay in the lead group.

“We wanted to put them ahead, it’s a shame for us, but we’ll see how we can rectify things in the next days,” continued the cyclist from Sainte-Perpétue. “Everything is still possible but the wind is likely to continue to blow strongly. It could be another stressful day and we’ll have to avoid any pitfalls and stay at the front.”

Results

1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 3:17:35
2. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
3. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
5. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
6. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
7. Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
9. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
10. Anthony Turgis (Fra) Direct Energie
11. Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
12. Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
13. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
14. André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic
15. Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky
16. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
17. Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
18. Luis León Sanchez (Esp) Astana Pro Team
19. Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
20. Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
21. Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
22. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
23. Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
24. Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
25. Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
26. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Direct Energie
27. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
28. Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
29. Patrick Müller (Sui) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
30. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
31. Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
32. Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
33. Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
34. Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First
35. Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Esp) Astana Pro Team
36. Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
37. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
38. Simon Yates (Gbr) Mitchelton-Scott
39. Arthur Vichot (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
40. Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
41. Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
42. George Bennett (Nzl) Team Jumbo-Visma
43. Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44. Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
45. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
46. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
47. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
48. Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar Team
49. Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
50. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Gbr) Team Sky
51. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
52. Tom Scully (Nzl) EF Education First
53. Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First
54. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
55. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
56. Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
57. Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Sky
58. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky
59. Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
60. Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
61. Ivan Garcia (Esp) Bahrain-Merida 0:16
62. Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:24
63. Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:26
64. Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 1:00
65. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
66. Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 1:01
67. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
68. Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
69. Francisco Ventoso (Esp) CCC Team
70. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 1:02
71. Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
72. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
73. Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
74. Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
75. Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
76. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo 1:03
77. Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Esp) Mitchelton-Scott
78. Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
79. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
80. Marc Soler (Esp) Movistar Team
81. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 1:04
82. Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
83. Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First
84. Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
85. Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie 1:33
86. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 2:42
87. Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 2:43
88. Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
89. Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
90. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 2:44
91. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
92. Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Dimension Data
93. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
94. Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
95. Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 2:45
96. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
97. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
98. Reto Hollenstein (Sui) Katusha-Alpecin
99. Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb 2:46
100. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
101. Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
102. Jack Bauer (Nzl) Mitchelton-Scott
103. Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
104. Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
105. Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:47
106. Mathias Frank (Sui) AG2R La Mondiale
107. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
108. Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
109. Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 2:48
110. Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
111. Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
112. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
113. Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
114. Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
115. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
116. Victor De La Parte (Esp) CCC Team
117. Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
118. Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
119. Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
120. Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
121. Bram Welten (Ned) Arkéa Samsic 2:49
122. Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
123. Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
124. Rafael Valls (Esp) Movistar Team
125. Amael Moinard (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 2:50
126. Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
127. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
128. Ion Izagirre Insausti (Esp) Astana Pro Team
129. Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
130. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 2:51
131. Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
132. Scott Davies (Gbr) Dimension Data
133. Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Direct Energie
134. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 2:52
135. Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
136. Laurens ten Dam (Ned) CCC Team 2:53
137. Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 4:30
138. Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates
139. Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 4:31
140. Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
141. Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
142. Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
143. Hector Carretero (Esp) Movistar Team 4:32
144. Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Sky
145. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
146. Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
147. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 4:33
148. Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb
149. Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
150. Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 4:34
151. Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 7:36
152. Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 8:49
153. Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 8:50
154. Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Dimension Data
155. Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
156. Daniel McLay (Gbr) EF Education First 8:51
157. Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
158. Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:12:59