Merlier first leader on his first Paris-Nice stage
Two in the break
The real start was given to 154 riders at 13:01 under grey skies. France’s Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) and Denmark’s Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) broke clear after 16 km and received the go-ahead from the peloton. Their lead topped at 3:45 at kilometre 35 and the bunch, led by Lotto Dstny and Alpecin Deceuninck riders, maintained a safe three-minute...