BMC saw their pre-race plans being ruined on the opening day of Paris-Nice when Tejay van Garderen had to abandon due to a stomach bug. Later in the race several of the team's riders were caught up behind a crash and the only bright point was Greg Van Avermaet's great riding that saw him pick up two bonus seconds and move into 4th on GC.

Greg Van Avermaet stands in fourth overall after Sunday's opening stage of Paris-Nice while the BMC Racing Team's leader, Tejay van Garderen, was forced to withdraw mid-race due to illness. 

One of the pre-race favorites and last year's fourth-place finisher here, van Garderen climbed off his BMC about 80 kilometers into the 162.5-km race.

"Friday night, I had all these stomach cramps, and bad diarrhea all day yesterday and then a little bit of a fever and no appetite," he said. "It felt like my sickness was getting better and today, I woke up and I felt OK. But I was really just empty. I couldn't take in calories and just had nothing in the muscles." 

Christophe Laborie (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) ventured off alone and built a nearly 11-minute lead after 40 km. He was caught with 50 km to go and would eventually finish the stage 7:11 behind the winner.

Van Avermaet helped himself move up the overall standings by earning two seconds in bonus time with a runner-up finish to Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) on the second of two intermediate sprints.

Several BMC Racing Team riders were delayed in a large crash with 20 km to go, including Norwegian national road champion Thor Hushovd, Amaël Moinard and Taylor Phinney. Though none suffered any injuries, they – and Steve Cummings, who avoided the crash but later flatted – all ended up losing more than a minute. Meanwhile, teammates Peter Stetina and Peter Velits finished with Van Avermaet in the lead group.

Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) won the stage ahead of John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Shimano) and Meersman to take the first yellow jersey of race leader. Van Avermaet cruised across the line in 17th place to secure his position in the top five overall, eight seconds behind Bouhanni, with seven stages to go.

"It was pretty hectic," Van Avermaet said. "Too bad we lost Tejay the first day. It's a big disappointment because this was was our main goal. But I think we still have a strong group and some other guys for the GC. In the final, I was really feeling pretty good. But it was just not a normal sprint, it was pretty hectic."

"After the problem with Tejay and the crash, it was a bad day for the team," sports director Yvon Ledanois said. "But Paris-Nice is eight days – not just one – and we have riders now for the stages. I have trust in the team for the next days."

You can read our preview of today's stage here and follow it on CyclingQuotes.com/live from 14.25 CET.