After the time trial prologue, it was sprinters time in the first stage of Paris-Nice (Saint Rémy lès Chevreuse-Contres, 196,5 km).

The race ended in a bunch sprint afteran attacking duo of Delaplace and Voeckler had led the stage for many kilometers. The bunch neutralized their action 1500 meters from the finish.

Lampre-Merida’s goal was to help Nizzolo Bonifazio in approaching the sprint in the best possibile position. The winner of GP Lugano won his last sprint and was dropped off just behind Kristoff by Davide Cimolai but he could not follow the Norwegian sprinter because of a swerve from a few riders next to him. He still finished the stage very fast. Bonifazio crossed the finish line in 8th place, Kristoff won the stage.

Rui Costa crashed earlier in the stage but suffered no major injuries.

“Rui crashed in the final part of the race, but luckily he did not suffer injuries and so he could come back in the peloton thanks to the support of his team mates," sports director Simone Pedrazzini explained. "For what concerns the sprint, Bonifazio was our captain and we did the best to gave him the opportunity to be competitive: the 8th place is good, considering that he battled against some of the best sprinters in the world“.