March 2020 – The Daily Peloton

Paris – Nice 2020: Stage 3

Chalette-sur-Loing › La Châtre (212.5k)

García Cortina pips Sagan in bunch sprint to take first Paris Nice win

Bahrain-McLaren’s Iván García Cortina erased his close run second on Stage 2 in 2019 to take the top step of podium in this year’s edition’s first bunch sprint. He held of Peter Sagan (Bora Hansgrohe) who is still looking for a first win in 2020, with Andrea Pasqualon (Circus-Wanty Gobert) taking third. The closing kilometres saw a few main sprint rivals ruled out of the fight, notably Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) going down in a crash with 500m to go, and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) suffering a mechanical.

Iván García Cortina (Bahrain - McLaren) takes the win on Stage 3 of the 2020 Paris Nice — Iván García Cortina (Bahrain – McLaren) takes the win on Stage 3 of the 2020 Paris Nice
Photo: A.S.O./Fabien Boukla

Paris – Nice 2020: Stage 1

Maz Schachmann won a cold and wet opener in Plaisir to the lead ‘The Race to the Sun’ on his first participation.

08/03/2020 – Paris-Nice – Etape 1 – Plaisir / Plaisir (154km) – Stage winner Maximilian SCHACHMANN (BORA – HANSGROHE)
Photo: ASO/Fabien Boukla

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Maximilian Schachmann seized Stage One of the Paris-Nice in a four-way sprint against Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-McLaren) and Tiesj Benoot (Sunweb) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) after he and Tuens linked up with the others with just a couple of kilometres to go. In the overall standings, Schachmann leads Benoot by two second and Teuns by four.

**Max Schachmann wins** sprint against **Dylan Teuns and Tiesj Benoot with Julian Alaphilippe fourth.**
Photo: ASO/Fabien Boukla

Cycling World mourns Portal

The cycling world is mourning the loss of Nicolas Portal, the former pro and director of Team Ineos who died at his Andorran home yesterday of a heart attack.

Nicolas Portal: 1979-2020
Photo: Team Ineos

Team Ineos announced Portal’s passing in a tweet on Tuesday 3 March:

It is with the greatest sadness that we announce the passing of our much loved team mate, colleague and friend Nico Portal who died suddenly this afternoon at his home in Andorra.
— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) March 3, 2020

Evenepoel crowned champion at Vuelta San Juan

Vuelta San Juan, 26 Jan – 2 Feb 2020

SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA – FEBRUARY 02: Podium / Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and Deceuninck – Quick-Step Team White Leader Jersey / Celebration / Trophy / during the 38th Vuelta a San Juan International 2020, Stage 7 a 141,3km stage from San Juan to San Juan / @vueltasanjuanok / #VueltaSJ / on February 02, 2020 in San Juan, Argentina. (Photo by Maximiliano Blanco/Getty Images)

20 year old prodigy Remco Evenepoel ended a week long party to celebrate his birthday with a nice addition to his rapidly growing palmares, which before the start of the season counted five victories, including Clasica San Sebastian and the European ITT Championship.