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The Dutch team Jumbo-Visma scored a resounding hat-trick on Sunday on the first stage of Paris-Nice around Mantes-la-Ville.
As often, the first stage of the “Race to the Sun” kept its promises. On a route around Mantes-la-Ville (Yvelines), the show was there to launch this 80th Paris-Nice. And this, in particular, thanks to a team: the Jumbo-Visma. The team of Primoz Roglic and Wout Van Aert knocked out the race in the last raid of the circuit with its two stars and… the Frenchman Christophe Laporte.
Taken on a set by Nathan Van Hooydonck, the three thieves of the day disgusted everyone, even Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step Alpha Vinyl) who was trying like hell to hang on. In vain. At the rocker of the Breuil-Bois-Robert coast, the three men in yellow spun and engulfed the last five kilometers leaving no chance for the peloton.
When the finish line presented itself in front of the three men, Christophe Laporte took the lead, thanked his luxury teammates with a thumbs-up and offered himself, in addition to this collective success, the yellow jersey of leader and a first victory in a World Tour event (first world division). The message is sent from the first stage by the Jumbo-Visma: who can beat them?