The second stage of this year's Paris-Nice had "sprint finish" written all over it. Among a mix of hilly and mountain stages, the Monday's transfer was the only opportunity offered by organizers to true sprinters, and Max Kanter (XDS Astana) emerged victorious in Montargis. But one man - Daan Hoole...

Victor Campenaerts has been added to UCI's naughty list on Sunday's stage of Paris-Nice. The opening day of the "Race to the Sun" led to a bunch sprint where Visma | Lease a Bike opted to not get overly involved besides Axel Zingle who crossed the line 9th on his own. But Campenaerts was still award...

A team time trial and so a practice run for the Tour de France. However this course is not as hilly as recent editions and so the tactics will be more subtle as teams try to retain their rouleurs for as long as possible.le Matre Kanter: no crosswinds, just a pesky headwind and so only a breakaway for the mountains points with Casper Pedersen adding to his tally. Job done he and Matthis Le Berre were caught or sat up and we got a procession to a sprint.Worth nothing the sight of Jonas Vingegaard at the back of the peloton, no incident to remark but its not where overall contenders sit; moments later Juan Ayuso was second in an intermediate sprint to grab a four second time bonus.Dan Hoole made a late attack but was caught in the streets of Montargis and a surprise winner in Max Kanter of XDS-Astana but no fluke, he hit the front and just kept going. Laurence Pithie was second, the same position when the race last finished here. Luke Lamperti stays in yellow.The Route: if youre used to team time trials in Paris-Nice now with the new rules awarding a team the win based on the time of their first rider across the line then today is subtly different because the course just isnt as hilly as weve seen in recent years, were unlikely to see teams burn up all their riders before their GC leader goes clear for the final minutes.Teams ought to finish with multiple riders as the climb to Saint-Andelin isnt that hard but it is a drag all the same and so a tactical point, its exposed too amid the pruned vine stumps. All this still makes for a tactical course as you can use up some riders who can take big turns in order to ensure others can power to the line later on but normally todays course suits a more cohesive team that can stick together and the tactics wont be so visible.The Contenders: Visma-LAB, Lidl-Trek or Ineos for the win? UAE have a strong team but are more erratic in this discipline, having won the Paris-Nice TTT once but also been 5th and 8th recently. Movistar could surprise but not for the win. Decathlon-CMA CGM have big hopes and look good on paper but their riders have been losing time so far.Visma-LABLidl-Trek, IneosWeather: some sunshine but mainly cloudy and 14C, a 10km/h SW breeze.TV: the first team is off at 3.05pm and the last team due in at 5.00pm CET. UAE and Visma start relatively early, here is the start order:Postcard from PouillyThis could be the wine stage with a course in the Loire vineyards. But instead a sideways look at team time trials with plenty of sour grapes. Todays stage is a technical affair with teams training on traffic-free motor racing circuits to perfect the art of pacing and rotation. A lot of thought goes into the order of the riders, pacing and the individual efforts in order to achieve harmony.It wasnt always this way. For a professional cyclist what could be more obvious that riding through and off, and with colleagues? This assumption regularly proved ruinous as teams made a mess of things and it was more trial than team. Like a group ride approaching the run home, strong riders could show off or just inadvertently prove too powerful, causing their team to crack and sometimes shatter.Embed from Getty ImagesEven the ultra rational Chris Boardman ended up doing this to his team mates in the 1994 Tour de France while wearing the yellow jersey. It cost him the lead the day before race rode to Britain.In 1989 Pedro Delgado was late to the prologues start ramp and finished last, losing almost three minutes; but on Stage 2, the team time trial, his Reynolds team finished last and partly because a panicky Delgado tried too hard to make up lost time causing his team mates to implode and this cost him over four and half minutes. Given he lost the race by three minutes in Paris the was TTT more ruinous than the infamous prologue.In 1978 there was a 153km stage from Evreux to Caen, sounds normal, but it was a team time trial. It took the winners over three and half hours. Speaking to Le Parisien, Jean-Ren Bernaudeau, long time boss of the TotalEnergies team, said it was horrible thanks to the distance, 153km. Madness. The next day none of us could sit down. Still the 100km team time trial was an Olympic discipline and so not unknown. If that sounds tortuous the 1927 Tour de France saw the format change where teams set off every quarter of an hour to complete the stage, effectively making that edition and the following year a set of team time trials.Embed from Getty ImagesIn more modern times the team time trial has been a refuge for some squads. Because it is so technical and dependent on careful cooperation some teams have focussed on it as a way to win at the Tour de France and elsewhere when theyd otherwise be shut out think Crdit Agricole beating ONCE and Festina in 2001, or more recently HTC, Greenedge and Garmin whether because of endemic doping or just squashed by big budget teams. Today theres no refuge for anyone.The post Paris-Nice Stage 3 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

INEOS Grenadiers can be overly satisfied with the outcome of the opening time trial of this year's Tirreno-Adriatico. Not only has Filippo Ganna secured a dominant victory, his success was underlined by GC leader Thymen Arensman's second place on the day while Magnus Sheffield jumped into the lead o...

Two new Continental Grand Prix 5000 sizes give you more versatility on any road and against the clock. The GP5000 S TR now comes in a 35mm width, and the GP5000 TT TR in 30mm.The GP5000 S TR is the all-rounder, balancing weight and protection for a fast but durable (and puncture protected) ride. Designed for general purpose road riding, the new size lets you push the boundaries of what all road really means.And the increased volume means you can run lower pressures for more traction and comfort while doing so. Claimed weight is 380g, MSRP $128.95 (113.95).The GP5000 TT TR (below) saves weight and reduces rolling resistance for race days with a stripped-down casing. Its not totally exposedboth tires use Contis Vectran Breaker for puncture protection, this one just has less supporting materials to bolster its effectiveness. Claimed weight is 280g, MSRP is $116.95 (91.95).Both tires (and all GP5000 tires, for that matter) get Continentals BlackChili Compound, with Lazer Grip patches of texture on the cornering edges for more control.All GP5000 models also get their Active Comfort Technology, which is a proprietary technology (presumably that means magic material) embedded into the casing to absorb and damp vibrations for improved comfortContinental-Tires.comThe post Continental GP5000 S TR/TT TR Tires Get New, Wider Sizes appeared first on Bikerumor.