Welcome the start of a weeks worth of race previews and daily analysis from Paris-Nice.Todays stage will work the derailleurs of many a rider thanks to a hilly finishing circuit and the postcard celebrates the lost art of gearing.The Route: 171km and 1,950m of vertical gain, which is plenty of some sprinters. The climbing comes from riding around the Seine valley and tackling the flanks. The first climb out of Gargenville is a ramp out of town that levels off amid exposed farmland on a wide road before kicking up once inside woodland but it all feels like less of a climb and more a drag uphill. The next climb out of Vaux stings a bit more but its still wide.The course then arrives on the finishing circuit with two times across the finish line and three times up the climb of Chanteloup, over a kilometre at 8% and it gets narrower in town and keeps climbing beyond the KOM point. Its all on a long straight road. The descent features one wide hairpin bend which ordinarily isnt a problem but on the last lap riders wont want to lose position.The second time across the finish line is an intermediate sprint with 6-4-2 seconds in time bonuses as well as points for the green jersey.The Finish: a long straight road into Carrires and then a left turn with a rise to the line. Itll be familiar thanks to crossing the line before for a boulevard finish.The Contenders: the climbing makes it harder for heavyset sprinters but there arent many on the start line. A reduced bunch sprint seems the most likely scenario, especially as the top of the climb is 11km from the finish and after the descent the route to line is on a big wide road that wont help a lone attacker.Biniam Girmay (NSN) seems the best all-round pick, a fast finisher who is agile for these climbs and hes already won this season, ending his drought.Milan Fretin (Cofidis) is more than a sprinter and a Van Aert body-double, hes after his first World Tour win. Team mate Bryan Coquard has said hes done with sprinting but has two bunch sprint wins this season.Marijn van den Berg (EF) is a contender but will he go for it or team mate Luke Lamperti?Alberto Dainese (Soudal-Quickstep) might be the fastest in the field and gets the Quickstep lead out train but the climbs in the way and his low win rate make him hard to back. Similarly Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain) more often places than wins.Rick Pluimers (Tudor) is fast when others have been dropped. After wiping out last week on the Molenberg and losing several teeth if he could smile here then itd be a fairy tale result. Matteo Trentin brings experience and form too.Axel Zingle (Visma-LAB) is sort of the teams house sprinter but hes much better suited to uphill finishes that last rather than todays kick to the line.Cees Bol (Decathlon-CMA CGM) has a Paris-Nice stage win to his name. He was going well in the UAE Tour as the rider who almost got Isaac Del Toro back in the opening stages uphill finish but the hilly circuit with repeat climbs makes things harder.The likes of Ineos could try to force the pace on the climb in order to make life harder for the sprinters cited above and set up Dorian Godon. SimilarlyOrluis Aular (Movistar) is due a breakthrough win but hes among the sprinters who would like a hillier circuit but if Movistar were to join in it would help.Finally a couple of breakaway jokers in Ivan Romeo (Movistar) and Ewen Costiou (Groupama-FDJ).GirmayFretin, GodonBol, Dainese, Trentin, Van den BergWeather: sunny, 17C and calm.TV: KM0 is at 1.10pm CET and the finish is due for 5.00pm. TV coverage begins at 3.30pm on France3 for locals and VPN users. Otherwise it should be on the same channel you watch the Tour de France.Postcard from Chanteloup-les-VignesChanteloup used to host a race called La Polymultiplie which was later branded the Trophe des Grimpeurs, literally the Climbers Trophy. It seems audacious to hold a race with this name outside Paris rather than the Alps or Pyrenees but multiple ascents of the road to Chanteloup made it hard and climbers from Julio Jiminez, Luis Ocaa to Richard Virenque have won here before. Thomas Voeckler took the final edition in 2009.The Polymultiplie was created in 1913 celebrate the derailleur. Polymultiplication meant gearing. To explain, a chainring and a sprocket bring multiplication, as in a 48T chainring will turn a rear wheel with a 12T sprocket four times. Poly meant several gears, a choice of ratios to select while riding as opposed to a single gear and obviously a hilly course was needed to make the most of gears.Changing gears while riding was radical to the point where it was even portrayed as unsporting and lazy. Turning the pedals over was meant to be a manly act of brute force. It wasnt until 1937 when derailleurs were allowed in the Tour de France as the sadistic organiser Henri Desgrange had long been opposed. So it was cycle tourists rather than professional cyclists that embraced and helped to perfect gearing. Its no coincidence that the race wasnt launched by a newspaper but by Le Cyclotouriste, a magazine.While pro cycling belatedly adopted the derailleur its striking to see the likes of Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx riding up a mountain pass with their shoulders rocking pedalling with their ears as they toil to turn the pedals, partly because they did not know otherwise and above all they were limited with five or six sprockets.This laboured style continued right up until the end of the 20th century, even Miguel Indurain and Marco Pantani wrestled with their bikes. Gear selection mattered. Raymond Poulidor in part put losing the 1964 Tour de France down to the wrong gearing, he didnt have a low enough ratio for the Puy de Dme. More recently riders have struggled with the Zoncolan or Angliru and these climbs arguably owe their legend in part to being introduced to the Giro and Vuelta just before easy gearing arrived in the pro peloton and so establishing a feared reputation just in time.Embed from Getty ImagesAt times gearing crossed from mechanics to art and lore. Fitting a 24 or a 25 tooth sprocket at the back was a concession, a weakness. 1990 Tour de France mountains winner and 1993 Trophe des Grimpeurs winner Thierry Claveyrolat insisted on 4423 as his lowest gear as a make-or-break for him. Some riders opted for or against even or odd-toothed chainrings out of superstition.Today gearing in pro cycling is barely mentioned. Even the steepest roads can be tamed thanks to low gears and now at the press of a button too. The adoption of 212 speed means riders have gears to suit every occasion as standard. Some riders are using single chainrings as they dont even need all that choice. In Paris-Nice many will opt the same chainrings and cassette today as they will for next Saturdays stage to the Auron ski station. Watch today as riders climb the hill to Chanteloup and barely change cadence.The post Paris-Nice Stage 1 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.