Sebastián Molano fourth in Paris-Nice opener

On the opening day of the 2025 Paris-Nice, Sebastián Molano placed fourth for UAE Team Emirates-XRG in the bunch sprint. The Colombian sprinter made a powerful surge up the right-hand side of the road and made a fine return to racing following his crash at the UAE Tour, with his teammate Jhonatan Narváez also performing impressively on stage 1.

The Ecuadorian national champion ends the day in third position in the general classification, having taken six bonus seconds in the final intermediate sprint of the day. Marking the moves of UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s rivals in the battle for the yellow jersey, Narváez showed his face at the front of the peloton on the unclassified Les Mesnuls climb, with bonus seconds promised to the first three riders over the summit. Once defending Paris-Nice champion Matteo Jorgenson had shown his cards, the recent Tour Down Under winner swooped beyond the American to win the maximum bonus.

Providing a boost of confidence for the week to come, Brandon McNulty also looked strong in the build up to the intermediate sprint. In one moment, the 26-year-old was ahead of the peloton as he stretched his legs on the climb. Although it was ultimately Narváez who swept up the maximum bonus seconds for the Emirati squad, McNulty more than showed his face in the wind as a man to watch over the coming days. In last year’s edition, the American finished in third place overall.

Earlier in the day, UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Ivo Oliveira and Nils Politt had ensured that the team’s climbers were well marshalled through the Parisian flatlands, whilst João Almeida and Pavel Sivakov had kept their powder dry for the challenges to come. Placing well in the final sprint, sweeping up important bonus seconds and keeping all of the team’s GC hopefuls safe, Sunday proved a job well done for the team with 15 season victories heading into the race.

Reflecting after the end of the stage, Molano spoke of his happiness in returning to racing with a positive result.

Molano: “The pace was pretty steady for the first part of the race. As we got further into it the pace and tension rose, as is typical at Paris-Nice, especially on day one. I felt pretty good. It was an important day for me in terms of testing myself after my crash in UAE.

“The recovery has been very smooth and all I wanted today was to get to the line and test the form.
I found myself a bit boxed-in in the sprint but in general I’m pleased with it. Tomorrow we’ll give it another crack in the sprint.”

Paris-Nice stage 1 results:

1. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) 3:32:03

2. Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) s.t

3. Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling) s.t

4. Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

Paris-Nice general classification after stage 1:

1. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) 3:31:53

2. Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +4″

3. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

7. Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +10″