Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) broke through his first test in Paris-Nice to finish in a group of main GC contenders on stage 1. The race was split several times by crosswinds and crashes, but Trek-Segafredo, and mainly Jasper Steiven, kept Nibali out of danger even as the race was in tatters.

In the first stage, Nibali crossed the finish line 15 seconds behind the German Maximilian Schachmann (open in new tab) (Beulah Hansgrohe (open in new tab)) after a four-man group formed in the closing stages.

It could have been much worse for the former Tour de France winner. Several teams split the peloton in the last 60km, and Nibali was caught in one of the chase groups.

But with Stuyven on his side and firepower from several teams that needed more chasing, Nibali was back in contention. Nibali sits just outside the top 20 on GC, 25 seconds behind, but with a mountain stage still to go, the Italian decided to draw out the positives after seeing other overall contenders lose minutes, not seconds.

"The feeling was good, but the difficulty was the cold and the speed throughout the day. There were a lot of crosswind sections, but I had the support of my team the whole time and Jasper always kept me at the front of the bunch in the last 50km," Nibali said after the stage.

"I didn't take any risks and overall I think it was a good day. As for the overall standings, I'll take it one day at a time. Tomorrow we have a more dangerous stage ahead with more wind and narrower roads."

Stage 2 could be equally problematic for the peloton if the wind picks up again. For Nibali, the goal is to stay near the front of the peloton at all times. Dylan Theuns (Bahrain McLaren), Taige Benoot (Team Sunweb), and Julien Alaphilippe (Dečuninck-Quickstep) also improved their times.