By Kev Newton
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke will head up the British contingent at Paris-Nice, the UCI World Tour’s second stage race of the season, which begins this Sunday.
Tiernan-Locke, last year’s Tour of Britain winner, is likely to play a supporting role for Team Sky as the only Brit in a team of quality International climbers.
He will be joined in the ‘race to the sun’ by fellow Brit from Garmin-Sharp, David Millar.
This is the event which saw Bradley Wiggins launch his year of domination in 2012, winning the eight-stage race by eight seconds from Lieuwe Westra before going on to claim victory at the Tour de France.
Any repeat of such British success this year would seem highly unlikely as Tiernan-Locke and Millar, the only two Brits in the race, will undoubtedly be working for stronger teammates.
However, the rolling profile of this year’s course would suit Millar’s skills should he be given the chance to attack the bunch for a stage win, while Tiernan-Locke may fancy a shot at the Polka Dot Jersey over the mostly short climbs.
Paris-Nice takes place from 3-10 March with live coverage on British Eurosport daily.
Picture Credit: By Sandy Auston (Tour Of Britain 2011)
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