New Zealander Greg Henderson (Sky) took the first stage today at Paris-Nice. The 203.5 kilometres from Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines - Contres saw a chaotic stage with a series of crashes, strong cross winds and fierce attacks. Henderson won in a sprint finish beating Grega Bole (SLO -Lampre) with Jeremy Galland (FRA-Saur-Sojasun) placing third. These three were at the head of a group of 15 riders that finished 17 seconds ahead of the rest of the peloton. Included in the group was overnight race leader Lars Boom (NED-Rabobank) who retained his first place GC standing. "It was a pretty hectic day today with a lot of crashes, due to the strong winds which makes it easy to crash in these conditions," said Philippe Mauduit, sports director. "Right after the stage's start two riders, Albert Timmer (NED- Skil-Shimano) and Romain Feillu (FRA-Vacansoleil), attacked. But when the gap reached a maximum of 5.15, with about 50 km to go, our team, along with Rabobank, pulled them back in. Then at about 40 kilometres from the finish Ted King crashed together with teammate Dominique Rollin, Samuel Sanchez (ESP-Euskaltel - Euskad and Levi Leipheimer (US-Radioshack) although it was not serious. However the crash blocked some of our riders like Daniel Lloyd (GRB) who was just behind them. We were actually having a pretty good day until the last 15 km. At that point the peloton broke into two parts. Although we were in the front group, we just missed the final break and that was disappointing. In the end they finished 17 seconds in front of the main bunch and Xavier Tondo now moves to the 10th position in the GC." Stage 1: Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines - Contres - 201.5 km 01. Gregory Henderson (NZl) Sky Professional Cycling Team
02. Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre
03. Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur Sojasun
58. Daniel Lloyd (GRB) Cervélo TestTeam