"At some point, there were four of us Americans at the front; I was laughing to myself" - Magnus Sheffield part of US takeover on stage 1 of Paris-Nice 2025

The Americans were out in force on the opening stage of Paris-Nice 2025 as the likes of Matteo Jorgenson, Brandon McNulty and Neilson Powless all showed themselves at the front of the peloton. At the end of the day though, it was INEOS Grenadiers' Magnus Sheffield that finished best off of the US bunch, taking control of the best young riders jersey.

The main reason for Sheffield's trip to the podium, was his presence on the final climb of the day. The 22-year-old looked bright and attacking, eventually securing himself 2 bonus seconds. “This is my first Paris-Nice and it’s really nice to finish today with a jersey," reflects the INEOS starlet happily in his post-stage interview afterwards. "It’s a long week and I think there’s gonna be a lot more hard stages but it was good to get going today and I’m really excited for the rest of the week."

"At some point, there were four of us Americans at the front; I was laughing to myself," continues Sheffield, paying reference to his compatriots strong performances. "My shape is good and you have to go for seconds. I’m getting experience, Paris-Nice is the closest you get to the Tour other than the Dauphiné. I’ve done a lot of one-day races so it’s good experience to see what the racing is like here in France and to go for the best GC result, whether that’s a top-10, a podium… I’m really excited to see what comes.”