Paris-Nice marks one of the great rendezvous of the season as stage racers and classics hunters alike clash swords on the long road south to the Côte d?Azur. Billed as the Race to the Sun, the popular imagination associates Paris-Nice more readily with plummeting temperatures, driving rain and occasional snow, at least until that final weekend on the Riviera. Allied to the rugged terrain of the Massif Central and the Maritime Alps, the conditions help to make Paris-Nice one of the most robust test of a bike rider?s credentials, as a cursory glance at the palmarès since the first edition in 1933 confirms.ADVERTISEMENT This year?s Paris-Nice gets underway in Maurepas on Sunday and concludes a week later with the traditional time trial finale atop the Col d?Èze. In between, the peloton faces a particularly hilly edition, including a summit finish at the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret. Ahead of Sunday?s start, Cyclingnews has dug into the archives for a gallery of striking images from Paris-Nice over the years, stretching back to Jacques Anquetil?s stylish wins of the 1960s to Carlos Betancur?s pugnacious victory last year, by way of a litany of starring riders including Laurent Fignon, Bernard Hinault and Tom Boonen. You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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