Photo gallery: Wind, snow and mud on stage 1 of Paris-Nice

More than a month after the WorldTour season began with the Santos Tour Down Under, the second event on the calendar, Paris-Nice, is well underway. And while there’s only been two days of racing so far, there’s been no shortage of action and excitement for fans to enjoy; Australian fans in particular.

Michael Matthews’ win in the prologue time trial came as a surprise to many, not least to Tom Dumoulin, a renowned time-trialist who was relegated to second place by the sprinter/puncheur Matthews.

The race continued to go well for Matthews on stage 1 with the Australian finishing fifth and hanging on to the yellow jersey. Matthews was left to fend for himself in the closing kilometres of a stage that threw just about everything at the riders: strong winds, snow and a tough muddy circuit in the closing kilometres.

Arnaud Demare (FDJ) took the stage win but it will be Matthews that wears the maillot jaune on stage 2 — another day for the sprinters. Until then though, we hope you enjoy this selection of photos from stage 1 of Paris-Nice.

Photo gallery

: The day’s breakaway: Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Steven Tronet (Fortuneo – Vital Concept), Thierry Hupond (Delko Marseille), and Perrig Quemeneur (Direct Energie).

: Michael Matthews was well protected by his Orica-GreenEdge teammates early in the stage.

: De Gendt and Hupond left their breakaway companions behind but all would ultimately be caught roughly 21km from the finish.

: The peloton hits the gravel.

: Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) will be hoping for a good hit-out at Paris-Nice this week ahead of the cobbled classics.

: Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) launches an unsuccessful move in the closing kilometres.

: Matthews was isolated in the closing stages after Daryl Impey suffered a puncture on the gravel.

: Geraint Thomas (Sky) tries to leave his mark on the race. He would eventually finish 10th in the bunch sprint while his teammate Ben Swift was second.