Etixx - Quick-Step rider Michal Kwiatkowski put on his Polish TT Champion jersey at Paris-Nice, and went on to win the 6.7km prologue by less than a second. His 7'40" time (52.435 km/h) means the UCI World Road Champion will put on a yellow jersey for the 192km road stage on Monday.
Kwiatkowski also leads the points classification, and is currently the best young rider.
Tony Martin, German TT Champion, rounded out the podium in 3rd (+07"). Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) was 2nd.
"I knew at 500 meters that it was going to be really close," Kwiatkowski said. "I had the split times of Tony, which was a really big advantage for me to pace myself along the parcours. It was key to start as one of the last riders, on such a strong lineup of Etixx - Quick-Step. I'm happy that I had those great split times of a champion like Tony. At 500 meters I just tried to do my best sprint possible and that helped me get the win. I'm really happy about this victory with such strong competitors, but in the end it is just 6.7 kilometers of about a thousand kilometers before the finish line in Nice. It's going to be a week of hard racing. But the one-week races can suit my skills, so we will see what can happen. The main goals are still ahead. I'm excited about what I did today, but I'm looking forward to the rest of Paris-Nice, defending the yellow jersey with a strong team here. We will do our best day-to-day. I'm still a young guy, turning 25 this year, so I am still developing as a rider even with the success like today. I am looking forward to the experience of Paris-Nice the rest of this week."
Etixx - Quick-Step, due to four victories in two days, now has 16 road wins in 2015. Kwiatkowski's win was the second of Etixx - Quick-Step on Sunday, following an overall victory of Yves Lampaert at Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. This was also the second straight day Etixx - Quick-Step earned two victories. Zdenek Stybar won Strade Bianche on Saturday, and Yves Lampaert won the 2nd stage of Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen out of an escape group.
"I just had a quick chat with our CEO Patrick Lefevere a minute ago," Kwiatkowski said. "Patrick is very happy with what we've done until now. We had a great winter collectively, with no big complications for anyone with their training for the 2015 season. We had good training camps too. Our lineup for 2015 is just great, and it helps that everyone is motivated including me. This is my first victory of the year. It's an accomplishment to be one of eight riders who has contributed to the 16 victory total on the road so far. I'm happy to be one of the guys who has won. But really, there is a team spirit among these 27 riders and that is really important. I don't think it's the end of the story here, either. I think our best races are ahead of us and we are all still getting into our best condition."
"I'm more or less happy with my performance and am also happy for Michal winning today," Martin said. "Michal was super strong and he deserves this victory. I'm happy the yellow jersey is with Etixx - Quick-Step after the first day. As for me, I'm not just here for the prologue. I am also ready for the mountains. I didn't make a special preparation just for the prologue. So, we will see. But I was happy with my power and the result. We will now focus on the next stages. The flat stages are first and at Paris-Nice there is always a risk of crosswind and crashes. So, even the flat stages are not so easy. I am then looking forward to the mountain stages. I'm curious how I can perform there. Also, of course, with Michal as race leader we have two riders who can do well in this Paris-Nice overall. We'll see what we can do but morale is high with two of us on the podium today."