Primoz Roglic of Team Jumbo-Visma struck a major psychological blow in the lead-up to the Giro d'Italia by holding off his Quick Step rival Remco Evenepoel to win the 102nd edition of the Tour of Catalunya on Sunday.

Giulio Ciccone won a tortuous, mountainous slog on stage two of the Volta a Catalunya on Tuesday just ahead Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel.

Primoz Roglic won the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Monday, a hilly 164km run beginning and ending in the seaside town of Sant Feliu de Guixols on the Costa Brava.

Remco Evenepoel said on Sunday he is "in better shape than expected" ahead of the Volta a Catalunya, part of his preparation for the Giro d'Italia in May.

Colombian climber Egan Bernal returns to top level cycling heading the Ineos Grenadiers roster at a challenging Volta a Catalunya on Monday where he can measure his progress against the Belgian world champion Remco Evenepoel.

Tadej Pogacar won cycling's Paris-Nice on Sunday when his solo triumph on the Riviera town's iconic Promenade des Anglais propelled the UAE Emirates rider to a crushing overall victory on his first entry to the eight-day event.

Two-time former Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar came through the "first really difficult" day of his season to take full control of Paris-Nice on Saturday after winning the seventh stage.

Paris-Nice organizers were forced to cancel Friday's sixth stage of the so-called 'race to the sun' due to "exceptionally violent" gusts of wind.

Young Dutch rider Olav Kooij took his first significant road victory in the sprint at the end of the fifth stage of Paris-Nice, and Tadej Pogacar retained the overall lead Thursday.

Two-time former Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar climbed to the overall lead of Paris-Nice after winning Wednesday's fourth stage.

EF Education-Easy Post's Magnus Cort Nielsen moved to the top of the overall standings of Paris-Nice on Tuesday, despite Jumbo-Visma winning the team time trial on Stage 3 in central France.

Former world champion Mads Pedersen won a chaotic mass bunch sprint for the finish line at Fontainebleau on Monday to take Stage 2 of the Paris-Nice and claim the overall lead in the eight-day cycling race.

Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier won a battle of the fast men to take the first stage of Paris-Nice in La Verriere on Sunday.

Bike technology has become so important to elite road racing teams that the sport has, one rider said, "become like Formula One".

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) will battle next week at Paris-Nice, their first face-to-face of 2023, continuing the fight from last year's Tour de France.