2016 Pan Am Team Badminton Championships
The 2016 Pan Am Team Badminton Championships is a continental championships tournament of badminton teams in Pan America. The event was held in Guadalajara, Mexico from 17 to 20 February 2016.


2016 Pan Am Team Badminton Championships, Tournament
The 2016 Pan Am Team Badminton Championships, officially Pan Am Team Continental Championships 2016, is a continental stage tournament of Thomas and Uber Cups, and also to crown the best men's and women's badminton team in Pan America. This event organized by the Badminton Pan Am and Mexican Association of Badminton. 8 teams, consisting of 4 men's teams and 4 women's teams entered the tournament.


2016 Pan American Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
The 2016 Pan American Aerobic Gymnastics Championships were held in Lima, Peru, November 24–27, 2016. The competition was organized by the Peruvian Gymnastics Federation, and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2016 Pan American Cross Country Cup
The 2016 Pan American Cross Country Cup and 2016 NACAC Cross Country Championships took place on March 4, 2016. in Caraballeda, Venezuela.


2016 Pan American Cross Country Cup, Participation
According to an unofficial count,  athletes from 20 countries participated.


2016 Pan American Fencing Championships
The 2016 Pan American Fencing Championships were being held at the Convention Center Vasco Nuñez de Balboa in Panama City from 21 to 26 June 2016. The event was organized by the Pan American Fencing Confederation and the National Fencing Association of Panama.


2016 Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2016 Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament was the third edition of the Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament, an annual event run by the Federación Deportiva de México de Hockey sobre Hielo, sanctioned by International Ice Hockey Federation. It took place in Mexico City, Mexico between June 6 and 12, 2016.


2016 Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament, Participants
The following teams will compete in the competition, with both Mexico and Argentina bringing both an A team, and a B team.


2016 Pan American Individual Event Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2016 Pan American Individual Event Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Sucre, Bolivia, September 12–18, 2016. The competition was organized by the Bolivian Gymnastics Federation and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2016 Pan American Judo Championships
The 2016 Pan American Judo Championships was held in Havana, Cuba from 28 to 30 April 2016.


2016 Pan American Men's Club Handball Championship
The 2016 Pan American Men's Club Handball Championship was held in Villa Ballester, Buenos Aires 25–29 May. It acts as the Pan American qualifying tournament for the 2016 IHF Super Globe.


2016 Pan American Men's Handball Championship
The 2016 Pan American Men's Handball Championship was the 17th official competition for senior men's national handball teams of North, Center, Caribbean and South America. It was held from 11 to 19 June 2016 at the Tecnópolis in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It also acted as the qualifying competition for the 2017 World Men's Handball Championship in France, securing three vacancies for the World Championship.


2016 Pan American Men's Handball Championship
Brazil won the tournament for the third time after defeating Chile 28–24 in the final.


2016 Pan American Men's Handball Championship, Participating teams
Venezuela was originally qualified but withdrew due to economic trouble. The Pan-American Team Handball Federation chose Mexico to replace it.


2016 Pan American Men's Handball Championship, Preliminary round
The draw was held on 23 April 2016 at the Planetario in Buenos Aires.


2016 Pan American Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
The 2016 Pan American Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Merida, Yucatán, Mexico, November 4–9, 2016. The competition was organized by the Mexican Gymnastics Federation, and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2016 Pan American Road Cycling Championships
The 2016 Pan American Road Cycling Championships took place at San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela, May 19–22, 2016.


2016 Pan American Road Cycling Championships, Controversies
Both Cycling Canada and USA Cycling decided not to attend to the Pan American Championships despite the impact on the 2016 World Championships and the Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics due to the ongoing Venezuelan unrest, citing "security concerns". The location of the championships requires flying to Cúcuta, Colombia then taking ground transportation to Táchira, having the border an ongoing increased violence advice from the Canadian and American governments. Earlier in the year, during the 2016 Vuelta al Táchira, riders and technical personnel from Italy suffered the robbery from personal belongings and Venezuelan rider Carlos Castro had his bike robbed.


2016 Pan American Road Cycling Championships, Controversies
After spending from 13 May to 17 stranded in the Colombian border, cyclists and technical personnel from Chile could finally manage to go through and arrived at San Cristóbal, Táchira on Tuesday 17 May. The Colombian customs authorities denied the passing of goods, but the delegations from Costa Rica, Brazil and Chile were halted in the border and had their practices affected.


2016 Pan American Road Cycling Championships, Controversies
During the inaugural session of the championships, protestors demanded in the streets of Rubio were the time trials started, that the National Electoral Council concede the revocatory referendum against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.


2016 Pan American Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament
The 2016 Pan American Qualification Tournament for Rio Olympic Games was held in Aguascalientes, Mexico from March 10 to March 11, 2016. Each country may enter maximum 2 male and 2 female divisions with only one in each division and the first two ranked athletes per weight division qualify their NOCs a place each for Olympic Games.


2016 Pan American Track Cycling Championships
The 2016 Pan American Track Cycling Championships will take place at the Velódromo Bicentenario, Aguascalientes, Mexico,  October 5–9, 2016.


2016 Pan American Track Cycling Championships, Records
In addition to the women's 500m time trial world record, Pan American records were also set in the following events:


2016 Pan American Trampoline and Tumbling Championships
The 2016 Pan American Trampoline and Tumbling Championships were held in Bogotá, Colombia, December 2–4, 2016. The competition was organized by the Mexican Gymnastics Federation, and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2016 Pan American Weightlifting Championships
The 2016 Pan American Weightlifting Championships was held in Cartagena, Colombia between June 6 and June 11, 2016.


2016 Pan American Women's Club Handball Championship
The 2016 Pan American Women's Club Handball Championship was the first edition of the tournament organised by the Pan-American Team Handball Federation, and was held in Santiago, Chile 1–5 November.


2016 Pan American Women's Junior Handball Championship
The 2016 Pan American Women's Junior Handball Championship was held in the city of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil from 15 to 19 March 2016. It acts as the American qualifying tournament for the 2016 Women's Junior World Handball Championship.


2016 Pan American Women's Youth Handball Championship
The 2016 Pan American Women's Youth Handball Championship was held in the city of Santiago, Chile from 12 to 16 April 2016. It acts as the American qualifying tournament for the 2016 Women's Youth World Handball Championship.


2016 Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament
The 2016 Olympic Wrestling Pan American Qualification Tournament was the first regional qualifying tournament for the 2016 Olympics.


2016 Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament
The top two wrestlers in each weight class earn a qualification spot for their nation.


2016 Panda Cup
The 2016 Panda Cup was the third edition of Panda Cup, an under-19 association football competition. The tournament was hosted in Chengdu between 15 and 19 June 2016. Players born on or after 1 January 1997 are eligible to compete in the tournament.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament
The 2016 Paradise Jam Tournament was a men's and women's preseason college basketball tournament that took place in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands at the Sports and Fitness Center. The men's tournament will be played November 18–21, with the women's tournament November 24–26.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament
Creighton won the men's tournament by defeating Ole Miss. On the women's side, Florida State defeated Michigan to win the Reef division while Kansas State defeated UTEP to win the Island division.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament
The women's tournament will be played from November 24–26. The women's tournament consists of 8 teams split into two 4-team, round-robin divisions: Island and Reef.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, First Round, Island division
Both Kansas State and NC State were undefeated when they met in the first round. Kansas State opened up a seven-point lead by the end of the first quarter and expanded the lead over the course of the game, including an 11–0 run in the fourth quarter to ending up with a 67–50 win. Although the Wildcats did not shoot well, their defense held the Wolfpack to 26% shooting. KSU's Kindred Wesemann hit four of seven three-pointers and scored 17 points to lead all scorers.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, First Round, Island division
LSU missed their first five shot attempts which allowed the University of Texas El Paso Miners (UTEP) to take a 4–0 lead early in the game. The Tigers tie the game at six points each and then went on a 13–0 run to take a large lead they would never give up. Chloe Jackson recorded a double double for LSU with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Shanice Norton scored 15 points to help the team to a 78–45 win.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, First Round, Reef division
Michigan took on 25th ranked Gonzaga, with both teams undefeated at the beginning of the game. Michigan opened up a lead early and held onto lead throughout the game although Gonzaga close the gap to four points late in the game. Michigan's Nicole Munger Hit a three-pointer to extend the lead from 4 to 7 points with a little over three minutes left and drew a charge in the final minute of play then was filed on the inbound play and hit free throws to put the game away. Michigan's Katelynn Flaherty and Siera Thompson Had 22 and 21 points respectively to help lead the Wolverines to a 78–66 victory over the ranked team, and give Gonzaga their first loss of the season.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, First Round, Reef division
10th-ranked Florida State took on Winthrop. The Seminole scored six points before the Eagles would score, in the game was never close. Florida State held Winthrop to 3 points in the second quarter. Leticia Romero, who had missed some early games with a sore hamstring, scored 17 points to help the Seminoles to a 98–35 victory.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Second Round, Island division
Kansas State faced LSU in their second-round game. The game was close early on the Wildcats holding on to a two-point lead at halftime, but Kansas State outscored the Tigers 19–8 in the third quarter to open up the lead to double digits. The two teams played roughly evenly in the fourth quarter leading to a 69–54 when by the Wildcats extending their record to 5–0. KSU's Kindred Wesemann scored 24 points, which included five three-pointers.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Second Round, Island division
UTEP led NC State by two points at the end of the first quarter, and led by as many as five points before the Wolfpack close the half on a 16–3 run to take in a point lead at halftime. NC State extended the lead to double digits, with UTEP briefly cutting into nine points but NC State restored the large lead and ended the game with the 71–55 victory. UTEP had a higher field-goal percentage, a higher three-point percentage and a higher free-throw percentage, but 24 turnovers versus only 12 for the Wolfpack gave NC State many more opportunities to score.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Second Round, Reef division
Michigan was tied with Winthrop at eight points each, almost halfway through the first quarter, but the Wolverines opened up a lead, and extended it in the second quarter when they held Winthrop scoreless for over half the quarter. Michigan opened up strongly after half including an 11–0 run to put the game out of reach. Twelve Michigan players were in the game for five minutes or more in all but one scored. Michigan won the game 76–39.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Second Round, Reef division
10th-ranked Florida State took on 25th ranked Gonzaga in a battle of two ranked teams. Florida State opened up a double-digit lead halfway through the first quarter. Gonzaga managed to cut the lead to single digits on several occasions but never threatened to take a lead. The final score in favor of the Seminoles was 87–69. Florida State's Leticia Romero scored 25 points to represent a career-high.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Island division
LSU took on NC State on the final day of the tournament. After multiple lead changes early, LSU took the lead in the second quarter and led until the final seconds. With 12 seconds left in the game, Raigyne Moncrief made a layup to cut the lead to a single point. NC State was fouled and made one of two free throws to push the lead back to two points.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Island division
With six seconds left in the game, Moncrief raced up court, with her coach, Nikki Fargas, yelling at her that she only needed a two-pointer, but she pulled up at the three-point arc and hit a three-pointer only the second made three-pointer in her career, to win the game. The final score was 59–58. LSU finished in second place in the division.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Island division
Kansas State faced the UTEP Miners. The game was never close, with the Wildcats opening up a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter, and maintaining and extending the lead throughout the game. The final score in favor of Kansas State was 61–40.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Island division
Kansas State's Kindred Wesemann earned the MVP honors for the island division, averaging 20 points per game during the tournament. KSU's Breanna Lewis, LSU's Chloe Jackson and Raigyne Moncrief, and NC State's Jennifer Mathurin were also named to the Island division all tournament team.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Reef division
Gonzaga took on Winthrop in the final day of the Reef Division tournament. The Zag's Jill Barta recorded her first double double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds, setting a career-high for rebounds. She help the team to a 71–41 victory over Winthrop.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Reef division
Florida State faced Michigan on the final day of the tournament. The game stayed close until midway through the fourth quarter when Florida State extended a single digit lead to double digits and ended up with a 76–62 victory to secure first place in the Reef division. Florida State's Shakala Thomas and Imani Wright each scored 19 points, while Thomas pulled down 11 rebounds to record her first double double of the season. Michigan's Katelynn Flaherty and Kysre Gondrezick scored 18 and 17 points respectively.


2016 Paradise Jam Tournament, Women's Tournament, Third Round, Reef division
Florida State's Leticia Romero was named the MVP for the reef division. She had 19 of 27 shots for a tournament record 70.4% field-goal percentage. She was joined on the all tournament team by teammate Shakayla Thomas, Michigan's Katlelyn Flaherty and Hallie Thome, and Gonzaga's Jill Barta.


2016 Paraguayan Athletics Championships
The 2016 Campeonato de la Victoria or 2016 Torneo de la Victoria will be held at the Paraguayan Olympic Committee in Luque, organized by Federación Paraguaya de Atletismo. It will be the 66th edition.


2016 Paraguayan Athletics Championships
The competition serves as the Paraguayan Athletics Championships in track and field for the Republic of Paraguay, being the country's most important national athletics competitions.


2016 Paraguayan Athletics Championships, Qualification
Three competitions were disputed during the 2016 season, known as the Competition of the Family, and its results went towards the qualification of the final competition: De la Victoria. The first 8 to 12 athletes on the ranking list per event will qualify. As well as in Asunción, competitions were disputed in Alto Paraná, Caaguazú, Paraguarí, Guairá, Itapúa and Misiones. Fredy Maidana ranked in first position for the 100m event with 10.55s. General Champion of the Competition of the Family Inter Club was the Asociación de Atletismo del Alto Paraná of Ciudad del Este with 254 points.


2016 Paraguayan Primera División season
The 2016 División Profesional season (officially the 2016 Copa TIGO-Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons) was the 82nd season of top-flight professional football in Paraguay.


2016 Paraguayan Primera División season, Torneo Apertura
The Campeonato de Apertura, also the Copa TIGO-Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons, was the 113th official championship of the Primera División, called "Abraham Zapag", and the first championship of the 2016 season. It began on January 22 and ended on May 22.


2016 Paraguayan Primera División season, Torneo Clausura
The Campeonato de Clausura, also the Copa TIGO-Visión Banco for sponsorship reasons, was the 114h official championship of the Primera División, called "Centenario de la Conmebol", and the second championship of the 2016 season. It began on July 8 and ended on December 18.


2016 Paraguayan Primera División season, Relegation
Relegations is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The two teams with the lowest average are relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.


2016 Parañaque local elections
Local elections were held in Parañaque City on May 9, 2016 within the Philippine general election. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, the congressman, and the councilors, eight of them in the two districts of the city.


2016 Parañaque local elections, Background
Incumbent City Mayor Edwin Olivarez will be seeking a reelection this 2016 election, running under the Liberal Party unopposed.


2016 Parañaque local elections, Background
Jeremy Marquez, the son of former city mayor Joey Marquez will be running for vice mayor against Olivarez's running mate and incumbent vice mayor Rico Golez.


2016 Parañaque local elections, Background
Celebrities and prominent personalities will also try to get a seat in the city council. This includes dancer Brilliante Inciong of Masculados, comedians Ryan Yllana and Vandolph Quizon, singer Roselle Nava, actor Jomari Yllana, basketball coach Binky Favis, and Hubert Webb, who is known to be the primary mastermind in the 1991 Vizconde Massacre.


2016 Paris Motor Show
The 2016 Paris Motor Show took place from 1 October to 16 October.


2016 Paris Sevens
The 2016 Paris Sevens was the ninth tournament of the 2015–16 World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was played on 13–15 May 2016 at Stade Jean Bouin in Paris, France. It was the first time that the France Sevens had been featured on the Sevens world circuit since 2006.


2016 Paris Sevens, Format
Sixteen teams are drawn into four pools of four teams each. Each team plays each of the other teams their pool once. The top two teams from each pool advance to the Cup/Plate brackets. The bottom two teams from each group go to the Bowl/Shield brackets.


2016 Paris ePrix
The 2016 Paris ePrix (formally the 2016 Visa Paris ePrix) was a Formula E electric car race held on 23 April 2016 at the Circuit des Invalides in the Les Invalides building complex. A total of 20,000 people attended the race. It was the seventh round of the 2015–16 Formula E season and the first Paris ePrix. The 45-lap race was won by Audi Sport ABT driver Lucas di Grassi after starting from second position. Jean-Éric Vergne finished second for Virgin and e.Dams-Renault's Sébastien Buemi took third. It was di Grassi's second consecutive victory after the Long Beach ePrix, his third of the season and the fourth of his career.


2016 Paris ePrix
Sam Bird won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying but was passed by di Grassi at the start due to a mapping problem that gave him excess wheelspin. Bird could not retake the lead from di Grassi who drew clear from him and got into a battle with his teammate Vergne as Buemi was moving through the field and drew closer to the pair. After the pit stops for the mandatory switch into a second car, di Grassi kept the lead and continued pulling away from the pack and looked set to win comfortably until the race ended under the safety car for a crash involving Ma Qinghua on lap 40.


2016 Paris ePrix
The consequences of the final positions increased di Grassi's Drivers' Championship lead over Buemi to 11 points while Bird retained third position despite an late race error. Jérôme d'Ambrosio maintained fourth but his lead over the fifth-placed Stéphane Sarrazin was reduced to six points. In the Teams' Championship, e.Dams-Renault grew their lead over Audi Sport ABT by one point and Virgin drew closer to Dragon in third with three rounds left in the season.


2016 Paris ePrix, Background and preparations
After winning the Long Beach ePrix three weeks earlier, Audi Sport ABT driver Lucas di Grassi led the Drivers' Championship with 101 points and Sébastien Buemi of e.Dams-Renault was one point behind in second place. Virgin's Sam Bird was in third with 71 points, seven ahead of Jérôme d'Ambrosio for Dragon in fourth. Stéphane Sarrazin of Venturi was fifth with 48 points. e.Dams-Renault led the Teams' Championship with 138 points, six ahead of Audi Sport ABT in second. Dragon were third with 112 points, and Virgin on 77 points and Mahindra with 61 points were fourth and fifth.


2016 Paris ePrix, Background and preparations
There was one change of driver before the race. Having been in one of the Aguri cars since the third round of the season in Buenos Aires, Salvador Durán was replaced by World Touring Car Championship race winner and former Formula One test driver Ma Qinghua for the rest of the season. Ma was the second driver that Aguri nominated to drive for them outside of reasons of force majeure after Duran replaced Nathanaël Berthon earlier in the season. The stewards granted Aguri's approval to allow Ma to compete the before the event. Ma spoke of his excitement of competing in the series and handling a Formula E car and managing electrical energy.


2016 Paris ePrix, Background and preparations
In the 1980s, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) president Jean Todt and four-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost were part of a group that lobbied politicians for a Formula One race in the streets of the French capital of Paris but were unsuccessful due to concerns over noise and potential damage to the local infrastructure. The plan for a race in Paris was revived in 2014 when Formula E began preparations with the city's mayor and environmentalist Anne Hidalgo, who entered into discussions with series representatives about such an event occurring.


2016 Paris ePrix, Background and preparations
Series officials later studied more than twenty areas in and outside of Paris before settling on the Les Invalides building complex in the 7th arrondissement, which they felt was best suited for motor racing. These plans were publicly revealed to Le Parisien in September 2014 by Formula E founder and CEO Alejandro Agag who wanted the race to be the first in the 2015–16 season.


2016 Paris ePrix, Background and preparations
The ePrix was announced as part of the provisional calendar by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in July 2015, and was officially confirmed three months later as the seventh of ten single-seater electric car rounds of the season. Prior to the ePrix, the 18th in Formula E history, Paris last hosted a street circuit race at the Bois de Boulogne in 1951, and the last major international single seater motor race to be held in France was the 2008 French Grand Prix at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Organisers expected 20,000 people in attendance.


2016 Paris ePrix, Background and preparations
The layout of the Rodgrigo Nunes-designed 1.93 km (1.20 mi) 14-turn clockwise Circuit des Invalides was unveiled to the public at the Hôtel de Ville on 13 January 2016. The circuit goes around Les Invalides with the Musée de l'Armée and the tomb of Napoleon. The pit lane is located along the Esplanade des Invalides, north of Les Invalides. The construction of the track began the week before the race and ended the day before it was held.


2016 Paris ePrix, Practice
Two practice sessions—both on Saturday morning—were held before the late afternoon race. The first session ran for 45 minutes and the second for 30 minutes. The half-hour shakedown session on Friday afternoon was cancelled as the roads used by Formula E were not closed until later that evening for logistical reasons.


2016 Paris ePrix, Practice
Buemi used 200 kW (270 hp) of power to set the fastest lap of the first session, held in cold and cloudy weather, at 1 minute, 2.841 seconds, followed by di Grassi, Sarrazin, Bird, Mike Conway of Venturi, Loïc Duval for Dragon, Daniel Abt of Audi Sport ABT, the Mahindras of Bruno Senna and Nick Heidfeld, and NextEV's Nelson Piquet Jr..


2016 Paris ePrix, Practice
During the session, where several drivers ventured off the circuit leaving turns one and eight, the session was red-flagged halfway through for d'Ambrosio who stopped into turn one with a battery management system failure and required extraction from the track. Abt recovered from one of the track's run-off areas but avoided crashing as he entered into the path of Nico Prost's e.Dams-Renault.


2016 Paris ePrix, Practice
Conway led the second practice with the weekend's fastest time of 1 minute, 1.386 seconds. The Virgin pair of Jean-Éric Vergne and Bird were second and third. Positions four to ten were occupied by Di Grassi, Sarrazin, Senna, António Félix da Costa for Aguri, Prost, Andretti's Robin Frijns and Abt. As in the previous session some drivers went into the run-off areas but avoided damaging their cars. Yellow flags were shown five minutes in after Sarrazin lost control of his car, and crashed under braking for turn eight, breaking his front-left suspension and front wing. The need for a stoppage however was not required as Sarrazin returned to the pit lane. Immediately after, Bird hit the turn eight barrier, damaging his left-rear suspension; he returned to the pit lane.


2016 Paris ePrix, Qualifying
Saturday afternoon's 60 minute qualifying session was divided into four groups equally into three or five cars. Each group was determined by a lottery system and was permitted six minutes of on-track activity. All drivers were limited to two timed laps with one at maximum power. The fastest five overall competitors in the four groups participated in a "Super Pole" session with one driver on the track at any time going out in reverse order from fifth to first.


2016 Paris ePrix, Qualifying
Each of the five drivers was limited to one timed lap and the starting order of the ePrix was determined by the competitor's fastest times. The driver and team who recorded the fastest time were awarded three points towards their respective championships. Qualifying took place in cold ambient weather conditions of 12 °C (54 °F) which made it difficult for drivers to generate warmth into their tyres and brakes.


2016 Paris ePrix, Qualifying
In the first group, Buemi set the early benchmark pace as the red flags were waved for an accident at turn 11. Heidfeld was on his maximum power lap when he lost control of his car into the corner and struck the tyre barrier before stopping. Heidfeld tried to rejoin the track as Conway came into his path; the two collided and damaged the front of their cars. Both drivers returned to the pit lane to have their cars repaired before the race. Debris was littered across the circuit.


2016 Paris ePrix, Qualifying
Conway did not use his second car because it was not fully charged but Heidfeld apologised to him. 1 minute and 49 seconds were left to run but the group was lengthened to three minutes to allow for an out-lap and one maximum power attempt. Buemi was not allowed another try since he had already set his maximum power lap along with Heidfeld who was barred for having been deemed to have caused the crash with Conway. Sarrazin led group one's with Buemi second and Duval third. Conway and Heidfeld were the group's slowest two drivers.


2016 Paris ePrix, Qualifying
Vergne led the second group and di Grassi and Frijns were second and third. Piquet came fourth and Abt was the group's slowest competitor. In the third group, Prost was fastest and demoted his teammate Buemi from super pole. No one else in group three entered the overall top five as NextEV's Oliver Turvey got his overweight car into second. The group's slowest three drivers were d'Ambrosio, Senna and Simona de Silvestro of Andretti.


2016 Paris ePrix, Qualifying
The final group saw Bird set the fastest overall lap of group qualifying at 1 minute, 1.514 seconds and was more than a quarter of a second quicker than teammate Vergne. Félix da Costa was second fastest and Ma was group four's slowest competitor after twice avoiding a crash in the final two corners on his best lap. At the end of group qualifying, the lap times set by Bird, Vergne, Sarrazin, di Grassi and Prost qualified them for super pole.


2016 Paris ePrix, Qualifying
Bird was the last driver to venture onto the circuit and, although he was slower in the first third of the lap, he made up time later on to take his second successive pole position and the third of his career with a lap of 1 minute, 1.616 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by di Grassi who locked his brakes into a corner, missed an apex, and held the pole until the latter's lap.


2016 Paris ePrix, Qualifying
Vergne, third, sought his first pole position of the season but did not accomplish this goal as he lost time in the first sector. Sarrazin was slow in the first third of the lap and took fourth while Prost struggled on the cold track and narrowly avoided striking the barrier at turn two to claim fifth. Behind Prost the rest of the grid lined up as Frijns, Turvey, Buemi, Piquet, Félix da Costa, d'Ambrosio, de Silvestro, Senna, Abt, Ma, Duval, Conway and Heidfeld.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
The weather conditions at the start was dry but cloudy and cold with the air temperature between 11.4 and 12 °C (52.5 and 53.6 °F) and the track temperature ranged from 17.25 to 17.75 °C (63.05 to 63.95 °F). A special feature of Formula E is the "Fan Boost" feature, an additional 100 kW (130 hp) of power to use in the driver's second car. The three drivers who were allowed to use the boost were determined by a fan vote. For the Paris race, Buemi, Duval and Vergne were handed the extra power.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
The race began before 20,000 people at 16:04 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00). Bird spun his tyres due to a mapping problem and he lost the lead to di Grassi who was to the inside of him on the approach to the first corner and pushed him out wide. This gave Vergne the opportunity to find his way past his teammate Bird on the inside at the exit of turn two after they touched wheels. Overtakes occurred further down the field as Prost overtook Sarrazin for fourth, while Frijns fell from sixth to ninth. Félix da Costa momentarily moved to seventh until Buemi overtook him. Despite competitors having difficulty getting heat into their tyres, the field avoided causing an incident on the tight track as the top five settled into their respective positions.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
As di Grassi began setting consecutive fastest laps to pull away from Vergne and Bird, Ma passed Conway into the first corner on the second lap and he then overtook de Silvestro for 15th. Duval had car setup trouble over the weekend but his day worsened when his gearbox failed on lap six and he stopped on the circuit to retire. The full course yellow procedure was necessitated on the next lap to allow for the recovery of Duval's car by marshals to a safe location.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
Racing resumed on the eighth lap with di Grassi's lead of 31⁄2 seconds over Vergne lowered to 11⁄2 seconds during the full course yellow period but most drivers retained their respective positions. Frijns had drawn close to Félix da Costa and the two battled each other until Frijns lunged up the inside of Félix da Costa at turn six to gain eighth. The two soon got near to Buemi and Turvey who were duelling over sixth. Initially, Buemi could not pass Turvey but did do so by turning to the outside at turn eight on lap nine. This left Turvey to hold off the challenge presented to him by Frijns and Félix da Costa.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
On lap 10, Turvey lost seventh to Frijns. Most of the field found their rhythm in the opening ten laps and lap times began lowering as a result. Vergne and Bird were slowly getting closer to di Grassi but had not brought themselves into a position where they could attack him. At the end of the 15th lap, Félix da Costa braked later than Turvey into turn one for eighth. On the following lap, Buemi passed Sarrazin entering the first corner for fifth.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
On lap 18, Piquet, tenth, slowed on the straight with a power issue dropping him to the rear of the field. He made an early pit stop to switch into his second car on that lap. Vergne and Bird ran close together throughout the first half of the race. Bird appeared quicker before the pit stops and sought to pass Vergne between turns three and four on lap 22 but they made contact. Bird's front wing and Vergne's right sidepod were damaged in the collision. Prior to this, Buemi passed his teammate Prost for fourth on lap 22 and he closed up to Vergne and Bird before the mandatory pit stops began the lap after.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
Senna, Heidfeld and Abt stayed out to give themselves more usable electrical energy for the end of the race. After the pit stops, di Grassi kept the lead and increased his lead to 6½ seconds by the end of lap 26. The race stagnated over the next seven laps as drivers found it difficult to overtake on the tight track. But the battle for third place between Bird and Buemi gathered pace on lap 33 as Buemi set a series of fastest laps to draw closer to Bird who was still close to his teammate Vergne.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
Although Buemi was faster, Bird used wider parts of the track to retain third over the next seven laps as Buemi used his FanBoost in an unsuccessful attempt at overtaking him on the back straight during the 34th lap. Heidfeld earned two championship points by setting the race's fastest lap on lap 39 at 1 minute and 2.323 seconds. On lap 40, Bird turned to block Buemi on the inside but he collected oversteer and locked his rear brakes lightly after being caught out by a bump in the road entering turn one. Bird drove onto the turn's run-off area and performed a swift U-turn to return to the track but he fell to sixth as Buemi inherited third.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
Approaching the end of the lap, it appeared that di Grassi would win the race comfortably while Buemi was gaining on Vergne for second but the race was disrupted by an accident soon after. Going into the final turn, Ma was pushing hard when he lost control of the rear of his car at the exit of the corner and crashed into the left-hand wall. Ma was unhurt but the crash caused the safety car's deployment to end the race since track workers could not move Ma's car and clear the plethora of debris in time.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race
Because overtaking is not permitted behind the safety car, di Grassi took his second consecutive victory, his third of the season and the fourth of his career. Vergne took his first podium of the season in second and Buemi was third. Off the podium, Prost took fourth ahead of compatriot Sarrazin in fifth. Bird claimed sixth with Frijns and Félix da Costa seventh and eighth. Senna and Abt used their electrical energy advantage to round out the top ten. D'Ambrosio finished eleventh in front of Heidfeld and the NextEV duo of Piquet and Turvey. Conway and de Silvestro were the final classified drivers.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race, Post-race
The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference. Di Grassi said he felt he had "the most perfect start we had so far" after Bird spun his tyres. He said he glanced his mirrors to prevent Bird from retaking the lead, "To see people all around the track cheering, on the inside of the track and the outside… it’s just amazing what was done here today and I hope we race here many more times and in more cities like Paris.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race, Post-race
This is what Formula E is about." Vergne spoke of his need to end a "negative spiral" by changing his mentality after being unable to match his teammate Bird for overall pace throughout the season and his results had been sub-par, "I never felt really comfortable with the car and the team has helped me a lot. The season has been pretty much a disaster so to finish second in my home race is something I'm quite proud of."


2016 Paris ePrix, Race, Post-race
Third-placed Buemi said the cold air prevented him from heating his brakes and believed his car was the fastest overall despite being slower over a single lap, "We caught up to others and overtook so it shows that once everything is up to speed it’s OK. We just have to work very hard up to the end of the season."


2016 Paris ePrix, Race, Post-race
Bird was critical of his teammate Vergne over their battle for second during the first half of race, calling him "a mobile chicane" and believed he was the faster driver, "It was enjoyable if he wasn't my team-mate. This is our home race for DS, we were second and third and he was not massively quicker. We're racing for a big team. We don't want to see two cars finishing in the wall." Vergne responded by expressing his surprise at the contact and Bird's manoeuvres.


2016 Paris ePrix, Race, Post-race
Virgin team principal Alex Tai admitted after the race that he considered employing team orders to Vergne to allow Bird past but elected not to do so because of Vergne's competitive nature and it was his home ePrix. Prost said that his team needed to achieve a decent result after the problems that affected them in the past few races and affirmed that he would battle his teammate Buemi should it be for the win, "The pace was more or less the same as every race. We’re always fighting for the top five. I think Lucas (di Grassi) and Seb (Buemi) are a bit stronger this year let’s hope we can finish the championship like this, score good points in every race."


2016 Paris ePrix, Race, Post-race
The consequence of the race extended di Grassi's Drivers' Championship lead over Buemi to 11 points while Bird's sixth-place finish kept him in third position with 82 points. D'Ambrosio remained in fourth with 64 points despite finishing ninth but the large gap he had over the fifth-placed Sarrazin was reduced to six points. In the Teams' Championship, e.Dams-Renault were only able to increase their advantage over Audi Sport ABT by one point while Virgin closed the gap to Dragon in third place to six points. With 65 points, Mahindra maintained fifth place with three rounds left in the season.


2016 Paris–Nice
The 2016 Paris–Nice was a road cycling stage race that took place in France between 6 and 13 March 2016. It was the 74th edition of the Paris–Nice and was the second event of the 2016 UCI World Tour.


2016 Paris–Nice
The race took place over eight stages, travelling south from Conflans-Sainte-Honorine to finish on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, although one stage was cancelled due to weather conditions. After a prologue individual time trial, the first few stages were suited to sprinters. The decisive stages came on the final two days, with routes taking the riders through the Alps. The favourites for victory were therefore the climbers, including the defending champion Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky).


2016 Paris–Nice
Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE) won the prologue and took the leader's yellow jersey. He kept the jersey through the next five days, winning one more of the stages in a sprint. He lost the jersey on the summit finish on Stage 6 to Thomas, who in turn came close to losing it on the final day. After he was dropped by Contador on the final climb of the race, the Col d'Èze, he had to chase back on. At the end of the race, Thomas beat Contador by four seconds, with Richie Porte third a further eight seconds back. Matthews won the points classification and Antoine Duchesne (Direct Énergie) the mountains classification; Movistar won the team classification.


2016 Paris–Nice, Route
The route of the 2016 Paris–Nice was announced on 17 December 2015. The race began with a 6.1-kilometre (3.8 mi) prologue individual time trial in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris, on Sunday 6 March and continued for the following seven days. The remaining stages were all road stages, with no other time trials. Stage 1 included two dirt tracks in the final part of the stage, with exposed roads made  a possibility. Stage 3 was scheduled to finish on Mont Brouilly, a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) climb at a 7.7% gradient.


2016 Paris–Nice, Route
Stage 5 included part of the climb of Mont Ventoux, but this came towards the beginning of the stage and was followed by more than 120 kilometres (75 mi) of roads to the finish. The crucial stages were expected to be the final two: Stage 6 finished on the Madone d'Utelle, a 15.3 kilometres (9.5 mi) climb at 5.7%. The final stage included six categorised climbs, with the Col d'Èze the final climb before the descent into Nice for the finish on the Promenade des Anglais.


2016 Paris–Nice, Route
While Stage 3 was underway, the weather conditions became very poor, with snow on the final climb. After attempting to restart the race, the race organisers cancelled the stage, with Amaury Sport Organisation's Christian Prudhomme saying "The road was very slippery and safe conditions could not be assured."


2016 Paris–Nice, Participating teams
The race organisers invited 22 teams to participate. The 18 UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited and obliged to send a squad. The race organisers also invited four UCI Professional Continental teams as wildcards. These were all French teams: Cofidis, Direct Énergie, Delko–Marseille Provence KTM and Fortuneo–Vital Concept.


2016 Paris–Nice, Participating teams
Each team could include up to eight riders. All the teams except Lotto–Soudal filled all eight slots; Lotto–Soudal's team of seven meant that the peloton at the start of the race included 167 riders. Lotto–Soudal also chose to compete under a different name from the rest of the season: they became Lotto Fix ALL, taking the name of one of a product made by Soudal, their normal sponsor. They also wore grey and white jerseys in place of their normal red and white.


2016 Paris–Nice, Pre-race favourites
Stages 1, 2 and 4 were expected to favour the sprinters, with the other stages likely to be decisive for the general classification. There were a large number of climbers present for Paris–Nice, but the overwhelming favourite was Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), racing in what was possibly his final season in the peloton. Contador had won the race on two previous occasions, but this was his first participation since 2010. Contador had shown some form with a stage win in the Volta ao Algarve. Contador was the only one of the top four Grand Tour contenders to start Paris–Nice: Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was riding Tirreno–Adriatico, while Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) opted to wait until the Volta a Catalunya to begin their European seasons.


2016 Paris–Nice, Pre-race favourites
The defending champion was Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) who had won the 2015 Paris–Nice after winning the individual time trial on the final day; he had also won the 2013 edition. Since his 2015 victory, Porte had moved from Team Sky to BMC. In the absence of the traditional Col d'Èze time trial, the route was expected to favour him less than previous editions, but his strength in the mountains meant that he was still one of the major favourites.


2016 Paris–Nice, Pre-race favourites
After a strong beginning to the season at the Tour Down Under, Porte had struggled in the Tour of Oman. Porte was replaced as Team Sky's leader for the race by Geraint Thomas, who had finished fifth the previous year. Thomas had won the Volta ao Algarve and was expected to perform strongly in the prologue time trial.


2016 Paris–Nice, Pre-race favourites
The other major general classification riders included Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant–Alpecin), Jon Izagirre (Movistar Team), Andrew Talansky and Pierre Rolland (both Cannondale) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale).


2016 Paris–Nice, Pre-race favourites
Among the sprinters, the biggest name was Marcel Kittel (Etixx–Quick-Step), who had won four stages so far in the season as well as the overall title in the Dubai Tour. Other prominent sprinters included André Greipel (Lotto–Soudal), Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha), Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis).


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Prologue
6 March 2016 — Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 6.1 km (3.8 mi) individual time trial (ITT)


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Prologue
The prologue was a 6.1-kilometre (3.8 mi) individual time trial in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. It began on the bank of the Seine with a 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) straight road. There was then a sharp left-hand turn as the road turned away from the river; there were then several more corners and two roundabouts before the end of the stage. The riders set off at one-minute intervals with Porte, the defending champion, the last to set off.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Prologue
The riders who started earlier in the day were affected by rain. As the final riders set off, Cannondale's Patrick Bevin was in the lead, with a time of 7' 41". Tom Dumoulin beat this by one second, but was in turn beaten by one second by Michael Matthews, the seventh-last rider to take to the course. The final riders, including Porte and Geraint Thomas, were unable to beat Matthews's time. Thomas finished seventh, losing seven seconds to Matthews, with Porte eleventh, a further three seconds back.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Prologue
Contador finished 27th, sixteen seconds behind Matthews, with Talansky and Bardet finishing even further behind. Matthews described it as "very special" to beat Dumoulin, one of the best time-triallists in the world, and said that he hoped to stay in the yellow jersey of the race leader "as long as possible".


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
7 March 2016 — Condé-sur-Vesgre to Vendôme, 198 km (123.0 mi)


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
Stage 1 was a broadly flat stage that covered a 198-kilometre (123 mi) route from Condé-sur-Vesgre to Vendôme. There were no classified climbs in the first 173 kilometres (107 mi). The final 25 kilometres (16 mi), however, followed a circuit around Vendôme that included both climbs and gravel roads. The riders entered the circuit half-way round. They crossed the first gravel sector, the Chemin de Tourteline, then theChemin du Tertre de la Motte. The second sector included a third-category climb. There were just over 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the finish line at the end of the second sector. The riders then rode a complete lap of the circuit, crossing both gravel roads and the climb a second time, before reaching the stage finish. The stage took place in difficult conditions, with snow, rain, wind and cold temperatures.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
The stage began with a four-man breakaway, formed by Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal), Steven Tronet (Fortuneo–Vital Concept), Thierry Hupond (Delko–Marseille Provence KTM) and Perrig Quéméneur (Direct Énergie). With the peloton not trying hard to chase them, they built a ten-minute lead by the middle of the stage. In the second half of the stage, there was some sunshine, but also strong crosswinds: with Sky, Tinkoff and Etixx–Quick-Step working hard at the front of the peloton, there were splits in the group. Alexander Kristoff was in the second group on the road, but he was able to get back to the front as the groups came together.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
On the first gravel section, the breakaway's lead had been reduced to ten seconds and they were soon caught with Sky's Luke Rowe working at the front of the peloton. Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fortuneo–Vital Concept) attacked on the first time over the climb; he was caught by work from Orica–GreenEDGE as the riders rode through Vendôme. On the second lap, Marcel Kittel was dropped on the final climb and, despite an attack from Tony Gallopin (Lotto–Soudal) that was followed by Geraint Thomas, a large group crossed the final climb together.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
Around 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the finish, Edward Theuns (Trek–Segafredo) attacked and went under the flamme rouge alone. He was caught, however, by Sky. Sky's Ben Swift was the first to sprint and came close to taking the victory, but he was passed by Démare in the final metres, with Bouhanni finishing third.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 1
Michael Matthews increased his lead by winning two bonus seconds at an intermediate sprint. After finishing fifth at the end of the stage, he retained the yellow jersey; there were no significant changes to the general classification. Démare said that the stage victory was "an immense relief" after he had failed to win any races in 2015.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
8 March 2016 — Contres to Commentry, 213.5 km (132.7 mi)


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
The second road stage was held on a 213.5-kilometre (132.7 mi) route from Contres in Loir-et-Cher to Commentry in Allier. The route was flat for almost the entire stage, with only one third-category climb that came 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the finish line. After the peloton reached Commentry, there was a lap of a 17-kilometre (11 mi) circuit with a small, uncategorised climb. The final kilometres were slightly uphill, with a 90-degree turn at a roundabout 500 metres (550 yd) from the finish line.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
There was again a four-main breakaway at the beginning of the stage, with Evaldas Šiškevičius (Delko–Marseille Provence KTM), Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo–Vital Concept), Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling) and Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre–Merida) earning a 10-minute lead by the time they had raced 20 kilometres (12 mi). This was quickly reduced to under four minutes, however, by Etixx–Quick-Step and Orica–GreenEDGE. On the climb, Delaplace won the maximum points. Grmay dropped out of the break with 30 kilometres (19 mi) remaining and as the riders reached Commentry the breakaway had just a 40-second lead.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
Šiškevičius and Brändle attacked at the start of the final lap, with Delaplace unable to follow, but with 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) remaining they were caught by the peloton. In the final 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), Cofidis came to the front on behalf of Bouhanni and gave him a good lead-out. Bouhanni followed the wheel of Christophe Laporte and opened his sprint with 200 metres (220 yd) remaining. He was on the right-hand side of the road, with Michael Matthews coming up on his left.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 2
In the final 100 metres (330 ft), Bouhanni drifted to the left and leaned into Matthews; the two riders nearly crashed. Bouhanni crossed the line first, with Matthews just beating Niccolò Bonifazio (Trek–Segafredo) for second place, but the result was changed shortly after the stage. Bouhanni was relegated to third place after the jury decided that he had driven the sprint dangerously, giving Matthews the stage victory and putting Bonifazio into second. Alexander Kristoff led the rest of the field home, one second behind. Marcel Kittel, one of the favourites for the stage victory, finished 65th.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
9 March 2016 — Cusset to Mont Brouilly, 168 km (104.4 mi)


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
The third stage was scheduled to follow a 168-kilometre (104 mi) route that took the riders east from Cusset in Allier to the climb of Mont Brouilly in Rhône. The route crossed five categorised climbs in the first 120 kilometres (75 mi), then entered a circuit that took the riders on two climbs of Mont Brouilly, a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) climb at 7.7% with the final 1,000 metres (1,100 yd) at 9.3%.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 3
A group of sixteen riders escaped early in the stage. Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) attacked along with Laurent Didier (Trek–Segafredo) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana). They were joined by Jesús Herrada (Movistar Team) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal) as the rest of the group was caught by the peloton. The stage took place in cold, wintry conditions, with increasing quantities of snow falling and temperatures as low as −5 °C (23 °F) recorded. At the top of the third climb of the day was the feedzone and the racing was suspended there. It was initially intended to restart some way down the road, but several minutes later the decision was taken to neutralise the stage. The results did not count for the general classification, but points were awarded for the intermediate sprints and mountains that had already been contested.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
10 March 2016 — Juliénas to Romans-sur-Isère, 195.5 km (121.5 mi)


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
Stage 4 took the peloton 195.5 kilometres (121.5 mi) south from Juliénas in Rhône to Romans-sur-Isère in the Drôme department. There were three categorised climbs in the stage: two third-category and one second-category. The final climb came 22.5 kilometres (14.0 mi) from the finish.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
The early breakaway included four riders. These were Thomas Voeckler (Direct Énergie), Matthew Brammeier (Dimension Data), Florian Vachon (Fortuneo–Vital Concept) and Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko–Marseille Provence KTM). They were not allowed to build a large advantage, with the peloton keeping them just a few minutes ahead. The main action of the day came on the second-category final climb. In the breakaway, now just a minute ahead, Voeckler attacked and dropped the other breakaway riders. Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) attacked the peloton at the top of the climb, but made a mistake on a corner and ended up in a field. On the climb, Marcel Kittel and Arnaud Démare were dropped, with Démare then pulling out of the race. Geraint Thomas was one of several riders to crash on the climb, but he was able to return to the peloton.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 4
After the climb, with Voeckler being caught, Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Énergie), Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL–Jumbo) and Delio Fernández (Delko–Marseille Provence KTM) attacked and built a lead; with 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) remaining they had a 15-second lead. Katusha and Cofidis rode very hard in the peloton to bring them back, but the breakaway was finally caught with less than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) remaining. Cofidis again gave Bouhanni a strong lead-out and he comfortably won the sprint. Edward Theuns (Trek–Segafredo) finished second, with Greipel third. Matthews finished fifth to retain his lead of both the general and points classifications. Bouhanni said after the stage that his victory made up for his disqualification on stage 3.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
11 March 2016 — Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Salon-de-Provence, 198 km (123.0 mi)


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
The fifth road stage followed a 198-kilometre (123 mi) route from Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Salon-de-Provence in Bouches-du-Rhône. The stage included five climbs, the most significant of which was the partial climb of Mont Ventoux. This was a first-category climb, taking the riders 9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi) at an average gradient of 9.3%. Rather than riding all the way to the summit, the riders descended after Chalet Reynard. This climb came with more than 125 kilometres (78 mi) remaining in the stage. Before Mont Ventoux was a third-category climb; afterwards there were three second-category climbs. The last of these came with 38.5 kilometres (23.9 mi) to the finish line; this last section was mostly flat, although there were two sharp left-hand turns in the final 1,000 metres (1,100 yd).


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
The early breakaway included Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx–Quick-Step), Arnaud Courteille (FDJ), Lars Boom (Astana), Wouter Wippert (Cannondale), Edward Theuns (Trek–Segafredo), Matthias Brändle (IAM), Antoine Duchesne (Direct Énergie) and Jesús Herrada (Movistar). In the first 30 kilometres (19 mi), their lead extended to over eleven minutes. On the climb of Mont Ventoux, Brändle was dropped from the breakaway, while Bouhanni, Kittel and Greipel were among those dropped from the peloton. Greipel was among seven riders to drop out during the stage.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
Wippert and Theuns were next to be dropped from the breakaway; Boom and Vandenbergh were also temporarily dropped but were able to rejoin the front group, although the group's lead was reduced to just over three minutes by the third climb of the day. Herrada won the first two climbs of the day and came second on the following two to take the lead in the mountains classification, then dropped back to the peloton.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
Duchesne attacked on the penultimate climb, the Côte de la Roque-d'Anthéron, and had a 33-second lead over the peloton. On the descent from the final climb, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) attacked from the peloton and came across to Duchesne. Lutsenko quickly dropped him and, with 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) remaining, had built a 39-second lead, putting him into the virtual lead of the race.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
The chase only began in earnest in the final 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), with Katusha chasing on behalf of Alexander Kristoff, but the peloton were unable to catch Lutsenko and he crossed the line for a solo victory, 21 seconds ahead of the chasing group. Kristoff won the sprint for second, with Matthews finishing third. Lutsenko moved into second place overall, six seconds behind Matthews.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 5
After the stage, Matthews said that he felt he could win the overall general classification. He said, "I think if I can survive Saturday [Stage 5], I can win. With the way I’ve been climbing, I think it’s possible." Contador, meanwhile, said that the final climb of Stage 6 was not very steep and that it might be difficult to put significant time into Matthews.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
12 March 2016 — Nice to Madone d'Utelle, 177 km (110.0 mi)


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
The penultimate stage of the race took the riders 177 kilometres (110 mi) through the Alpes-Maritimes. The route started on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, then left the city to the north for a course that included seven categorised climbs. The first 50 kilometres (31 mi) of racing crossed two second-category climbs, which were followed by a 35-kilometre (22 mi) section of flat roads and descents. This was followed by another second-category climb and a first-category climb, the 8.5-kilometre (5.3 mi) Côte d'Ascros with its average gradient of 5.4%.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
After a long descent came two more second-category climbs, bringing the riders to Utelle. They had a summit finish at the shrine of the Madone d'Utelle above the city, with a 15.3-kilometre (9.5 mi) climb at an average gradient of 5.7%. The climb was fairly regular, but had two sections above 9%, including the final 300 metres (330 yd).


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
The day's breakaway included nine riders. These were Antoine Duchesne (Direct Énergie), Florian Vachon (Fortuneo–Vital Concept), Niki Terpstra (Etixx–Quick-Step), Cyril Gautier (AG2R La Mondiale), Grégory Rast (Trek–Segafredo), Evaldas Šiškevičius (Delko–Marseille Provence KTM), Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre–Merida), Andrew Talansky (Cannondale) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal). The gap never exceeded two and a half minutes, with Tinkoff chasing hard on behalf of Contador and, with 55 kilometres (34 mi) remaining, was just one minute. De Gendt won the first four climbs to move into second in the mountains classification, while Rast and Šiškevičius were dropped.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
Talansky crashed on one of the descents and abandoned the race with a wrist injury. Vachon and Duchesne dropped the rest of the breakaway and continued alone, but with 35 kilometres (22 mi) Duchesne was left alone, just over a minute ahead of the peloton. He won the fifth and sixth climbs of the day and moved into the lead of the mountains classification.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
As the riders approached the final climb of the day, Sky came to the front of the peloton. With 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) remaining, Duchesne was caught, and the peloton was reduced to 30 riders. Matthews, the race leader, was among those dropped from the leading group. With 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) remaining, Rafał Majka (Tinkoff) attacked, with Contador following; this caused the group to halve in size and Sky were reduced to two riders, Thomas and Sergio Henao. Porte, Dumoulin, Izagirre, Bardet and Katusha's Ilnur Zakarin were among those left in the group.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 6
With 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) remaining, Majka pulled off and a group of five leaders formed: Contador, Thomas, Henao, Porte and Zakarin. Contador and Porte attempted attacks but were unable to escape the group, with Henao supporting Thomas. In the final kilometre, Porte was dropped and Zakarin accelerated. Thomas and Contador followed, but Zakarin took the stage victory. Thomas finished second, on the same time as Zakarin, and Contador was a second back in third. Thomas therefore moved into the race lead, fifteen seconds ahead of Contador.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
13 March 2016 — Nice to Nice, 134 km (83.3 mi)


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
The final stage was a 134-kilometre (83 mi) loop that started and ended on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The route took the riders out of Nice to the north. They crossed two third-category climbs, then came back south for two second-category climbs. The final 64 kilometres (40 mi) included two first-category climbs. The first was the Côte de Peille, a 6.5-kilometre (4.0 mi) climb at 6.9%. The riders then descended into the outskirts of Nice.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Here they turned back inland for a final climb, the 7.7 kilometres (4.8 mi) of the Col d'Èze at an average gradient of 5.7%. They then descended back into Nice, where the final 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) were fairly flat, before ended on the Promenade des Anglais at the Albert I Garden.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
The stage began with an 18-rider breakaway within the first five minutes of racing. This included Contador's teammate Robert Kišerlovski and this group was joined shortly afterwards by several more riders, including Yuri Trofimov, another Tinkoff rider, while others were dropped and returned to the peloton. Thomas De Gendt and Antoine Duchesne were again in the breakaway; Duchesne won the first four climbs of the day, with De Gendt second on each occasion. Duchesne won enough points to secure victory in the mountains classification.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
On the Côte de Peille, Contador attacked in the peloton. He quickly built an advantage, with Kiserlovski and Trofimov dropping back from the breakaway to assist him. They built a lead of around a minute, but Team Sky pulled the lead back and Contador's group was caught by the foot of the Col d'Èze, with only Tim Wellens (Lotto–Soudal) ahead. Romain Bardet attacked, but Contador chased him down. Contador himself attacked several times, with Sky's Sergio Henao and the Orica–GreenEDGE team chasing him down; Thomas appeared to be struggling. In the final part of the climb, Contador got away, initially with Majka and then with Richie Porte. At the top of the climb, they caught Wellens and had a 30-second advantage over the chasing group.


2016 Paris–Nice, Stages, Stage 7
Thomas had been dropped not only by Contador but also by the first chasing group, which included Ilnur Zakarin. Thomas was joined, however, by Sergio Henao. The two Sky riders then joined up with Tony Gallopin (Lotto–Soudal) and chased hard throughout the 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) descent. They caught the first chasing group on the descent, forming a ten-man group behind Contador, Porte and Wellens. The gap was gradually reduced and was just five seconds by the finish. Wellens won the three-man sprint, with Contador second and Porte third. Gallopin won the sprint for fourth place. Thomas therefore won the overall general classification, beating Contador by four seconds.


2016 Paris–Nice, Post-race analysis
Thomas said after the race that his victory demonstrated that he could compete with the top stage racers in the world. He said that Henao's presence had been crucial to his victory and that, before the stage, he had chosen a 54-tooth chainring to help him chase back on if he was dropped on the final climb. He also said that he owed Gallopin "a few beers" for his assistance in chasing back to the leading groups on the final stage.


2016 Paris–Nice, Post-race analysis
Gallopin, meanwhile said that he had been happy to contribute to the chase of the second group on the final stage in order to have both a man in the leading group and in the chasing group. He added that he was also glad to help Thomas as the two men were friends and exchanged text messages whenever Thomas's Wales played Gallopin's France at rugby.


2016 Paris–Nice, Post-race analysis
Contador's approach to Stage 7 was described by Cycling Weekly as a "tactical masterpiece". Contador himself said that the team had executed their strategy perfectly. His directeur sportif, Sean Yates, said that the team were "nearly there" in their attempt to take the overall victory and suggested that the cancellation of Stage 3 may have prevented Contador from winning the race. Richie Porte said that his performance, especially in the final stage, had given him confidence going into the rest of the season. He said that he had not been sure of his form going into the stage and that it was a good sign for the future, as Paris–Nice had been very difficult.


2016 Paris–Nice, Post-race analysis, UCI World Tour standings
Porte's third-place finish was his second consecutive podium place in the season-long UCI World Tour competition, following his second-place finish at the Tour Down Under. He moved up into first place overall, while Henao moved up from third to second, with the previous leader, Simon Gerrans (Orica–GreenEDGE) dropping to third. Thomas moved into fourth and Contador into fifth, with Zakarin and Izagirre also moving into the top ten. Australia remained top of the nations' ranking, while Sky moved to the top of the teams' ranking.


2016 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
In the 2016 Paris–Nice, three jerseys were awarded. The general classification was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses were awarded to the first three finishers on road stages (Stages 1–7): the stage winner won a ten-second bonus, with six and four seconds for the second and third riders respectively. Bonus seconds were also awarded to the first three riders at intermediate sprints (three seconds for the winner of the sprint, two seconds for the rider in second and one second for the rider in third). The leader of the general classification received a yellow jersey.


2016 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
The second classification was the points classification. Riders were awarded points for finishing in the top ten in a stage. Unlike in the points classification in the Tour de France, the winners of all stages were awarded the same number of points. Points were also won in intermediate sprints; three points for crossing the sprint line first, two points for second place, and one for third. The leader of the points classification was awarded a green jersey.


2016 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
There was also a mountains classification, in which points were awarded for reaching the top of a climb before other riders. Each climb was categorised as either first, second, or third-category, with more points available for the more difficult, higher-categorised climbs. For first-category climbs, the top seven riders earned points; on second-category climbs, five riders won points; on third-category climbs, only the top three riders earned points. The leadership of the mountains classification was marked by a white jersey with red polka-dots.


2016 Paris–Nice, Classification leadership table
There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists in a team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest cumulative time.


2016 Paris–Roubaix
The 2016 Paris–Roubaix was a one-day classic cycling race that took place on 10 April 2016 in northern France. It was the 114th edition of the Paris–Roubaix and was the tenth race of the 2016 UCI World Tour and the third monument of the season.


2016 Paris–Roubaix
The race took place over 257.5 kilometres (160.0 mi). The principal difficulty was provided by the 27 sectors of cobbled roads, which cover a total distance of 52.8 kilometres (32.8 mi). The difficult conditions caused by the cobbles have earned the race the name "the Hell of the North". It came at the end of the cobbled classics season, a week after the 2016 Tour of Flanders; the favourites included the winner of that race, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), as well as Fabian Cancellara (Trek–Segafredo) and Tom Boonen (Etixx–Quick-Step).


2016 Paris–Roubaix
The race was hard from the very beginning, with major attacks being made over 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the finish. Cancellara and Sagan were held up by crashes and a five-rider group formed in the final 20 kilometres (12 mi) and, despite many more attacks in the closing part of the race, came to the velodrome in Roubaix together. The sprint was won by Mathew Hayman (Orica–GreenEDGE) ahead of Boonen, with Ian Stannard (Team Sky) in third.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Route
The route of the 2016 Paris–Roubaix was not significantly changed from the 2015 edition. It was slightly longer at 257.5 kilometres (160.0 mi). There were 27 sectors of cobbled roads: these included one addition to the route, the uphill Hameau du Buat sector. Several sections of cobbles, including the difficult one at Mons-en-Pévèle, had been renovated since 2015.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Route
Despite its name, the race did not start in Paris: it started in Compiègne (80 kilometres (50 mi) to the north) and travelled generally north towards Roubaix. The main difficulty came from the 27 cobbled sectors, with a total distance of 52.8 kilometres (32.8 mi); the race organisers gave these sectors a difficulty rating with the three five-star sectors the most difficult and the one one-star sector the easiest. The first 98.5 kilometres (61.2 mi) were generally flat on normal roads, with the first sector coming between Troisvilles and Inchy.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Route
Over the following 60 kilometres (37 mi), there were another eight cobbled sectors, before the first five-star sector. This was the Trouée d'Arenberg (English: Arenberg Trench) and was 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) in length. The riders turned back on themselves several times around Wallers to take in several more sectors. With the route again heading north, the riders crossed several more cobbled sectors – all rated as either three-star or four-star in difficulty – on the way to the next five-star sector, a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) road through Mons-en-Pévèle. At the end of this sector, there were 45 kilometres (28 mi) to the finish line.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Route
After Mons-en-Pévèle, there were seven more cobbled sectors before the final five-star sector. This was the 2.4-kilometre (1.5 mi) Carrefour de l'Arbre; by the end there were 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the finish line. This included three more cobbled sectors – two two-star sectors and the final one-star sector as the route entered Roubaix itself. The route ended on the Roubaix Velodrome in Roubaix: the riders enter the velodrome half-way round; they ride one-and-a-half laps of the 500-metre (550 yd) circuit to complete the race.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Route, Maps
Maps of the 2016 Paris–Roubaix route. Cobbled sectors are shown in green


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Teams
As Paris-Roubaix is a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI World Teams were invited automatically and were obliged to send a squad. In February 2016, the race organisers announced the seven UCI Professional Continental teams that had received wildcard invitations, completing the 25-team peloton. With each team allowed to enter up to eight riders, the maximum size of the peloton was 200. Astana was the only team to submit just seven riders. Team Katusha's Jacopo Guarnieri failed to start the race, so the race began with 198 riders.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
The recent editions of Paris–Roubaix had been won in various ways. Seven of the previous ten editions had been won by riders who had made solo breakaways; the most recent of these was Niki Terpstra in 2014. Other editions had been won in small group sprints: there were three riders together at the finish in 2008 Paris–Roubaix, two riders in 2013 and six in 2015.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin) won the sprint in 2015, but was unable to defend his title in the 2016 edition due to injuries sustained in a collision with a car during winter training. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team), who finished third in 2015, was also unable to start the race after breaking his collarbone in a crash at the Tour of Flanders the previous week.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
The two principal favourites to win the race were Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek–Segafredo). Sagan, the reigning world champion, had won the Tour of Flanders (the other monument raced on cobbled roads) in a solo breakaway. He was able to win both from a breakaway and in a group sprint. Sagan's best previous result in Paris–Roubaix was his sixth-place finish in 2014. Cancellara had won the race on three previous occasions (in 2006, 2010 and 2013) and had finished in the top ten on five other occasions. Cancellara was racing in his final Paris–Roubaix, after announcing that he would retire at the end of the 2016 season.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
One of Cancellara's main rivals in classics races over his career was Tom Boonen (Etixx–Quick-Step), who had won Paris–Roubaix on four occasions in the past. He had not been in strong form, however, in the 2016 season and had struggled with a wrist injury in the Tour of Flanders. His team, however, was very strong, with Terpstra, Stijn Vandenbergh and Zdeněk Štybar all possible winners of the race.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Pre-race favourites
Other possible winners included Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL–Jumbo), who was third in the Tour of Flanders, Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha), Lars Boom (Astana), Ian Stannard (Team Sky) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data).


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
There was a high-speed start to the race, with several groups attempting to form breakaways; each was chased by the main peloton. An initial group of six riders was caught within 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the start; a group of 25 then briefly held a 30-second lead before they were recaptured by the peloton. After several more attacks and a total of 67 kilometres (42 mi), the riders were still all together in one group. A group of sixteen riders then attacked and built a lead, despite the efforts of the Etixx–Quick-Step and Bora–Argon 18 teams to chase it.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
As the riders arrived on the first cobbled sectors, Sky took over at the front of the peloton to protect their riders and the breakaway's advantage increased to two minutes, although it was reduced to fourteen riders. The riders in the breakaway were Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Énergie), Mathew Hayman and Magnus Cort (Orica–GreenEDGE), Jelle Wallays (Lotto–Soudal), Yaroslav Popovych (Trek–Segafredo), Johan Le Bon (FDJ), Marko Kump (Lampre–Merida), Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise), Salvatore Puccio (Sky), Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Frederik Backaert (Wanty–Groupe Gobert), Maxime Daniel (AG2R La Mondiale), Borut Božič (Cofidis) and Imanol Erviti (Movistar Team). The breakaway was notable for the presence of Popovych, who had announced that the race would be the last of his career, and Erviti, who had finished in the top ten at the Tour of Flanders a week earlier having again been in the early breakaway.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
With 140 kilometres (87 mi) completed and more than 115 kilometres (71 mi) remaining, there was a crash in the peloton before the eighth cobbled sector. Etixx–Quick-Step immediately sent Tony Martin and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck to the front of the group and accelerated hard; this caused the group to split up. The front group included Boonen, Boasson Hagen, Stannard, Rowe and Vanmarcke along with several others, with Sagan, Cancellara, Štybar and Terpstra all in a chasing group. LottoNL –Jumbo had six riders in the front group.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
The gap between the first and second chasing groups quickly grew to a minute, thanks in particular to Martin's work; he spent around 40 kilometres (25 mi) at the front of Boonen's group. Martin's effort reduced the group to five riders, with Vanmarcke and Rowe among the riders dropped. As they reached the Trouée d'Arenberg, the break had just over a minute's lead over the first chasing group; the Vanmarcke group was around 20 seconds behind them, with Cancellara and Sagan in another group that was around a minute further back. Sagan himself was making efforts at the front of the group to try to bring the first chase group back.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
With 87 kilometres (54 mi) remaining, Vanmarcke's group merged with Boonen's, forming a 16-man group that was 55 seconds behind the breakaway group. Alexander Kristoff had punctured and been dropped from the group containing Cancellara and Sagan. Over the following kilometres, Hayman attacked solo from the breakaway; meanwhile, Jasper Stuyven (Trek–Segafredo) rode hard to bring his teammate Cancellara back to within 40 seconds of the first chasing group. Hayman was brought back by the rest of the group, while Popovych dropped back from the breakaway to help Cancellara's group with 64 kilometres (40 mi) remaining. After the next cobbled sector, Boonen's group caught the remainder of the breakaway and formed a group of around 20 riders, led by Team Sky, that was around 50 seconds ahead of the Cancellara group.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
Cancellara and Sagan worked hard together at the front of what was now the second group on the road. Shortly afterwards, the front group was disrupted when three of the four Team Sky riders in the front group – Rowe, Puccio and Gianni Moscon – crashed in just a few corners, leaving Stannard as the team's only rider in the leading group. With 48 kilometres (30 mi) remaining and the chasers 37 seconds behind the lead group, the riders crossed the five-star Mons-en-Pévèle cobbles. Cancellara crashed on a muddy section, slipping off the crown of the road.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
Sagan, riding immediately behind him, managed to bunny hop over him – with only one foot clipped into his bike – and continued in pursuit of the lead group; Cancellara, although able to continue the race, never rejoined the group. Terpstra was also among those to crash in the incident. Cycling Weekly described Sagan's manoeuvre as "unbelievable bike handling".


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
Rowe rejoined the leading group with Heinrich Haussler and Aleksejs Saramotins (both IAM Cycling) to form a ten-man leading group which led Sagan's group by over a minute with 30 kilometres (19 mi) remaining. Rowe was tired after coming back from his crash; he agreed to work fully for Stannard. He put in a strong effort with 20 kilometres (12 mi) remaining that dropped Erviti, Haussler, Saramotins and Marcel Sieberg (Lotto–Soudal), who formed a chase group behind. A five-man group then formed on the Camphin-en-Pévèle sector, with Stannard, Boonen, Boasson Hagen, Hayman and Vanmarcke the only riders remaining. Vanmarcke put in a big attack on the Carrefour de l'Arbre; although he briefly had a significant gap, the other four riders brought him back before the next section of cobbles.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
Stannard attacked with 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) remaining. He had a 20 metres (20 yd) advantage, but the group was able to come back to him. In the final 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), Boonen attacked several times. On the last of these attacks, Hayman accelerated past him and the two riders came together into the velodrome, with Vanmarcke joining soon afterwards. With one 500-metre (550 yd) lap remaining, Stannard and Boasson Hagen rejoined the group. Hayman led out the sprint: Boonen was on his wheel and Stannard came around the outside. Neither was able to come around him and Hayman crossed the line first to take the victory. Boonen was second with Stannard third. Vanmarcke finished with them in fourth place; Boasson Hagen was three seconds behind in fifth place.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Race summary
The chase group of Haussler, Sieberg and Saramotins finished a minute back, with Erviti a further seven seconds back to finish in ninth. Sagan's group arrived more than two minutes after Hayman, with Adrien Petit (Direct Energie) outsprinting Sagan for tenth place.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Post-race analysis, Reactions
The race was given widespread praise. Bernard Hinault, who won the race in 1981, described it as "magnificent". He particularly praised Etixx–Quick-Step's aggression a long way from the finish, describing it as the kind of move that used to exist but had not been seen in a long time. Similarly, Marc Madiot (the manager of the FDJ team and the winner of the race in 1985 and 1991) described it as "a beautiful race, of great quality" and praised Hayman as "a fine winner". VeloNews described it as an "epic battle" and as "one-day racing at its absolute best". The cycling journalist and former cyclist Daniel Lloyd tweeted that it had been "one of the best races I've ever seen"; David Millar, another former cyclist, wrote "That was exhausting" after watching the race.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Post-race analysis, Reactions
Mathew Hayman described his reaction as "disbelief". He had broken his arm in a crash at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad at the beginning of the classics season and had barely raced before the race began. He said that he had realised that the other riders were not superior to him after they failed to get away from him in the closing kilometres. He stated that he could "gamble" and that it had paid off. Hayman's team manager, Shayne Bannan, described him as "so professional" and suggested that he had been helped by good preparation and motivation combined with a lack of expectation; he called it "an incredible ride".


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Post-race analysis, Reactions
Boonen praised Hayman's victory. He said that Hayman was "the rider nobody was really looking at" and that he had ridden a "good sprint", although no one had much energy left by the velodrome; Vanmarcke had faded in the final metres and boxed Boonen in at the bottom of the track.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Post-race analysis, Reactions
He stated that he had received a text message on the morning of the race from a doctor who had treated him after he fractured his skull in the 2015 Abu Dhabi Tour; the doctor had said that the day of the race would be the first day that Boonen would be able to get back on his bike. He noted that he "couldn't be unsatisfied" even though he had not won the race.


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Post-race analysis, Reactions
Stannard described the race as "so close yet so far" and thought that he could have managed a better result than his third place had he not attacked in the final kilometres. He said that he was "super happy" to see Hayman win; he also said that there were "two more steps to work my way up now".


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Post-race analysis, Reactions
Fabian Cancellara finished his final Paris–Roubaix in 40th place, seven minutes behind Hayman. He said "I’m not sad, I’m happy not to be in hospital. I’m happy to have finished," and that he was hurting all over – as well as crashing during the race, he had crashed in the velodrome – but said that he was "happy it is done". Sagan described the race as "a crazy day"; he said that he was lucky not to have crashed with Cancellara, but that his race was over at that point. He described Paris–Roubaix as "very hard to win".


2016 Paris–Roubaix, Post-race analysis, UCI World Tour standings
In the 2016 UCI World Tour season-long competition, the top 10 of the standings remained relatively unchanged after the race. Sagan was still on top, 49 points ahead of Alberto Contador. Vanmarcke moved up from eighth to fifth, while Stannard moved into tenth place. Tinkoff remained ahead of Team Sky in the team rankings; in the nations' rankings, Australia moved back into the lead, with Belgium moving into second and pushing Spain into third.


2016 Paris–Tours
The 110th edition of the Paris–Tours cycling classic was held on 9 October 2016. The race was part of the 2016 UCI Europe Tour, ranked as a 1.HC event. Fernando Gaviria became the first Colombian winner of Paris–Tours with a late attack in the final kilometer. Frenchman Arnaud Démare was second, Belgian Jonas Van Genechten third.


2016 Paris–Tours, Route
The race started in Dreux, 70 km (43 mi) west of Paris, and finished in Tours, in the center-west of France, after 252.5 km (156.9 mi) of racing. The edition featured no significant climbs.


2016 Paris–Tours, Route
The event was exceptionally scheduled one week before the Road World Championships in Qatar, because of milder temperatures in Qatar later in October. Organizers adjusted the race finale, as they wanted to emulate the flat world championship course, spurring prominent sprinters to contest this year's Paris–Tours.


2016 Paris–Tours, Teams
188 riders of 24 teams started the race. Each team had a maximum of eight riders:


2016 Parramatta Eels season
The 2016 Parramatta Eels season is the 70th in the club's history. Coached by Brad Arthur, they are competing in the NRL's 2016 Telstra Premiership.


2016 Parramatta Eels season, Ladder
1 Parramatta were deducted 12 competition points and their for/against tally accumulated between rounds 1-9 for gross long-term salary cap breaches.


2016 Parti Québécois leadership election
The 2016 Parti Québécois leadership election  occurred from October 5 to October 7, 2016 due to the resignation of Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau on May 2, 2016. Jean-François Lisée was elected on the second ballot with 50.63% of the vote.


2016 Parti Québécois leadership election
To be nominated, a candidate paid a $20,000 non-refundable registration fee and submitted signatures of 1,500 party members from the provinces 45 different ridings in Quebec's seven regions by June 30, 2016. The campaign spending limit was $200,000 per candidate.


2016 Parti Québécois leadership election, Candidates, Alexandre Cloutier
MNA for Lac-Saint-Jean (2007–present), Minister for Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, the Canadian Francophonie and Sovereignist Governance (2012–2014), second-place finisher in 2015 leadership election.


2016 Parti Québécois leadership election, Candidates, Jean-François Lisée
MNA for Rosemont (2012–present), Minister of International Relations, La Francophonie and External Trade (2012–2014), former journalist and professor. Ran in 2015 leadership election but withdrew.


2016 Parti Québécois leadership election, Candidates, Martine Ouellet
MNA for Vachon (2010–present), Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife (2012–2014), third-place finisher in 2015 leadership election. Worked at Hydro-Québec for 20 years as a mechanical engineer prior to entering politics.


2016 Parti Québécois leadership election, Candidates, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon
39-year-old lawyer, political columnist, essayist and commentator who has never held a seat in the Quebec National Assembly.


2016 Parti Québécois leadership election, Withdrawn candidate, Véronique Hivon
MNA for Joliette (2008–present), Minister of Social Services and Youth Protection, Minister of the Lanaudière region and Minister responsible for the Die in Dignity commission (2012–2014).


2016 Pasay local elections
Local elections were held in Pasay on May 9, 2016 within the Philippine general election. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, the congressman, and the councilors, six of them in the two districts of the city.


2016 Pasay local elections, Background
Incumbent Mayor Antonino “Tony” G. Calixto will be seeking a third and final term this 2016 election, running under the Liberal Party. His opponents are former Congressman Jose Antonio “Lito” M. Roxas and Businessman Jorge Del Rosario.


2016 Pasay local elections, Background
Incumbent Vice Mayor Marlon A. Pesebre will be seeking a third and final term, running under the United Nationalist Alliance. His opponent is Noel “Boyet” DL. Del Rosario.


2016 Pasay local elections, Background
Incumbent Congresswoman Imelda “Emi” G. Calixto-Rubiano of the Liberal Party is running for a third and final term. Her opponent is Atty. Sonny Quial of the Nationalist People's Coalition.


2016 Pasay local elections, Background
Former Barangay 47, Zone 06 Youth Administrator and People's Reform Party City Councilor Candidate Ramon Yabut is seeking for a first term in the City Council. It is going to be his first ever bid for public office. Also it is noted that Councilor Ramon Yabut is the youngest ever candidate in history for the City Council of Pasay. He is running for City Councilor of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Pasay in its second district. Another independent candidate  Architect Ricardo C. Suva, Jr., a former member of Knights of the Altar and alumnus of Sta.


2016 Pasay local elections, Background
Clara de Montefalco Parish is also eyeing for a seat in the City's 2nd district. He is an architect by profession who built numerous projects in Pasay and in various areas nationwide. Architect Suva has a perspective of Pasay as one of the fastest growing cities in terms of project developments, infrastructures  and business opportunities.


2016 Pasay local elections, Background
The Major Coalitions are Team Dr. Roxas is a major opposition team, which is composed of Nationalist People's Coalition, United Nationalist Alliance, Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino and Akbayan and Team Calixto is the administration coalition of Liberal Party


2016 Pasay local elections, Candidates, Mayor
UNA mayoralty candidate and former representative Jose Antonio Roxas will still run in the said position, even the Sandiganbayan released the decision to put Roxas, and former Pasay mayor Peewee Trinidad into prison for 10 years, in connection with the graft charges filed against him and Trinidad over the mall construction anomaly in 2004.


2016 Pasig local elections
Local elections were held in Pasig on May 9, 2016 within the Philippine general election. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, the congressman, and the councilors, six of them in the two districts of the city.


2016 Pasig local elections, Background
Bobby Eusebio, the former City Mayor and husband of the incumbent Mayor, Maribel Andaya Eusebio faced independent candidate Odylon Vincent Ramos for the mayoralty post in the polls. Bobby Eusebio had formerly been a mayor for two terms (2007-2010, 2010-2013). He filed for a third candidacy in 2013, but he withdrew when there was no formidable candidate. He was replaced by his wife, who won as Mayor in 2013 and was the incumbent during these 2016 elections. On the other hand, Ramos did not campaign.


2016 Pasig local elections, Background
Vice Mayor Iyo Christian C. Bernardo  sought reelection for his post. He ran under the Liberal Party, but was included in the ticket of mayoralty candidate Bobby Eusebio.


2016 Pasig local elections, Background
For House Representative, there was a three-way race for the Lone District of Pasig, which was disputed by Councilors Christian Sia and Ricky Eusebio, brother of Mayor Bobby Eusebio, and Mons Romulo, sister of then incumbent Pasig representative and then senatorial aspirant Roman Romulo.


2016 Pasig local elections, Background
11 out of the 12 eventual winners for City Councilor had already served in the Council in previous terms. 3 were returning, while 8 were incumbents. One of the candidates for the city council seat was neophyte Vico Sotto, the son of Vic Sotto and Coney Reyes. Kiko Rustia, a Survivor Philippines Castaway, TV Host and actor, also attempted to win a seat.


2016 Pateros local elections
Local elections in Pateros were held on May 9, 2016 within the Philippine general election. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, District representative, and councilors, six in each of the city's two legislative districts.


2016 Pateros local elections, Background
Incumbent City Mayor Jaime C. Medina will not seek reelection, instead, Willie Buenaventura is running under the Nacionalista Party. His opponents are Ike Ponce of the Liberal Party, Jorge Nicdao of the Nationalist People's Coalition, Delfin Dela Rosa and beauty queen-turned-actress Daisy Reyes running as independent candidates.


2016 Pateros local elections, Background
Incumbent Vice Mayor Gerald German is running for his second term. His opponents are Bebot Cuerdo, Elmer Mangoba and Venancio Santidad.


2016 Pathankot attack
The 2016 Pathankot attack was a terrorist attack committed on 2 January 2016 by a heavily armed group which attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force.


2016 Pathankot attack
Four attackers and two security forces personnel were killed in the initial battle, with an additional security force member dying from injuries hours later. The gun battle and the subsequent combing operation lasted about 17 hours on 2 January, resulting in five attackers and three security personnel dead. Further three soldiers died after being admitted to hospital with injuries, raising the death toll to six soldiers. On 3 January, fresh gunshots were heard, and another security officer was killed by an IED explosion. The operation continued on 4 January, and a fifth attacker was confirmed killed. Not until a final terrorist was reported killed on 5 January was the anti-terrorist operation declared over, though further searches continued for some time.


2016 Pathankot attack
The attack received wide international condemnation. Though the United Jihad Council, a Kashmir-based militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack on 4 January, the attackers, who were wearing Indian Army fatigues, were subsequently suspected to belong to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamist militant group designated a terrorist organisation by India, the US, the UK and the UN.


2016 Pathankot attack
The attack led to a breakdown in India-Pakistan relations, which remained largely unresolved as of September 2019. Media reports suggested that the attack was an attempt to derail a fragile peace process meant to stabilise the deteriorated relations between India and Pakistan, as several pieces of evidence were found linking the attackers to Pakistan.


2016 Pathankot attack, Background
On the night of 31 December 2015, at 9 pm, four men who had crossed the India Pakistan international border from Pakistan and reached the Indian side, stopped a taxi driver Ikagar Singh on the road. There was an attempt to hijack his car but he fought back leading to the hijackers killing him by slitting his throat. The tyres of the hijacked car burst after covering some distance. The armed men then proceeded to hijack a multi-utility vehicle belonging to Salwinder Singh, a superintendent of the Punjab Police, in Dinanagar.


2016 Pathankot attack, Background
In the process, they slit the throat of jeweller Rajesh Kumar, who was later admitted to a hospital. The vehicle was found abandoned about 500 metres away from the airbase. Later, the carjacking was reportedly linked to the attack; the carjackers did not recognise it as a police car since its lights were turned off.


2016 Pathankot attack, Background
The Punjab Police Department refused to believe the abduction report provided by SP Salwinder Singh after he was released by the attackers, and the other survivor, Madan Gopal, was tortured by the police interrogators upon reporting the incident. Salwinder Singh had a chequered past, and his claims may have been dismissed due to his perceived unreliability. A handheld walkie talkie, was left behind by the attackers in the hijacked vehicle. It is speculated that its purpose was to aid coordination between that group and the others already at the airport and that the loss delayed the attack by twenty four hours.


2016 Pathankot attack, The attack
On the morning of 1 January 2016 at around 03:30 IST, at least six heavily armed people dressed in Indian Army uniforms breached the high-security perimeter of the airbase in Pathankot. The infiltrators possibly hid, using the elephant grass in the perimeter of the campus before making the strike. A nylon rope found over the 3.4-metre-high (11-foot) perimeter wall, looped from the ground up and then down again seemed to indicate the mode of entry.