 Paris – Nice is also raced by many classics riders preparing for the Spring Classics and especially Milan – San Remo , which comes just a few days later . Riders expected to feature on the flatter days included classics specialists such as Alexander Kristoff ( Team Katusha ) , John Degenkolb ( Giant – Alpecin ) , Arnaud Démare ( FDJ ) and Philippe Gilbert ( BMC Racing Team ) and sprinters like Nacer Bouhanni ( Cofidis ) and André Greipel ( Lotto – Soudal ) . 
