It started in Yvelines, west of Paris, with a prologue time trial; the course then moved south through France with several stages suitable for sprinters.

Other riders considered to have a chance of victory included Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), who had just won the Volta ao Algarve, Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Péraud (both AG2R La Mondiale), Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team), Andrew Talansky (Cannondale–Garmin) and Rui Costa (Lampre–Merida).

The lead was briefly held by Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) and Tiago Machado (Team Katusha).

[14][15] The next significant move was made by Hivert's teammate, Anthony Delaplace, who broke away with Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar).

[14][16] Degenkolb was the first rider to start the sprint in a disorganised finale to the stage, but he was not able to maintain his speed and finished outside the top ten.

[14] 18 kilometres (11 miles) from the end of the stage, Tom Boonen clashed wheels while riding at the back of the peloton.

[17] That evening, it was announced that, though his collarbone was not broken, he had suffered a dislocation in his shoulder and would miss the Spring Classics season, including his principal targets at Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.

[19] The first breakaway of the day was formed by Arnaud Gérard (Bretagne–Séché Environnement), who escaped alone and earned a lead of over eight minutes, with the peloton riding slowly behind.

[20] The chase was led by Cofidis and Team Europcar and Gerard had less than a minute's lead at the Côte de la Tour.

With 9.2 kilometres (5.7 miles) remaining, however, Tony Martin (Etixx–Quick-Step) attacked and was joined by Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Lars Boom (Astana) and Matti Breschel (Tinkoff–Saxo).

Breschel suffered a puncture and dropped out of the move, but Martin, Thomas and Boom continued their breakaway attempt.

Greg Henderson, however, was the penultimate man in the Lotto–Soudal train; his lead-out brought André Greipel to a perfect position to open his sprint.

[23] The first break of the day was formed by Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) and Florian Vachon (Bretagne–Séché Environnement) after 9 kilometres (6 miles).

Following repeated attacks from the peloton behind, Gilbert and Vachon were joined after 74 kilometres (46 miles) by Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar).

Voeckler himself then fell back, while Tiralongo was joined by AG2R La Mondiale riders Jan Bakelants and Romain Bardet.

Matthews was able to hold on for the win, despite a late challenge from Davide Cimolai (Lampre–Merida) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing).

[24][25][26] Thanks to the bonus seconds he won on the line, Matthews took over the overall lead in the race, as well as the leadership of the points and young rider classifications.

[27] The early break was formed by Antoine Duchesne (Team Europcar), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal) and Chris Anker Sørensen (Tinkoff–Saxo).

Sky's Lars Petter Nordhaug led the peloton through the first 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) of the climb, dropping Michael Matthews (Orica–GreenEDGE) along the way.

Warren Barguil (Team Giant–Alpecin) crashed at the base of the climb; though he eventually finished the stage, he was unable to return to the main group.

His turn at the head of the group caused several riders to be distanced, including Talansky, Majka and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL–Jumbo).

[28][29] With 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) remaining, Roche pulled off and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) attacked the small group of leaders.

The course began with a first-category climb, the Col de la Republique, but the remainder of the stage was generally flat.

[33] The final road stage of the race was a 181.5-kilometre (112.8-mile) route starting in Vence and ending on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.

The summit of the final climb, the Côte de Peille, came with 27 kilometres (17 miles) remaining, as the riders descended into Nice down the Col d'Èze.

Tim Wellens (Lotto–Soudal) was the best placed rider on general classification, 1' 25" behind Michał Kwiatkowski; he was the virtual leader of the race through much of the day.

Wellens' teammate Thomas De Gendt was also in the breakaway: he won the first two climbs of the day to increase his lead in the mountains classification.

Etixx–Quick-Step were unable to continue their pressure, however, on the Côte de Peille, Gallopin attacked after sensing that Kwiatkowski was vulnerable.

[41]) Gallopin won the final intermediate sprint and the bonus seconds, ahead of the chasing group that was led by Rui Costa (Lampre–Merida) and Fuglsang.

This was enough to beat many of the other contenders for the overall classification: Rui Costa (Lampre–Merida), Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) and Michał Kwiatkowski (Etixx–Quick-Step) all finished behind Špilak.