Paris-Nice: Colbrelli tops Degenkolb in another chaotic stage

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Sonny Colbrelli earned Bahrain-Merida its first WorldTour victory, and second of the season, on stage 2 of Paris-Nice as he produced a long sprint at the end of anther exacting day, where crosswinds once again produced drama beyond what the flat profile of the stage suggested.

The Italian, in his first season as a WorldTour rider, launched from range and managed to hold off the visibly sluggish legs of the more decorated sprinters in a main field of around 50 that did include the majority of general classification favourites – but not Richie Porte (BMC Racing).

John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) came through for second, with stage 1 winner Arnaud Demare (FDJ) finishing third, unable to hold his sprint all the way to the line but still ensuring he will wear the race leader's yellow jersey tomorrow. Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) was fourth and Christophe Laporte fifth – sprinting in place of his Cofidis teammate Nacer Bouhanni, who abandoned the race having failed to make the front groups as the winds blew and the rain fell.

"It's the greatest victory of my career. It's incredible. I managed a perfect sprint and to beat riders like Degenkolb or even Kittel just shows that," said Colbrelli of his win. "Of course I have Milan- San Remo in mind. Everyone knows that Paris-Nice is the perfect preparation for that race. But it’s not over yet, I still want to manage things this week."

The efforts of the day were felt by those who did make it all the way, too, as Andre Greipel (Lotto-Fixall) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) could only slot into the top 10, and Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) finished 20th.

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