Bonnet surprises in Limoges

William Bonnet (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) added his name to this year's sizable list of French winners as he claimed stage two of Paris-Nice into Limoges on Tuesday afternoon.

Bonnet overhauled Liquigas' Peter Sagan in a drag race to the line, while Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) continued his so-far impressive Paris-Nice title defence with a third place stage result.

The trio were lucky to escape a dramatic crash 500 metres from the line that saw Jimmy Casper (Saur-Sojasun), Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) and Dan Martin (Garmin-Transitions) all hit the ground at considerable pace, though, all three rolled away from the scene quickly.

Overall race leader, Lars Boom (Rabobank) also avoided the melee and retained his overall race lead, still five seconds clear of Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), while Sanchez moved into third overall at 10 seconds, now three seconds ahead of David Millar (Garmin-Transitions).

Boom was, however required to relinquish his lead in the mountains classification to Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun), who claimed points at all three of the day's Category three climbs.

Earlier in the day, the peloton had left Contres without Simone Ponzi (Lampre), Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) and Frederik Kessiakoff (Garmin-Transitions). The Italian pair elected not to start, while the Garmin rider had failed to finish Monday's brutal stage one.

With a second 200 kilometre-odd stage on the agenda, a breakaway of four riders took up the same challenge as the previous day's escape; departing the peloton after just four kilometres.

Yet again, Dutch squads Vacansoleil and Skil-Shimano continued their tête-à-tête battle for a possible Tour de France invite, Koen de Koert (Skil Shimano) and Jens Mouris (Vacansoleil) taking up the 'fight'. They were joined by Mauro Finetto (Liquigas) and Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun), and together the quartet built up a maximum advantage of 4:15.

Although the wind had backed off a little, the peloton still faced the challenge of three Category 3 ascents on the day's profile. Mangel used the first two climbs, at 15km and 156km, respectively, to snatch the polka dot jersey from Lars Boom's currently expansive collection.

While Rabobank were nonplussed about the loss of the spotty tunic, they were concerned with his retention of the yellow equivalent. The Dutch squad led the peloton throughout the day, chipping away at the break's lead and bringing it to less than a minute with 33 kilometres left to race.

The erosion continued, but moments before the peloton looked to have cancelled the move Mangel took off, in a desperate manoeuvre to escape the now Astana-led pack. Mouris, too, appeared willing to extend his stay out front, but as the pace behind picked up the duo's valiant efforts gave them only a few minutes more time on the telly.

Mangel caught, Caisse d'Epargne came to the front, with Lars Boom afforded one lieutenant as the remainder of his weary Rabobank soldiers drifted towards the back of the bunch. Boom, in contrast, looked comfortable as he watched Caisse d'Epargne trade places with representatives from Sky, HTC-Columbia and Quick Step.

As the final Category three climb approached, 11 kilometres prior to the finish, Cyril Gautier (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) made his presence known. The Frenchman fired off the front and set to work on the final ten kilometres of the day.

Unfortunately for Gautier, his registration of a 17 second time gap was followed by a rapid reclamation by the peloton. The situation held stable for a period at 13 seconds, but Saur-Sojasun, Cofidis and Liquigas weren't prepared to let their mark rule the day.

The lastest escape cancelled, Vacansoleil and HTC-Columbia assumed control for their sprinters, Borut Bozic and Romain Feillu, and Andre Greipel, respectively. Yet as the one kilometre banner appeared then disappeared, it was Quick Step and Liquigas that led the charge.

A messy looking crash caused by a touch of wheels between Grega Bole (Lampre) and a Saxo Bank rider at the front of the peloton 500 metres before the line created a very sudden disruption to the progress of riders including Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia), Dan Martin (Garmin-Transitions) and Jimmy Casper (Saur-Sojasun).

Ahead, Peter Sagan (Liquigas) led the charge onto the final drag to the line, but it was William Bonnet (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) who had a little more gas in the tank as he slid past Sagan to claim his first victory since 2008.

Who is William Bonnet?

William Bonnet's win in Tuesday's stage of Paris-Nice was not only a significant personal victory for the 27-year-old, but also continued the incredible run of French success in the peloton this year.

The Bbox Bouygues Telecom sprinter's triumph was the 28th victory by a French rider this season and, this one, coming at Paris-Nice, is arguably the most significant indicator of the nation's apparent return to form.

Bonnet is also a poster-boy for this modern day 'French resistance'. He has spent all six of his years of his professional career on French teams, beginning with Auber 93 in 2005.

A win on the opening stage of that year's Paris - Corrèze was followed in 2006 with a move to the big leagues with Crédit Agricole, where he spent three seasons and raced his first Giro d'Italia (2006) and Tours de France (2007, 2008) at the service of Thor Hushovd.

A Tour appearance in 2009 also followed, but this time he entered the race as Bbox Bouygues Telecom's designated fast-man. While he achieved several top-ten stage results at his national Tour, a trip to Spain for the Vuelta netted two second-placings as he continued his ascension towards the top of the sprinting ranks.

A Paris-Nice stage win knocked off the next rung in that ladder.