Paris - Nice 2013: Stage 2

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January 1 - March 10, Vimory, France, Road - WorldTour

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Live coverage of stage 2 of Paris-Nice, 200.5km from Vimory to Cérilly.

Stage two of Paris-Nice brings the peloton some 200.5km from Vimory to Cérilly. We're not far from Paris-Bourges country this afternoon and with no climbs on the menu today, the sprinters will expect to keep things together for a bunch finish.

The early outlook for said mass finish was more than promising, with the peloton set to ride into a block headwind for most of the day.

That didn't discourage Gatis Smukulis (Katusha), Mads Christensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil-DCM) from zipping up the road in the opening kilometre, and the trio stretched that lead out to four minutes at one point. But when Boeckmans dropped back, citing the stiff headwind and the lack of manpower up front - the break lost its impetus and they were reeled back in.

The statistics on letour.fr give us some indication of the conditions - the bunch covered just 32 kilometres in the opening hour of a racing, and a positively languid 26.7 kilometres in the second hour after the break was recaptured.

After 64km, however, Vacansoileil-DCM duo Romain Feillu and Thomas De Gendt threw caution to the, er, wind and went on the offensive. Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) gave chase shortly afterwards and the bunch left them to it.

103km remaining from 200km

The overall standings this morning were as follows:

Lazy hacks such as this one have repeatedly reached for the expression "French cycling renaissance" in recent years, like a sprinter reaching for his team car in the mountains, so I'll be careful not to trot out the cliché here. But the home press are certainly pleased to see three French riders occupy the top three placings on general classification.

There hasn't been a French winner of Paris-Nice since Laurent Jalabert's third and final victory all the way back in 1997, in what was, one hopes, a very different era.

One man hoping to end the French drought this year is the in-form Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). He laid down a significant marker by coming within a whisker of winning the prologue. Or, as Wilfried Peeters would put it, within a vent-covering sticker of winning the prologue.

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A couple of abandons to report too, both resulting from the crashes that marred yesterday's stage. Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana) was a non-starter after getting his knee stitched up following his crash on stage one, while a wrist injury has forced Garmin-Sharp's Jacob Rathe to pull out.

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Meanwhile, Roman Feillu can even share a joke with the cameraman as he comes through to take his turn on the front, grinding into the wind.

World champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC) is keeping a watchful eye on proceedings near the front end of the peloton. The Belgian was enduring a torrid time of it at the same point twelve months ago, but he seems in a much better place this time around. The acid test will come at the spring classics, of course, but relative to this week last year - when he was dropped by his BMC squad in the team time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico - Gilbert is cutting a far more relaxed figure.

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Rory Sutherland (Saxo-Tinkoff) gets bumped off his bike at the rear of the peloton, but the Australian is back on board immediately and has already latched back onto the bunch again.

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As if the wind weren't enough to deal with, it is now beginning to rain steadily and the roads are looking a little greasy.

Yann Huguet (Argos-Shimano) takes a tumble at the rear of the peloton and brings Kanstantin Siutsou (Sky) down with him. Siutsou is quickly back on his feet, while Huguet follows shortly afterwards.

Almost immediately afterwards comes another crash involving a Sky rider. Ian Boswell is the man who goes down, while former yellow jersey Damien Gaudin (Europcar) is also a faller.

Alexandre Pichot (Europcar) was also a faller in the Gaudin-Boswell crash and the word reaching us is that Pichot has abandoned.

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There has been a palpable infusion of urgency at the front end of the peloton in the past ten kilometres, with riders trying to force their way to the front in a bid to avoid crashes. The result is that the gap to the break has now dropped to under a minute.

Yoann Offredo (FDJ) was very active on the front end of the peloton in the finale yesterday, and he has been prominent again today in the defence of his teammate Bouhanni's interests. Offredo, of course, missed the classics last year as he was serving a one-year suspension for violating the whereabouts system. The Frenchman is in search of lost time on the cobbles this year, and he showed flashes of his capabilities at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad before the winning break drifted clear.

64km remaining from 200km

Damien Gaudin has succeeded in latching back onto the rear of the peloton. The big Frenchman has cuts and scrapes down the lefthand side of his body after that tumble 10 kilometres ago.

Ivan Basso (Cannondale) often seems about as comfortable in the peloton on flat stages as he does while giving evidence at the Puerto trial, but the Italian is managing to stay close to the front here.

58km remaining from 200km

Disaster for Nacer Bouhanni. The maillot jaune has crashed and landed on his face. The Frenchman is sitting up on the side of the road and being treated, but it looks as though his race might be over.

Bouhanni was the only faller - he was well-placed at the front of the peloton but went too quickly into a sharp left-hand bend and slid off. He struck his face off the road as he fell, and is bleeding from the mouth and nose.

Sadly, Nacer Bouhanni's race is over. The Frenchman is lifted on to a stretcher, although thankfully he is conscious, alert and sitting up.

It's always a shame to see the yellow jersey forced out of a race, and the sense of regret is all the greater when a young rider enjoying a fine run of form has his progress interrupted. Bouhanni's tub-thumping win yesterday was his second of the campaign after a fine victory on the final stage of the Tour of Oman, and he would surely have fancied his chances in another bunch sprint today. Here's hoping the man from Épinal is back in action soon.

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Up front, the four escapees are continuing to collaborate smoothly, or at least, as smoothly as the windswept conditions allow.

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While setting up Kittel for stage victory is Argos-Shimano's most immediate aim at Paris-Nice, the Race to the Sun also provides the Dutch squad with the chance to blood some young talent. Neo-pro Warren Barguil won the Tour de l'Avenir last year and lines up for his first-ever WorldTour race at Paris-Nice. The Frenchman told Cyclingnews that the race is purely a learning experience, at least for this year.

44km remaining from 200km

Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) was left behind when the peloton split in the finale yesterday but the Belgian champion looks quite comfortable today, and he is sitting four wheels back from the front of the peloton.

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Boonen himself is now sitting on the front and setting the pace, casually resting his forearms on his handlebars as he does so. The Tour of Flanders is just over three weeks away and Boonen is looking to get the best work-out he can for De Ronde at Paris-Nice.

Incidentally, part of Sky's rationale for sending its classics team to train in the seclusion of Mount Teide rather than ride Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico was precisely to avoid stages like today, which has been run off at a considerably slower pace than they feel to be conducive to preparing for the classics.

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Orica-GreenEdge are also contributing some manpower towards managing the front end of the peloton, while David Millar leads an advance party from Garmin-Sharp who are trying to keep Andrew Talansky sheltered and out of trouble.

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More and more teams are trying to marshal their leaders towards the front. There will be a sharp change in direction with 18km to go that will bring the peloton from a headwind to a tailwind, and it will be crucial to be at the front there.

With 12.5km to go, another turn will bring the race into a brief sidewind section, and there could well be fireworks there.

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As things stand, Damien Gaudin (Europcar) leads the classement virtuel but with bonus seconds on offer at the second intermediate sprint with 18km to go, as well as at the finish, he is far from assured of another spell in yellow.

Elia Viviani, for instance, is just one second behind Gaudin, and will fancy his chances of picking up bonus seconds.

22km remaining from 200km

It's an uphill sprint finish today, and coming at the end of a 4km-long straight, it's certainly not the easiest effort to judge. The contenders for honours today will be glad to have an impromptu reconnaissance when they come through for the intermediate sprint.

19km remaining from 200km

Lucas Sebastien Haedo (Cannondale) leads out Viviani and even though though Sylvain Chavanel was parked on his rear wheel, the Italian took the sprint and the three bonus seconds with considerable ease.

Sprint result:

The provisional standings now see Viviani in the overall lead, one second clear of Chavanel, but there are, of course, ten seconds on offer to the winner at the finish.

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Into the crosswind section for the Omega Pharma-QuickStep-led peloton but the tree cover means that it might prove difficult to force a split.

Amstel Gold Race winner Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) is well-placed near the front. The Italian will have liked what he saw of the uphill finishing straight the first time around.

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Lampre-Merida are also trying to piece together a train for Alessandro Petacchi. Two years ago, the veteran enjoyed considerable success on uphill sprint finishes, crediting training on Mount Etna for his advance in that field.

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Approaching the red kite, it's Garmin-Sharp's Fabian Wegman at the front of the bunch.

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Offredo and Veelers are brought back, but it looks set to be a chaotic finish.

Lampre take over 500 metres out in a bid to set things up for Petacchi...

As the road rears up towards the finish line, however, Kittel emerges on the left-hand side of the road and hits the front with confidence.

Marcel Kittel wins the stage, while Elia Viviani takes second ahead of Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) and Borut Bozic (Astana).

That was a powerful sprint from Kittel, who had time to raise his arms in celebration as he crossed the line. Viviani did well to finish second and secure the yellow jersey, but he never seriously threatened to overhaul the flying Kittel.

Result:

Kittel timed his effort well there. His Argos-Shimano train disintegrated under the impetus of Offredo's acceleration with 800 metres to go, but Kittel had the sangfroid to sit in behind Romain Feillu, and leave his effort as late as possible. Once he ripped to the front with 200 metres to go, however, the result was never in doubt.

Elia Viviani ought to have a 7-second lead over Sylvain Chavanel thanks to picking up another six seconds for finishing second. In any case, the Italian will certainly wear the yellow jersey tomorrow.

General classification:

General classification:

Thanks for joining us for today's coverage of Paris-Nice on Cyclingnews. For full results, a report and pictures, check back here. We'll be back for more tomorrow, when Cyclingnews will also carry live text coverage of the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

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