Paris-Nice: Cees Bol wins stage 2

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Cees Bol (Team DSM) sprinted to the second WorldTour win of his career on stage 2 of Paris-Nice, outpacing Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) to the line in Amilly after a nervous and crash-affected run to the line.

Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) rounded out the podium in third, also taking over the race lead having collected five bonus seconds during the day and a further four on the line. Stage 1 winner Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) finished in fifth place.

Bol's charge to victory came from a group of fewer than 20 riders after a crash in the peloton held up a number of riders a kilometre from the finish. DSM were safe up front, leading the way along with a group of the big-name sprinters, before Jasper Stuyven led out Pedersen in the final 600 metres.

Bol moved up to fourth in line behind the duo and Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels p/b KTM) into the final straight and had already started sprinting when Pedersen hit the wind at 150 metres to go. In that final charge to the line, the Dane had no answer to the sheer power of the 25-year-old Dutchman as Bol blasted past to throw his arms up on the line.

"It's the best feeling," Bol said after the finish. "I had a bit of a struggle at the start of the season and wasn't good before now. We kept believing and today, with superb help from my teammates we smashed it.

"We went well thru the last corner. I was close to being boxed in but Nils [Eekhoff] recognised the moment and kept the door open for me. Then I was in a good wheel. The guys from Trek-Segafredo did a strong lead-out but I started my sprint in the right moment and had enough power to make it to the line.

"It's a good boost to the confidence, especially after a rough start. Yesterday we didn't do well now today we showed we can do it as a team. It gives confidence for the sprint stages and the other days where we have a chance with the other guys."

Matthews now leads the race by four seconds ahead of Pedersen, who made up the six-second gap to Bennett with his second podium finish of the race. Bennett lies third overall, also four seconds down, ahead of Tuesday's stage 3 – a 14.4-kilometre time trial in Gien.

How it unfolded

The second stage of Paris-Nice saw the peloton take on a flat and featureless 188 kilometres through central France, passing west of Paris en route from Oinville-sur-Montcient to Amilly. Just one third category climb featured, coming 72 kilometres into the stage, with two intermediate sprints offering a handful of points and bonus seconds along the way, too.

While it was practically guaranteed to be another day for the sprinters to contest, with a strong chance of wind affecting the race, that didn't stop two men from venturing out front in the early stages of the day. Sander Armée (Qhubeka Assos) and Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) were the men in question, getting away after 20 kilometres of racing.

The pair, who never had much of a shot at staying away to the finish, nevertheless built up their lead to four minutes inside the first hour of racing as Deceuninck-QuickStep went to work at the head of the peloton with their man Sam Bennett in the race lead and favourite to win again later on.

It was a quiet start to the stage, with the first two hours passing at a slow 38kph, well behind the predicted time schedule for the day's action. However, it wasn't long before the peloton sprang into action as Trek-Segafredo pushed the pace after hitting a section of road with the wind blowing across it 105 kilometres out.

The move caught some by surprise, with the peloton splitting in the wind as the breakaway was brought back even earlier than predicted – before the 100-kilometre mark. The two pelotons weren't separate for long, either, coming back together ahead of the day's first intermediate sprint at Pussay.

There, it was Matthews who was first across the line, taking three points and three seconds to move within two seconds of Bennett's overall lead. With the peloton continuing to push forward on the exposed roads in the flatlands of Île-de-France, Deceuninck-QuickStep were the next team to make a move, driving hard to create more splits at the 72-kilometre mark.

Several groups were spat out the back after the effort of the Belgian squad, with Jumbo-Visma's Steven Kruijswijk, AG2R Citroën, and EF Education-Nippo among those caught out. Once again, though, the splits would not be lasting as the peloton was all back together within 15 kilometres of the initial push.

The race then settled down once more, with the peloton spread across the road as they passed the 50-kilometre mark. A series of teams, including Ineos Grenadiers, Jumbo-Visma, Team BikeExchange, and Israel Start-Up Nation were present up front with little incentive to push hard or go on the attack given the weakened wind.

After a period of calm, the peloton sped up again for the second intermediate sprint, which came at Bellegarde, 34 kilometres from the finish. Once again, Matthews was up there, taking another two seconds, while André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation) was first across the line.

Immediately after the sprint, the peloton squeezed into the one-lane, bollard-lined streets of the town, unsurprisingly provoking a crash in the group. Jérémy Lecroq (B&B Hotels p/b KTM) went down, but it was George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) who came off worst. The New Zealand road champion looked dazed as he stumbled and took off his cracked helmet in the aftermath but was back on his bike within two minutes of going down after what looked like a quick check from the team staff.

Bennett chased alone for the following 15 kilometres, chatting to his team car along the way, before making it back to the dawdling peloton with 18 kilometres left of the stage. In the meantime, Alexis Vuillermoz (Total Direct Énergie) had also crashed but was forced to abandon with an apparent arm injury.

With no break to catch and little wind to affect proceedings, the final run-in was all about sprinter's teams getting into position and GC riders staying safe ahead of an inevitable sprint finish. Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar) and Daniel Arroyave (EF Education-Nippo) hit the deck with 10 kilometres to go after a touch of wheels, with the Spanish squad sending riders back help the Austrian return to the peloton before the finish.

At the four-kilometre mark, the peloton burst into life once more as Trek-Segafredo moved up to take control at the head of the peloton with Groupama-FDJ and Bora-Hansgrohe lining up close behind. Positioning in the final two kilometres would be potentially decisive, with two hairpin bends featuring, the latter inside the final 500 metres.

Michael Mørkøv piloted Sam Bennett into position up front while Team DSM moved up under the flamme rouge for Bol. Further back in the peloton, a crash took out Bora-Hansgrohe duo Michael Schwarzmann and Jordi Meeus, as well as Matteo Pelucchi (Qhubeka Assos) and Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates). With the quartet near the front when they hit the deck, the accident spelt the end of the race for much of the peloton – Groupama-FDJ's Arnaud Démare was among the riders navigating his way around the outside, his plans for the sprint finish in tatters.

Out front, Team DSM were ahead of the carnage along with many of the top sprinters at the race. While Trek-Segafredo took over at the front ahead of the tight final turn, Bol still had the power advantage over Pedersen and Coquard and made it show as he charged past in the closing 150 metres to claim DSM's first win of the season.