photo credits @ Paris-Nice
Jasha Sütterlin (Jayco AlUla) attacked as soon as the flag dropped in today’s stage 2 of Paris-Nice, only to be joined by polka dot jersey wearer Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step) and Mathis Le Berre (TotalEnergies) and some 7 kilometers later. However, it wasn’t long before Sütterlin dropped back to the peloton.
From there, Pedersen and Le Berre resumed their battle for the KOM points, with the Dane racking up more points on the first climb of the day, the Côte des Mesnuls.
Meanwhile, Luke Lamperti’s EF Education-EasyPost and Biniam Girmay’s NSN were busy ushering the chase effort at the front of the peloton, later reducing the lead group’s advantage to 2’25’’ at km 45.
Back up front, Pedersen once again collected the KOM points on the Côte du Pressoir, bringing his tally up 18 compared to Le Berre’s 14.
After the last summit, Lotto Intermarché upped the ante to catch the breakaway just before the intermediate sprint in Fromont, with Pedersen and Le Berre eventually getting caught just inside the last 60 kilometers, after being out front for 119 kilometers.
A dozen kilometers later, Vito Braet (Lotto Intermarché) dominated the intermediate sprint ahead of Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Lamperti. With the bonus seconds up for grabs, the Belgian sprinter is now on level with the overall American leader, while Ayuso trails by 8’’.
The run-in to Montargis was disrupted by a crash with 34 km to go, ensnaring the likes of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies). But the trio was able to rejoin the bunch.
With 21 kilometers to go, Daan Hoole attacked, quickly opening up a gap of 30’’, with Movistar the first to react.
Tudor, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and EF Education-EasyPost soon joined in the chase, eventually reeling in Hoole during the last kilometer.
Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana) was the next to attack, creating the perfect slipstream for Kanter to follow in, ultimately fended-off Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) in a sprint finale to claim the stage honors.
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