Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling) gave Italy something to cheer about, winning a small bunch sprint on stage 2 of Paris-Nice. Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) made the selection to keep the race lead as crosswinds blew Paris-Nice apart for the second straight stage.
Trek-Segafredo, Sunweb and Bora-Hansgrohe shattered the peloton into echelons on stage 2 from Chevreuse to Chalette-sur-Loing. The first cracks began to form with 32km to go when an unexpected cold rain punished the race.
Trek- Segafredo and Bora-Hansgrohe then continued to push the pace, forcing more separations in the ever-shrinking front group. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) lost 18 seconds, while Dylan Teuns (Bahrain McLaren) and Tiesj Benoot (Sunweb), the only riders to stay with Schachmann on stage 1, lost 36 seconds.
Arkea-Samsic faced more misfortune after the disqualification of Warren Barguil on stage 1 when Nairo Quintana (Arkea Samsic) crashed with 25km to go and was unable to rejoin, giving away 1:25 on race leader Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe).
Schachmann now leads by 15 seconds over Nizzolo, with Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) moving into third at 21 seconds.
