Paris-Nice stage 2 Live - Bunch sprint anticipated in calm conditions

Samuel Leroux was the first man to go down, near the front of the peloton. He was also one of the hardest down, but is back up on his bike.

Lots of riders have been held up, including the yellow jersey. But only a few have hit the deck hard. 

CRASH

Big crash in the peloton.

Martin is back in the peloton, aided by another decrease in the pace. 

50KM TO GO

Abrahamsen is actually going quicker now the other two have gone. He's building the lead again, up to 30 seconds. 

Fernández is back in the peloton, leaving just Abrahamsen out in front. 

Now Abrahamsen rides away from Fernández. He clearly wants to combativity award too. 

Delettre has sat up and is back in the peloton, but Abrahamsen is fighting him.

Fernández has attacked the others, but he's only delaying the inevitable. 

The peloton can see the break now, who will be caught soon.

Martin is back up with a new bike, and making his way back to the peloton. 

As a consequence of this tension, a Guillame Martin has gone down going around that corner. 

The pace is really up in the peloton now, as they fight for position ahead of a tight corner. 

Lidl, Visma, Ineos and Soudal are the four teams most prominent.

60KM TO GO

Things are livening up now, as some jostling for position takes place. The breakaway riders have felt this change - their lead is now a mere 20 seconds.

Vingegaard has also talked about Visma-Lease a Bike’s strategy at Paris-Nice, downplaying potential tension between himself and defending champion Matteo Jorgenson, who yesterday picked up some bonus seconds. He described their relationship as ‘excellent’, and described himself as ‘not a selfish guy who only thinks of himself’.

“If he gets into a more promising position than me, I will gladly sacrifice myself."

Here’s Jonas Vingegaard in the peloton, who had some interesting things to say in an interview with Nieuwsblad. He indicated that he would not let his children take up bike racing, on account of it being too dangerous - something he knows all too well, having feared for his life after falling at last year’s Basque Country Tour horror crash.

It was a slow bike change for Vinokourov, leaving him 1-40 behind the peloton. But that won't be a problem so long as the pace remains this slow.

A mechanical for Nicolas Vinokurov, Alexander's 22-year-old son who's competing for his Astana.

70KM TO GO

The gap's holding steady, at about a minute still.

It’s slow enough in the peloton for several riders to take comfort breaks. 

Here are those aforementioned Visma riders near the front of the peloton, surrounding and protecting their leader and race favourite Jonas Vingegaard. This has been a simple day for the Dane, which would not have been the case had the wind blown. 

80KM TO GO

The gap's grown back to over a minute, but only just - it's at 1-03 as we enter 80km to go.

Of those Visma riders, Victor Campanaerts is having a chat with some others. That he is able to to despite being so close to the front of the peloton confirms how calm things are. 

The peloton is being led by one Lidl-Trek rider, and one Soudal-QuickStep rider, with a swarm of yellow Visma-Lease a Bike riders behind. 

The trio's lead has dipped below one minute for the first time in a while.

90KM TO GO

The riders have passed the stage's halfway point, and the gap remains steady at about 1-20.

Pedersen’s travails have not discouraged his Lidl-Trek team today. Here they are pulling at the front of the peloton.

One rider hoping for better fortunes today is Mads Pedersen. The Dane finished down in 12th yesterday having been one of the favorites for the stage win, and afterwards, in his typically frank fashion, criticised his teammates for making mistakes in the lead-out.

100KM TO GO

The gap's come down some more as we enter the final 100km, to 1-20.

Danny van Poppel has abandoned the race. That’s unfortunate for the Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe rider, who looked in great shape leading out Sam Welsford at the Tour Down Under bunch sprints, and had the chance to sprint for himself here.

As the race continues in it's relaxed, uneventful state, the gap is now being reported at nearer to two minutes again, at 1-50.

Wearing the green jersey on loan from Tim Merlier, having placed second in yesterday’s sprint, is Arnaud Démare. That impressive sprint shows he’s in great form again, and could be poised for a first win since September last year - and first at World Tour level since 2022.

110KM TO GO

Still the gap remains steady, at about 1-20.

Here’s Tim Merlier in the yellow jersey, earned after winning yesterday’s stage. The Belgian has a fine habit of winning the first bunch sprint of races - can he make it back-to-back victories today?

120KM TO GO

Just 1-20 now for the three leaders over the peloton. This is playing out in much the same way as yesterday's stage, with the break not being granted much of an advantage by a peloton determined to keep things under control. 

The three riders in the break. This is a cold day to be out off the front of the race, though the extra effort being made may have the advantage of keeping them warmer.

Here are the updated KOM standings, which, with no more climbs to come, will remain the same come the end of the stage (provided nobody DNFs). Delettre is all set to be in polka-dots again tomorrow. 

1 Alexandre Delettre (12 points)

2 Samuel Fernández (6 points)

3 Jonas Abrahameon (4 points)

4 Matteo Jorgenson (3 points)

5 Julian Alaphilippe (2 points)

6 Taco van der Hoorn (2 points)

1 Florian Lipowitz (1 point)

130KM TO GO

Their lead has come down a little more, to 1-50.

Once again Delettre takes the points, from Abrahamsen and Fernández.

CÔTE DE LA VILLENEUVE

The riders are now on the second and final categorised climb of the day, Côte de la Villeneuve. It's easier than the last, climbing at just 3.5% for 1km.

Paris-Nice isn’t the only World Tour stage race happening today. Over in Italy, it’s the opening day of Tirreno-Adriatico, where the likes of Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso and Filippo Ganna are duking it out in a time trial. You can follow all the action here.

Soudal-QuickStep are leading the peloton, controlling matters for their sprinter Tim Merlier. Merlier is aiming for a second victory in two days, and a sixth of the season, after comfortably winning yesterday’s sprint. At this rate, it’d take a brave punter to bet against him.

140KM TO GO

2-15 currently is the gap. The race is in a holding pattern. 

Grey skies at Paris-Nice today.

Here’s the updated KOM classification:

1 Alexandre Delettre (9 points)

2 Samuel Fernández (5 points)

3 Matteo Jorgenson (3 points)

4 Julian Alaphilippe (2 points)

5 Jonas Abrahamsen (2 points)

6 Taco Van der Horn (2 points)

7 Florian Lipowitz (1 point)

CÔTE DES MESNULS

The leaders have crested the climb, and Delettre has increased his lead in the KOM classification by being first over the line ahead of Abrahamsen and Fernández. 

150KM TO GO

They're on the climb now, and the gap between the leaders and the peloton is 2-30.

The road is about to tilt uphill as they near Côte des Mesnuls. The official climb only lasts 1.2km (at a manageable 5.6%), but it does drag for a few kilometres before then.

The gap's come down some more now, to 2-15.

Here's the break being formed a little earlier. As you can tell from their attire, it's cold out there today. 

160KM TO GO

As they were yesterday, the peloton is being careful not to let this break get too big a gap. Having let it grow out to 3 minutes, they've brought them back to closer to 2-30.

The first of those climbs, Côte des Mesnuls, is coming up in about 10km.

Whereas yesterday’s parcours was rolling, this one is much flatter. Though there are a couple of categorised climbs, neither are much longer than a kilometre, and there’s barely a lump in the road elsewhere.

Delettre is wearing the polka-dot jersey in the break today, having claimed the most mointains points yesterday. Here he is collecting his prize yesterday.

170KM TO GO

The peloton has allowed the leading trio a lead of three minutes. 

A flat tyre for Josh Tarling in the peloton, but he'll expend no energy rejoining with the pace in the peloton low.

Van Lerberghe's efforts are short-lived. He's back in the peloton.

One rider who isn't happy though is Bert Van Lerberghe. He's also attacked out the peloton and is trying to bridge up. 

The peloton seems happy to let this one go, and have allowed them a lead of over a minute already.

This time they’re accompanied not by Taco Van der Hoorn, but another renowned breakaway specialist of similar calibre - Jonas Abrahamsen, who was the star of the breakaways at last year’s Tour de France.

Three riders have attacked, including two of them who were up the road yesterday: Alexandre Delettre (Team TotalEnergies) and Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA).

184KM TO GO

And they're off!

We’re down one rider at the start today. Kasper Asgreen fell ill overnight and has decided to pull out. It’s been a quiet start to life at EF Education-EasyPost for the Dane, who moved from Soudal-QuickStep this year.

And here are the riders at the start of the neutralised zone. They will be officially racing soon.

Here's the scene from Montesson at the stage's start. 

Will that be the case today? While conditions certainly aren’t ideal, with rain in the air and cold temperatures, there are no signs of any strong winds yet.

Matters are rarely that straightforward at Paris-Nice, however. The exposed roads that this stage takes place on are often affected by strong winds, and has in past editions produced echelon racing and crosswind chaos.

You join us for what is expected to be another day for the sprinters at Paris-Nice, with a flat parcours featuring only a couple of small categorised climbs.

Hello and welcome to stage two of Paris-Nice.