Stage two of Paris-Nice featured a flat route between Montesson and Bellegarde. The race began calmly with three riders breaking away from the peloton, where Team Visma | Lease a Bike remained attentive at the front. Two of the escapees were reeled in well before the finish, while the last remaining breakaway rider, Jonas Abrahamsen, was caught in the closing kilometres. In the peloton, Matteo Jorgenson once again picked up two bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, having already collected four seconds in the opening stage.  

Several crashes occured in the peloton, but the Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders stayed out of trouble thanks to good positioning. Just as in the opening stage, Zingle took his chance in the sprint. The Frenchman launched his sprint first, but in the uphill finishing metres, five riders managed to pass him. The stage win once again went to Tim Merlier.  

“The slightly uphill finish didn’t seem too challenging, but after such a long sprint, it felt like Alpe d’Huez to me”, Zingle said with a smile. “With 500 metres to go, the pace dropped a little, so I decided to launch my sprint early. When I hit the front, I realised it was still a long way to the finish. In the end, I couldn’t hold on, but it was a good attempt. I really enjoyed how well the team rode today. Tomorrow, we have an important challenge with the team time trial. There’s some pressure, but I’m looking forward to ride with this strong squad.”  

Sports director Grischa Niermann is pleased that his riders came through unscathed. “We knew it was going to be a nervous stage. Our goal was to keep Jonas Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson out of trouble, and we managed that once again. The key was to get through these first two stages safely. Now, we can fully focus on tomorrow’s team time trial.”  

The 28-kilometre team time trial, set on rolling terrain, features a short but steep climb towards the end. “Ideally, we will be in contention for the stage win,” Niermann looks ahead. “Since the individual times of each rider count, we hope to bring Jonas and Matteo to the finish together. We are confident in our strong lineup, but the competition is fierce. It promises to be an exciting battle.”