Stage 2 from Montesson to Bellegarde (183.9km) saw Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) outsprint Arnaud Démare (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) and Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling). The route featured some rolling terrain with two categorized climbs: the Côte des Mesnuls at kilometer 34.1 and the Côte de la Villeneuve at kilometer 54.1, but was overall a flat stage for the sprinters.
The stage unfolded with a breakaway of four riders: João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal-Quick-Step), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), and Ben O’Connor (Team Jayco AlUla). This quartet established a lead, but their advantage remained modest, fluctuating between 1 and 2 minutes throughout the day. The peloton, led by teams with sprinters, maintained a controlled pace, ensuring the breakaway’s gap was manageable.
A significant development occurred when Almeida, Schachmann, Skjelmose, and O’Connor were involved in a crash, temporarily disrupting the breakaway’s cohesion. Despite this setback, they regrouped and continued their effort. However, with approximately 5 kilometers remaining, the peloton intensified its pursuit, and the breakaway was reeled in just 15 seconds ahead of the 3-kilometer mark, setting the stage for the anticipated sprint finish.
As the sprint wound up, Merlier navigated through the field to the front and in the final meters overtook Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), and Axel Zingle (Cofidis), to easily win by a couple bike lengths.
This victory marked Merlier’s sixth win of the season, following his back-to-back successes at the UAE Tour. He became the first rider since Dylan Groenewegen in 2019 to win the opening two stages of Paris-Nice.
Merlier was especially happy to have won while wearing the yellow leader’s jersey
“I will always remember this stage. It is the first time that I win in a leader’s jersey. At least, that’s what I think. Or I forgot a victory”
Asked about whether the team would try to defend the yellow jersey in Tuesday’s team time trial, Merlier was positive but also honest about their chances. “We’re going to try, of course. It’s a tough assignment, but I’m going to do my best.”
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