The second stage of Paris-Nice 2012, between Mantes-la-Jolie and Orléans, has been marked by the wind, crashes and the final sprint of the breakaway which was won by the Belgian rider Tom Boonen of the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team. Bradley Wiggins takes the precious yellow jersey which he would have liked to take after yesterday's time trial.

The summary of the 2nd stage of Paris-Nice 2012: Mantes-la-Jolie > Orléans

The start of the stage was in Mantes-la-Jolie at the end of the morning (at 11.54AM), with 176 riders at the start.

After having been present at the signature this morning, Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank) decided to abandon the race just after the start, suffering too much from his injuries after yesterday's crash. Nuyens puts his preparation for the classics since the winner of the Tour of Flanders 2011 wanted to use Paris-Nice to get ready for his major goals of the season.

The start of the stage was quite quiet, very quiet actually, with the average speed being only around 30 kilometers an hour. This didn't really lead any rider to attempt to break away however until the Belgian Olivier Kaisen of the Lotto-Belisol team tried his chance with a solo attack after around 60 kilometers. He rapidly created an interesting gap, which was above two minutes at the foot of the only climb of the day, the Côte des Granges-le-Roi. At the top, he took the first points for the King of the Mountains classification, but Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) managed to defend his polka dot jersey by taking the second place, at 2'20" behind the solo breakaway.

The wind and the wish of the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team to speed up a bit led to the peloton falling apart in several groups behind Kaisen and the Belgian rider got company of 11 riders from the peloton and a bit later 18 others joined them.

After a crash in the leading group, the number of riders in this group went down to 21. For the Omega Pharma-QuickStep they were Tom Boonen, Sylvain Chavanel, Levi Leipheimer and Nikolas Maes. Several other teams had 2 riders in the breakaway: Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas for Team Sky, Alejandro Valverde and José Joaquin Rojas for Movistar Team, Francesco Gavazzi and Robert Kiserlovski for Astana, Andreas Klier and Sep Vanmarcke for Garmin-Barracuda, Taylor Phinney and the leader of the best young riders classification Tejay van Garderen for BMC Racing Team and finally Simon Spilak and Angel Vicioso for Katusha Team. 5 riders were the sole representatives of their different teams: Maxime Monfort (Radioshack-Nissan), Anthony Ravard (AG2R La Mondiale), Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team), Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ BigMat) and John Degenkolb of Project 1t4i.

At the intermediate sprint in Neuville-aux-Bois at 45.5 kilometers from the finish, this group had a 1'45" gap on the peloton and Bradley Wiggins took the points at this sprint, but foremost also the 3 bonus seconds which allowed him to get a lead in the general classification. Behind him, Alejandro Valverde takes the 2nd place and Maxime Monfort the 3rd.

Finally, this group continues till the finish line and at 300 meters from the finish in Orléans, John Degenkolb is the first rider to attack. Tom Boonen however is quick to react and wins the sprint of this second stage of Paris-Nice 2012.

The classifications of Paris-Nice 2012 after the 2nd stage: Mantes-la-Jolie > Orléans

The stage classification

Hereunder you'll find the top 10 of the stage Mantes-la-Jolie > Orléans:

1/ Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - 4h22'15"
2/ Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team)
3/ John Degenkomb (Project 1t4i)
4/ Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Barracuda)
5/ Francesco Gavazzi (Astana)
6/ Angel Vicioso (Katusha Team)
7/ Maxime Monfort (Radioshack-Nissan)
8/ Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team)
9/ Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team)
10/ Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)

General classification

Bradley Wiggins does good business today with the 3 bonus seconds he took in the intermediate sprint and by being well placed in the leading group at the finish. He takes over the yellow jersey from Gustav Larsson.

1/ Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) - 4h33'32"
2/ Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - +0'06"
3/ Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - +0'07"
4/ Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) - +0'11"
5/ Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - +0'14"

Points classification

With his stage victory, Tom Boonen also takes the first place in the points classification, where he gets the same number of points as Bradley Wiggins. Here's the top 5 of this classification:

1/ Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - 35 points
2/ Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) - 35 points
3/ Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) - 27 points
4/ Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - 26 points
5/ Gustav Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) - 25 points

King of the Mountain classification

By getting on top of the only difficulty of today's stage in 2nd position, Thomas de Gendt keeps his leading position in the King of the Mountains classification:

1/ Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) - 6 points
2/ Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol) - 4 points
3/ Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - 2 points
4/ Bart de Clercq (Lotto-Belisol) - 2 points

Best young riders classification

Being in the leading group, Tejay van Garderen keeps the lead in the best young riders classification:

1/ Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) - 4h33'43"
2/ Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) - +0'10"
3/ John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i) - +0'19"
4/ Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Barracuda) - +0'41"
5/ Patrick Gretsch (Project 1t4i) - +2'37"

The photos of the 2nd stage of Paris-Nice 2012

If you'd like to see a selection of 88 photos of the second stage of Paris-Nice 2012, you can click on the following link:
> The photos of the 2nd stage of Paris-Nice 2012: Mantes-la-Jolie > Orléans

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Paris-Nice 2012 | Paris-Nice

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