Paris-Nice 2023

Belgian national champion tops Bennett and Pedersen in a bunch kick.

By Adam Becket • Published Bora-Hansgrohe made a well-timed surge to the front on the finishing straight, allowing Bennett to open the proceedings as he launched to his right. From there, things settled down again briefly as the sprinters' teams worked their way into place. Within moments, Merlier had pulled into the lead, and he maintained a healthy advantage all the way to the line. He was caught on the run-in to the day's final climb, the Côte de Dis-sept Tournants, where it was Pogačar's turn to fire a salvo. Things came back together before long, but then Powless fired off the front solo. With 20km to go, Powless put in a big surge that forced splits in the bunch, with Pogačar looking strong in response as others scrambled to cover the move. The pack gave the move some breathing room at first, with the gap going up and over three minutes before it settled there or thereabouts for a while. The opening stage of Paris-Nice started and finished in La Verrière with 169.5 km of racing on what was essentially a large circuit of rolling hills. "It was a hard day definitely because a there was a lot of stress in the peloton. The two-time Tour de France winner managed to work his way clear of his rivals near the top of the climb, where he was the first to cross the intermediate sprint line for six bonus seconds ahead of Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Dorian Godon (Ag2r Citroën). There was a steep climb 19 kilometres from the finish that was also big tactically.

The day was marked by a number of breakaways and splits in the peloton, with a two-man breakaway of Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) and Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) ...

Starting life as a freelance feature writer, with bylines in The Times and The Telegraph, he first entered cycling journalism in 2012, joining Cyclist magazine as staff writer. The race took in 169.4km, laced with short but steep ascents harsh enough to split the sprinters from the main field. The two were unable to break clear, but the climb saw a major split in the peloton amid the chaos, with a lead group in the split expanding out to a 20-second advantage. The peloton was now clocking in speeds of between 50 and 60kmh on the flat Northern French terrain, with the tension leading to a crash of around a dozen riders as the peloton squeezed through a small village sitting 25km from the finish. Ourselin and Gregaard were left undisturbed for the next 70km, with a manageable gap of around one minute, before the peloton picked up in pace and swallowed up the two riders with 30km remaining. [Kasper Asgreen](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/kasper-asgreen/) led Merlier to the front of the peloton in a sprint that saw all the major teams place their riders in contention - with [Olav Kooij](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/olav-kooij/) (Jumbo-Visma), [Arnaud De Lie](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/arnaud-de-lie/) (Lotto-Dstny) and [Michael Matthews](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/michael-matthews/) (Jayco-AlUla) all finishing just off the podium. Riding clear with 150km remaining, the two were allowed a generous lead of over two minutes in a little over 5km of riding. “It was a hard day certainly, with a lot of strength in the peloton and the steep climb 9km from the finish, and we had to think tactically and we had two men in there and we come back on the last climb very well and Kasper Asgreen brought me to the front.” The first 20km saw a slow pace in the peloton and a lack of any serious attacks, and when a duo of Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) and Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) broke clear over a small unclassified climb, it was largely without objection. “It was a great effort from the team, and they believed in me and today and it was a great lead-out,” Merlier said following the finish. [Tim Merlier ](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/tim-merlier/)gave Soudal-Quickstep the first win of Paris-Nice when he took stage 1 victory ahead of [Sam Bennett](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/sam-bennett/) (Bora-Hansgrohe) and [Mads Pedersen](https://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/mads-pedersen/) (Trek Segafredo) in a bunch sprint in La Verrière. The day was marked by a number of breakaways and splits in the peloton, with a two-man breakaway of Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) and Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) riding alone for the majority of the day, before the last 10km saw short and sharp attacks coming from Neilson Powless, Tadej Pogacar and Florian Senechal.

Follow live coverage, stream information, prediction, TV channel, start date and result updates of Paris Nice 2023 stage 2 between Bazainville and ...

+ 00'00" This day will have 164 kilometers of distance sailing from Bazainville and arriving at Fontainebleau. Fontainebleau is a capital for equestrian activities, with the Grand Parquet, the La Solle racecourse and the Military Equestrian School.