Revenge day for bunch sprinters

March 5 ^th 2024 - 05:24

Sprinters were not expected to steal the show in Sunday’s rather bumpy first stage in Les Mureaux, but one of them, Olav Kooij, actually did and more is to be expected over 179 km between Thoiry and Montargis.

Stage 2 on Paris-Nice has recently been described as the “echelon stage” as wind often blows sideways in March on the roads taking the peloton southwards from the outskirts of Paris. Still no strong winds are forecast for Monday and a bunch sprint seems extremely likely.

Previous stage finishes in Montargis sum up the expectations –– in 1976, Jacques Esclassan won a bunch sprint in town while in 2004, Spain’s Pedro Horillo took advantage of a succession of splits and echelons to snatch victory. On the Tour de France, the last two stage finishing in town were won by Robbie McEwen and Mark Cavendish.

On current form, overall leader Kooij has to be cited as the main favourite. He managed to outsprint and outwit Mads Pedersen on the finish line in stage 1 and is on even more favourable terrain today. The leader’s jersey on his back should add extra motivation.  

By contrast, Pedersen, the man with most wins this season, will be out for revenge and can obviously not be ruled out, especially as he has won a stage on Paris-Nice in the last two editions. While we mention revenge, most of the fast finishers who were ruled out of contention on the several hills of the opening stage will be eager to make amends. The list is a long one with Arnaud De Lie, Dylan Groenewegen, Sam Bennet, Arnaud Démare or Fabio Jakobsen among the riders unable to defend their chances in the finale in Les Mureaux.

A third category climb early in the stage – Côte des Mesnuls (Km 12.5) – will probably prompt several riders to attempt to break away from the gun, among them polka-dot jersey holder Jonas Rutsch (EF-Easypost), who only needs to take three points on that hill to keep his KOM lead.