BARCELONA, 6 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Danish cyclist Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) won the second stage of Paris-Nice on Monday, played between Bazainville and Fontainebleau over 163.7 kilometers, and with the bonus at the finish line he ‘swiped’ the lead from Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), who had won the intermediate sprint and was the virtual leader of the race.
The stage went to Mads Pedersen, in his second victory in this start of 2023 and first in the sprint. And, the leadership, also went to the Dane, who bonused 4 seconds in the first stage and 10 in this one, to surpass in 2 seconds in the new provisional general classification a Pogacar who fought (12 bonus seconds in total) for being the leader , but without fruit.
Despite a fall in the last kilometer, without consequences, the last big roundabout did not cause problems and the approach to the finish line was clean, as was the fight for victory. Pedersen beat the Dutchman Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) and his compatriot Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost).
This time, the previous leader, the Belgian Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step), fourteenth at the finish line, nor another favorite such as Sam Bennett (BORA-hansgrohe), twentieth, did not appear for the top positions. The best Spaniard was, as in the first stage but much further back, the Asturian Iván García Cortina (Movistar Team), 39th.
For this Tuesday, the third stage features a 32.2-kilometre team time trial in Dampierre-en-Burly, with the last starting position for the Trek-Segafredo of leader Pedersen, who has those 2 seconds ahead of Pogacar and 4 seconds over Merlier.