Tim Merlier made it two from two at Paris-Nice on Monday, sprinting to a resounding victory on stage two of the race while wearing the leader's yellow jersey.
None of Merlier’s rivals were able to match his lethal turn of speed, with the reigning European champion taking a relatively straightforward sixth win of the year after being perfectly set up in the finishing straight. It followed victory on stage one, too.
French duo Emilien Jeannière of TotalEnergies and Hugo Page of Intermarche-Wanty took second and third respectively, with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) completing the top five. Pedersen and Kristoff later moved up a place each after Page was relegated for an irregular sprint.
"It’s one to remember, for sure," Merlier said afterwards. "I think this is the first time in my career that I’ve won while wearing the leader’s jersey. It was a bit annoying today as the breakaway was playing with us a little, I think. In the end Abrahamsen was really strong and stayed a long time in front. But the team did a really good job for me again."
Several crashes took place on the road, and Merlier explained that he was forced to chase back after picking up a mechanic issue as a result of one of the incidents. "There was a crash before me and there wasn’t time to break. Someone hit me from the back and my wheel was broken so I needed to change the bike," he said.
Merlier joked that stage three’s team time trial should, on paper, spell the end of his stint in yellow, but said his Soudal Quick-Step team would do everything within their power to pull off a surprise.
"Of course, we’re going to try but it will be very difficult, I think," he added with a smile.
How it happened
The race preceded without much incident, until 42 kilometres were left to race when a huge pile up took out large numbers of riders. Several were seen swinging into the farmland alongside the narrow road in order to avoid the chaos. Frenchman Florian Sénéchal (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) was loaded into an ambulance with his arm strapped up.
The events back down the road played into the hands of the last man standing from the day’s breakaway, Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X Mobility. The Norwegian rider was part of an initial three-rider move, but his breakaway compatriots were unable to live with the hard pace set by the 29-year-old. Abrahamsen had a lead of more than a minute as the riders entered the final phase of racing.
The peloton gradually ate into Abramsen’s lead as he approached the 20 kilometre to go banner, with Visma-Lease a Bike being one of several teams jostling for position at the head of the pack, looking to get organised ahead of an expected sprint finish in Bellegarde.
Abrahamsen led the race into the finishing circuit for what would be the race’s first passage across the line, sweeping up six bonus seconds for his efforts.
Meanwhile. Soudal Quick-Step had the European Champion, and winner of the first stage, Tim Merlier, well-placed as the peloton came through the centre of Bellegarde. A small crash in the peloton caused a few small splits, which temporarily caught out several GC riders, allowing Abrahamsen to push on with the real finish drew closer. His lead stood at 35 seconds with under ten kilometres to race.
Abrahamsen was finally caught by the onrushing peloton with two and a half kilometres to go. The peloton tore under the flamme rouge with Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step leading the charge. But in the end, nobody could stop Merlier, as the Belgian cantered to a second successive stage win.
2025 Paris-Nice stage 2, Montesson > Bellegarde (183 km)
1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 4:11:29
2. Emilien Jeanniere (Fra) Total Energies,
3. Mads Pedersen 9Den) Lidl-Trek,
4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
5. Timo Kielich (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck,
6. Axel Zingle (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike,
7. Arnaud Demare (Fra) Arkea B&B Hotels,
8. Matevz Govekar (Slo) Bahrain Victorious,
9. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Picnic PostNL,
10. Cees Bol (Ned) Astana Qazaqstan, all at same time
General classification after stage two
1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 7:43:12
2. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +14s
3. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, st
4. Matteo Jorgensen (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, st
5. Jhontan Narvaez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-CRG, st
6. Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, st
7. mads Pedersen 9Den) Lidl-Trek, +16s
8. Mick van Dijke (Ned) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, st
9. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling, st
10. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, +18s
