Michael Matthews (Orica-Greenedge) won the 2nd stage of the Paris-Nice after Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) crossed the line first but was later relegated to 3rd place for dangerous sprinting. Niccolo Bonafazio (Trek-Segafredo) was the rider who was then promoted to 2nd on the stage.
The early part of the stage saw the riders start the long 214km haul from Contres to Commentry with temperatures only around 4 degrees Celsius. 4 riders decided to turn up the heat somewhat by attacking within the first 5km of the stage. The peloton let them go without much of a fight and they soon had a 10-minute lead over the rest of the race.
As the stage never had any notable climbs to speak of, it was tailor-made for the sprinters. This counted against the leading 4 as a number of teams were willing to assist Orica-Greenedge with the pace making, particularly at the back end of the stage. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka were riding for Youcef Reguigui today and so with 15km to go, Nathan Haas brought our African Team to the head of the peloton.
The break was finally caught with 11km to go and it was then a jostle for position between the sprinters teams. Haas and Tyler Farrar were doing a sterling job to keep Reguigui up front until 5km to go, from thereon the Algerian would fend for himself. Reguigui was on the wheel of Bouhanni with 2km to go before being bumped out of line.
The sprint opened up with Bouhanni going for the win, the Frenchman started fading just before the line and as Matthews tried to pass on the inside, the Cofidis rider narrowed the gap between the barrier and himself. Reguigui was in the mix right until the end and at the finish, he was credited with 12th place on the stage.
Jean-Pierre Heynderickx – Sport Director
