Paris-Nice 2025 Stage 2 recap - Tim Merlier makes it two out of two, sprinting to victory in leader's jersey

Tim Merlier made his second win of the week look as easy as his first.

Seemingly out of position coming into the finishing straight, the race leader was simply biding his time, before picking the best wheel, putting his nose in the wind and powering to another impressive victory.

His first career win in a leader's jersey came at the end of a nervous day that saw multiple crashes in the final third of its 183km distance.

Three riders, Florian Senechal (Arkea B&B Hotels), Luke Durbridge (Jayco Alula) and Gorka Sorrain (Caja Rural) were forced to retire hurt from the race.

With even fewer hills than the day before, it was supposed to be a more straightforward stage than Sunday's. Another small break went away early, including two of the same riders, Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) and Samuel Fernandez (Caja Rural), plus Tour de France escape artist Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility).

Again, the bunch allowed them only a short leash, the lead rising no higher than 2'30. Delettre was most concerned with picking up more mountain points, to secure the polka dot jersey, and was content to call it a day when the peloton began seriously to close in.

Abrahamsen had his sights on the late intermediate sprints, using his breakaway experience to eke out more of a lead and secure the six bonus seconds that would ultimately take him into the top five in the general classification.

The finishing circuit around Bellegarde was where tensions began to fray, as the fight for position saw straining and stress at every corner.

One of those caused a major crash 20 riders down the bunch, with most of the main sprinters at least impeded.

Arnaud Demare (Arkea B&B Hotels) came off his bike and had a major solo battle to get back in time for the sprint. Merlier had a bit more team help and was returned in plenty of time.

Abrahamsen hung on for as long as he could but was caught at the 3km to go point, where the sprint teams took over.

Into the final straight, none seemed eager to take up the lead-out. Merlier jumped on Mads Pedersen's wheel as it was going by, appreciating the tow to 50m and then darting out to execute another perfect sprint.

His overall lead increases to 14 seconds going into Tuesday's individual time trial.

1. Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) 7'43"12
2. Arnaud Demare (Arkea B&B Hotels) +"14
3. Emelien Jeanniers (TotalEnergies) "
4. Matteo Jorgensen (Visma Lease A Bike) "
5. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) "

Hugo Page in sixth place leads the young rider competition.

"This is one I'm going to remember, for sure. I think it's the first time I've won in the leader's jersey.

"It was a lot for our team to have to control the race but Trek started helping. The break kept coming back and going out again, but Abrahamsen was really strong, spent a long time in front.

"We're going to try to keep the jersey tomorrow, but it's going to be tough in the time trial I think."

EMELIEN JEANNIERE: SECOND BEHIND MERLIER IS AMAZING
"The team has a lot of experience in Paris-Nice sprints like that, so I got a lot of help from them.

"Unfortunately, we lost a rider who was supposed to be there for that last long stretch, but Anthony Turgis placed me beautifully.

"I took one of the wheels and it was perfect. It's strange to be happy with second, but behind Tim Merlier it's amazing. He's the best sprinter in the world."

TOP FIVE ON THE STAGE

1. Tim Merlier
2. Emelien Jeanniere
3. Hugo Page
4. Mads Pedersen
5. Alexander Kristoff

It wasn't quite as big a gap to second as yesterday, but it was no less convincing a win for Tim Merlier, who extends his lead into tomorrow's time trial.

Amid the chaos, he waited and waited and timed it perfectly. He went for the wheel of Mads Pedersen and didn't come into the wind until he had to. The fastest man in this race at least.

Lots of looking around and jostling.

2KM TO GO: MERLIER A LITTLE BIT BOXED IN
His team know what they're doing though. It's false flat uphill but they're going at 63kph now. Rapid.

Everyone gets the same time now. And it's over for Abrahamsen, who is back in the bunch. We're going to see a gallop.

And Soudal-Quickstep, in the shape of Yves Lampaert, take it up. They're getting a bit of help from Tudor Pro Cycling and Arkea Samsic, while EF and Visma do what they can to hold position. Abrahamsen sees 10 seconds tumble off his lead. I think it's unlikely he can hang on now, but he's made it interesting.

He couldn't, could he? Every time there's a turn coming up, they all charge into it, which chops a few seconds off, before easing up on the exit, which allows his advantage to creep up again. It looked like it was finished, and it still wouldn't take much, but there are more teams at the front of the bunch more concerned with the safety of their leaders than ensuring this finishes in a sprint.

Decathlon are riding so you have to assume Felix Gall has been delayed. We can see Ben O'Connor and Joao Almeida as well. Splits all over the place, but they should all get back. At the front the racing doesn't seem to be "on" but all of that has had the effect of reducing Abrahamsen's lead to almost nothing. He keeps plugging away all the same, but there's not much more for him to gain in this one.

Luke 'Turbo' Durbridge (Jayco Alula) is on the ground and clutching his collarbone. We didn't see it but there seems to have been another coming together back down the bunch, with a Caja Rural rider in a similar sorry state.

And the six seconds, and the points in the green jersey competition. Further back there's a bit of a scrap between Red Bull and Visma, with Victor Campenarts doing a fine job of leading out Matteo Jorgensen who isn't next across the line but does enough to take the two. Mick van Dijke was the Red Bull man in the middle.

He's approaching the finishing circuit which will give him a look at the line. He's less than 10km from the intermediate sprint and potential bonus seconds, so he's not flogging himself for no reason. He's got the 93 seconds in hand so you'd make him a favourite to take the six, which would shoot him up the standings as long as he finishes with the bunch.

While we've been playing welfare watch, the Norwegian up the road has increased his lead to over a minute. Most of the riders who got cut off by that crash, including Merlier, have made it back to the bunch.

Pretty much everyone was involved in that one, which was completely unnecessary. There was a sprint for potion at a right hand bend and coming out of it there was a skittling 20 riders back. It started on the left side of the road and spread all across the bunch. Most riders were impeded more than anything but that did include the yellow jersey of Tim Merlier and Arnaud Demare wearing green. It looks like Demare's team-mate Florian Senechal came off worst, though. He's holding his shoulder and I don't think we'll be seeing more of him this week.

Delettre has decided not to fight the inevitable, even as the other two look to solider on for a little bit longer. At the other end of the race, Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ) has had some sort of problem and his now battling his way back. You'd think someone might be sent to help him.

There doesn't seem to be too much urgency in the bunch but the pace looks to have picked up sufficiently to chip off most of the gap to the break. On this exposed stretch of narrow roads, they've not got more than twenty seconds and are very much in sight. There may have been the threat of wind, or it might have just been the narrowing and a few corners some road captains or sports directors wanted to get ahead of that forced a few hands. Back on to the open roads and the gap has gone out again.

After his Ineos team had a bit of a job to do to drag him back to the bunch, the young American delivered for them by snatching a couple of bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. They were enough to lift him above the masses, and put him in sixth place overall.