Brutal day sees Sonny Colbrelli of Bahrain Merida take Stage 2 of Paris-Nice
Sonny Colbrelli won his first World Tour race today, on 2nd Stage of Paris-Nice, and brought first European victory to BAHRAIN MERIDA Pro Cycling Team
Amilly, France, March 6th - After hard work of the whole team throughout the entire 2nd stage and after lots of changes, breakaways, groupings and regroupings, there was the whole peloton in the front again only few kilometers before the finish. Our sprinter, Sonny Colbrelli, who stayed focused and concentrated also in the most challenging conditions, grabbed his chance for a great sprint in the last few hundred meters. With today’s final act he proved once again what kind of rider he is and how tough and explosive he can be, even after such an extraordinary hard race.
After yesterday's very hard, windy and wet 1st Stage, we believed that the conditions couldn't be worse, but today’s 2nd Stage gave us even harder race with extraordinary weather. It was a hard and challenging day for all the riders to fight against each other and against the strong side and tail wind. The temperature also dropped to 4 *C.
Ion Izagirre and Luka Pibernik worked very well from the beginning. Ion was in the front part of the peloton and also Luka Pibernik played an important role in the very front of the peloton by keeping the front position. Grega Bole was focused and worked hard throughout the race. Sonny Colbrelli was very calm during the race, always keeping in the middle of any group and waiting for the race to develop in the ideal scenario for him. And so it did. Sonny grabbed the oppurtunity and won his first World tour title and brought the first European victory to Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling team.
Sonny Colbrelli, our winner, said after the race: “It’s such a special day. My first World Tour win, the biggest win of my career. I’m really happy. It has been a really hard stage, with heavy rain and a lot of echelons. I did a great sprint. I feared they could catch me in the final meters, but I tried to resist. I was riding at Paris-Nice for the first time, to prepare for Milano-Sanremo, because I would like to change my approach to that important race, but now I’m here and there will also be other stages that suit me, so I will focus on Milano Sanremo after this race.”
Philippe Mauduit, sports director, added: "It was another crazy day, with rain and strong winds. But we had that one chance and we knew, we have to take it 100 %. When I saw Sonny and Luka coming back from the group; I said immediately that we have to be focused for the final. And after slightly modified tactics Sonny finished first! For the upcoming Stages - with this weather we will see what happens day by day. Today was a happy day, yesterday not so much, and we will see what tomorrow brings".
2017 Paris-Nice Stage 2 Top 50 Results
1 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 4:20:59
2 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
3 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ
4 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
5 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
6 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team
7 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
8 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
10 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
2017 Paris-Nice General Classification After Stage 2 Top 30
1 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ 7:43:28
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:06
3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:17
4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:19
5 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
6 Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo - Vital Concept 0:00:21
7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:23
8 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
9 Rudy Molard (Fra) FDJ
10 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:31
11 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:33
12 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:36
13 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:50
14 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:00
15 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:01
16 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:06
17 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb 0:01:17
18 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:18
19 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
20 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
21 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
22 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:31
23 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:11
24 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:17
25 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:02:20
26 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:02:32
27 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:42
28 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-Scott 0:03:10
29 Davide Cimolai (Ita) FDJ 0:03:23
30 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:04:10
VIDEO: 2017 Paris-Nice Stage 2 Highlights
Brutal day sees Sonny Colbrelli of Bahrain Merida take Stage 2 of Paris-Nice - Photo Credit: © Team Bahrain-Merida/ Miwa IIJIMA / BettiniPhoto
2017 Paris-Nice LIVESTREAM REPLAY: Stage 2
16:33 CET: Alaphilippe, Gilbert, Dan Martin and Gallopin all GC favorites after stage 2
16:31 CET: Top 10 General Classification after Stage 2
16:30 CET: Stage 2 Top 10 Results
16:27 CET: VIDEO - Sonny Colbrelli wins the final sprint!
#ParisNice LIVE: Sonny Colbrelli wins the final sprint! Watch Here => https://t.co/LL01jIrDrs pic.twitter.com/EaOac5Rztk
— GranFondoGuide (@GranFondoGuide) March 6, 2017
16:24 CET: Sonny Colbrelli wins the final sprint!
16:16 CET: Contador, Dan Martin, Alaphilippe all here - except Porte who's 5 minutes behind.
16:16 CET: Kristoff, Greipel, Degenkolb or Demare for the sprint ?
16:11 CET: the headwead will be the demise of Gilbert. FDJ has come to the front to chase now. 8kms and 27"
16:09 CET: 10 km to go. Can Phillipe "no gloves" Gilbert maintain his lead? Come on Gilbert!
16:05 CET: Richie Porte's group in nearly 5 minutes behind ....
16:02 CET: 15 km to go. Gilbert has around 40s. Not much left of the lead group with FDJ ripping it apart for Demare.
16:00 CET: Nacer Bouhanni has ABANDONED!!!
15:57 CET: "no gloves" Gilbert has attacked, Peloton in the distance ...
15:53 CET: Confirmed, Richie Porte isn't in the yellow jersey group. He's over 4 minutes behind. Game over for Porte!
15:52 CET: Riders are abandoning, being dropped by the yellow jersey group off the back. Some riders getting sick. It really brutal racing!
15:48 CET: Phillipe Gilbert is an animal, he's riding with no winter gloves! WTF! Bonifazio has abandoned.
15:44 CET: Team Sky and FDJ on the front, trying to bring the break back. 26 kms to go.
15:39 CET: Another very tough day. High winds and echelons everywhere. It's Brutal out there!
15:34 CET: We now have live video. Please refresh this page in your browser.
15:27 CET: Siutuation: 5 riders in the breakaway have 1 minute, group 2 has caught group 1 which is all back together containing the GC favorites. 36kms to go.
15:25 CET: Arnaud Demare and his teammates showing great strengh today, Marc Sarreau still in the lead.
15:24 CET: Marc Sarreau (FDJ) flatted, leaving five riders in the lead: Bystrom, Gallopin, Wynants, Gilbert and Siskevicius. They lead the main bunch by 1:15.
15:22 CET: Gilbert, Bystrom, Gallopin, Siskevicius and Wynants have 1 minute lead. 42 kilometers to go
15:21 CET: We are expecting live video soon. We'll post above when available.
15:20 CET: 5 rider have a 1 minute lead Gilbert , Byström, Gallopin, Wynants, Sarreau y Siskevicius
15:17 CET: Hello Sports Fans. Kicking off live coverage of Stage 2 of Paris-Nice
Monday, 6 March 2017 - At 195 kilometres, the route of the 2nd stage in Paris-Nice runs from Rochefort-en-Yvelines to Amilly. Chances are the race will boil down to a bunch sprint.
Six years ago it was the last time Amilly hosted a Paris-Nice arrival. Greg Henderson sprinted to victory ahead of Matthew Goss, while a young Peter Sagan finished fifth.
The first stages in Paris-Nice tend to be flat, which has been the case for years. After all, when leaving Paris the geography is like that – flat, at least until halfway down the map of France. Last year’s Race to the Sun started with a prologue and the next day Nacer Bouhanni sprinted to victory.
The route to Amilly is no exception. After 9 kilometres the riders tackle the Côte des Granges, a 1.5 kilometre climb at 3.1%. It is the only chance to earn KOM-point as the rest of the race is played out on flat roads.
The firs three riders on the line in Amilly take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the two intermediate sprints (after 31.5 and 156.5 kilometres) come with 3, 2 and 1 second each.
