Second stage for Geraint Thomas, van Avermaet leads GC
Geraint Thomas won the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. The Team Sky rider launched an attack in the final kilometers and crossed the finish line 9 seconds ahead Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe)
The second stage of the Italian race between the two seas was the longest, 229 kilometers. The riders rode between Camaiore and Pomarance on a hilly route with an uphill finish.
A breakaway group of six riders was formed early on. Hugo Houle (AG2R-La Mondiale), Davide Ballerini and Raffaello Bonusi (Androni Giocattoli), Mirco Maestri (Bardiani CSF), Alan Marangoni (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) created a gap of more than five minutes ahead of the peloton.
BMC Racing Team was determined to work hard to bring the break back and bring Greg Van Avermaet into a good position for the finish. For most of the stage the American team lead the peloton keep the breakaway in check.
With 27 kilometers to go, the peloton finally caught the break and increased the pace towards the finish line. Some attacks were launched but nobody could create a substantial gap within the group.
At three kilometers to go, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) launched an attack with 3 chasers that included Bob Jungels (Quick-Step), Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) and Damiano Caruso (BMC).
Thomas solo'd across the finish line and behind him Dumoulin attacked the group in the last meters to cross the line in second position. Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Franceso Gavazzi (Androni Giocattoli) completed the top five of the stage.
Greg van Avermaet leads the General Classification and is followed by his teammates Rohan Dennis and Tejay Van Garderen, who are in second and third position respectively.
2017 Paris-Nice Stage 2 Results Top 10
1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 5:51:44
2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:09
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
5 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
6 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
7 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott
8 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
10 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
2017 Paris-Nice Top 2 Overall after Stage 2
1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 6:15:14
2 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
3 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
4 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
5 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:16
6 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
7 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:21
8 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team
9 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
10 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
VIDEO: 2017 Paris-Nice Stage 2 Highlights
2017 Paris-Nice LIVESTREAM: Stage 5
16:49 CET: Stage 5 Top 10 Overall after Stage 5
16:47 CET: Stage 5 Top 10 Results
16:42 CET: Final Sprint VIDEO
#ParisNice LIVE: VIDEO: Greipel wins stage 5 sprint! Watch Here => https://t.co/LL01jIrDrs #livestream pic.twitter.com/JMrlxrnn2e
— GranFondoGuide (@GranFondoGuide) March 9, 2017
16:41 CET: Greipel wins the final sprint on Stage 5
15:45 CET: Please refreash this page in your browser, LIVE VIDEO is about to start.
15:09 CET: 75 km to go. 3'35" for Berhane, Calmejane, Di Grégorio, Domont, Périchon and Zurlo
14:53 CET: Break away including; Domont, Berhane, Perichon, Calmejane, Zurlo and di Gregori lead the stage by more than five minutes
14:39 CET: Welcome to live coverage of Stage 5 of Paris-Nice
The 5th stage of Paris-Nice the riders travel from Quincié-en-Beaujolais to Bourg de Péage. At 199.5 kilometres, it is the longest stage in the 2017 edition of Paris-Nice.
Bourg-de-Péage and pro-cycling, that has become a popular combination in recent years. Two years ago stage 16 in the Tour de France left from the town in the Rhône-valley. The race boiled down to a Ruben Plaza showdown in arrival town Gap after a massive solo effort.
In 2017, the 5th stage of Paris-Nice ends in Bourg-de-Péage. Chances are the race will boil down to a bunch sprint, albeit the route takes in quite a few hills. Yet most of them are featured in the first half of the race.
The hilly section basically runs until the Côte de Givors. KOM-point on this 4.3 kilometres climb at 4.2% are up for grabs at kilometre 98, but the climb rolls on for a few more kilometres. Following the drop the flat second half of the race stretches out before the riders. Still, there is one punchy hill left. The Côte de Saint-Uze is 2.7 kilometres at 6.5% and at the top there are 47 kilometres left to race.
The first three riders on the line in Bourg-de-Péage take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while intermediate sprints (after 70 and 133.5 kilometres) come with 3, 2 and 1 second each.
