Paris-Nice stage 2: Cees Bol sprints superbly in chaos-filled final kilometer

Under sunny skies and in cool conditions, Cees Bol (Team DSM) won the second stage of the 2021 Paris-Nice in a technical, downhill run into the finish.

“It’s the best feeling there is,” said a jubilant Bol. “I had a bit of a struggle at the start of the season and wasn’t too good until now but we kept believing and today I got superb help from my teammates. We smashed it. We went well through the last corner and were close to being boxed in but Nils recognized the moment and kept the door open for me and from there I was in a good wheel.”

This is Bol’s fifth professional victory, and Team DSM’s first win of the 2021 season.

Michael “Bling” Matthews (Team BikeExchange) assumes the race lead from Sam Bennett on the bonus time awarded for intermediate sprints and the third-place stage finish. Matthews was also awarded the most aggressive rider of the stage for his repeated attacks at intermediate sprints, and third-place stage finish.

“I came here to try everything I could and we saw a chance with the intermediary sprints, to nick a few seconds and take the [leader’s] jersey,” said Matthews, who like Bennett has won stages at all three grand tours. “Let’s see how long I can keep it now.”

Bennett takes over the green jersey competition, ahead of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo). The big Irishman won the green jersey completion at the 2020 Tour de France.

How it unfolded

While the route was devoid of any serious climbs and ripe for a break, nothing was going on a day which Deceuninck-Quick-Step was sure to police for overall race lead and sprinter Bennett.

The stage was marred with crashes in the final hour of racing as the average speed rose above 40kph. George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) went down at 48km to go and broke his helmet. He made his way back into the peloton, without undergoing the UCI concussion protocol.

At 22km remaining Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R-Citroën) crashed and was forced to abandon. And with 10k to go, riders from Movistar team and EF Education Nippo tangled and went down at the back of the pack.

In the near-pancake flat but highly-technical stage finish, speeds remained high through a series of turns — some greater than 90 degrees — in the final 4km as Trek-Segfredo, Deceuninck-Quick-Step, Team DSM, and even Ineos Grenadiers all vied for position at the front.

A narrow bridge and then a turn at 3km to go strung out the main bunch, and a crash at the 1km kite further thinned the front of the group further.

Bennett was in 8th position, looking for his lead-out Michael Mørkøv, while Trek-Segafredo had 2019 world champion Mads Pederson in a near-perfect position.

“Trek did a good lead-out but I started my sprint in the right moment and had enough power to make it to the line,” said the stage 2 winner. “It’s a good boost for the confidence after we didn’t do too well yesterday but today we showed what we’re capable of as a team. It gives us confidence for the next sprint stages but also for on other days where we’ve got chances with other guys in the team.”

Bennett never found the wheel he needed to launch an attack, while Pedersen, Matthews, and Bol launched in the final flurry.

“I was in just the right place going into the final corner and that did the trick,” said Bol.

https://twitter.com/TeamDSM/status/1368947152739852291

What’s to come

Tuesday’s stage 3 is a 14.4km time trial that will test the sprinter Matthews’ abilities against the clock. The Team BikeExchange rider will need to be on his game if he is to hold off Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers), both proven time trialists and looking to advance their positions on the general classification.

Stage 4 Wednesday has on tap six category 2 climbs and concludes with the category 1 ascent to Chiroubles, a 7.3km climb averaging 6.3 percent.