Mats Pedersen takes a double hit on the second stage of Paris-Nice, Pogacar continues its harvest

Europe 1 with AFP 5:45 p.m., March 6, 2023

Dane Mats Pederson won at the photo finish during the second stage of Paris-Niceau the day after Tim Merlier's victory.

He is ahead of Dutchman Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) and his compatriot Magnus Cort (EF Education) after a disjointed last kilometer marked by a fall involving several riders, including Benjamin Thomas, just before the red flame.

The former world champion, whose second stage victory in the "Race to the Sun" after last year's, then spent a lot of time on the podium to first receive the winner's bouquet stage before successively donning the leader's yellow jersey and the best sprinter's green jersey.

"It bodes well for the season. It's a great race, it's great to win here, the sprint was very nervous, I was brought in perfectly until the end. It was very close at the end and I'm happy to have done it", commented the one who also won the time trial this year on the Etoile de Bessèges.

The distinctive fourth jersey, the white of the best young rider, went to a rider who we sometimes forget is still only 24 years old, his record is already overflowing everywhere.

This is obviously Tadej Pogacar, double winner of the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, who continued his harvest on Monday by pocketing, like the day before, the six bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint.

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Modified starting order

Second overall, two seconds behind Pedersen, he is now twelve seconds ahead of Dane Jonas Vingegaard.

As if he wanted to get a little ahead of his great rival who had stripped him of his crown in the last Tour de France and who will start as the favorite with his Jumbo-Visma team on Tuesday in the unprecedented team time trial. concocted by the organizers.

Rather than taking the time on the fourth or fifth runner, the clock will be stopped as soon as the first runner has passed after the 32.2 kilometers of effort around Dampierre-en-Burly, in Loiret.

While most riders feel this shouldn't be a game-changer, the new formula could favor a team as powerful as Jumbo-Visma which will also field Tobias Foss and Rohan Dennis, the current and former reigning World Champion of the stopwatch.

The stage will pass a few kilometers from the Dampierre-en-Burly nuclear power plant on a day when opponents of pension reform will want to put "France at a standstill".

The mobilization day is already having a slight impact on Paris-Nice since the starting order has been modified, with an interval of three minutes between each formation instead of the five planned, "in order to facilitate the work of the forces of order which will be widely requested", indicated the organizers.