Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo) has won Stage 2 of Paris-Nice. Haussler took a bunch sprint to win the rolling, 195.5-km run from Saint-Brisson-sur-Loire to La Chapelle-Saint Ursin in 4:45:01. Mark Renshaw (Columbia) finished second, and Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre) finished third. Alberto Contador (Astana) remains the overall leader.

The aggression began early. Right at the start, Piet Rooijakkers (Skil), Aitor Hernandez (Euskaltel), Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas), and Christophe Laurent (Agritubel) escaped. The quartet's lead maxed out at 7:15 before Francaise des Jeux, Columbia, and Rabobank began to chase. Quick Step and Cervelo joined the chase, and the bunch reeled in the final escapee, Laurent, with 22 km left.

With six km left, Columbia took over at the front. In the last km, Jurgen Roelandts (Silence) powered into the lead, but Haussler attacked with 250 m remaining to win. Behind the sprint, a crash took place with two km left, and race leader Contador barely avoided it.

In the overall, Contador leads Bradley by 0:07 and 0:09. Will this state of affairs remain after Stage 3, a rolling, 178-km ride from Orval to Vichy? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!