Stage 2 of Paris-Nice 2025 invited the sprint aces in the professional cycling peloton to an additional battle on the roads of France. The 183.9-kilometer stage would take the riders through flat terrain on a route from Montesson to Bellegarde, located further South. Today’s weather conditions in The Race to the Sun were cloudy.

Tim Merlier was proudly wearing the yellow jersey for Team Soudal-QuickStep following his victory in yesterday’s stage 1, which had also secured him the lead in the general classification. Other fast riders in the peloton were eager to claim the race lead in today’s stage – either though a stage win or by gaining valuable bonus seconds in intermediate sprints during the stage. 

Denmark’s Kasper Asgreen did not appear at the start. Asgreen, who joined Team EF Education-EasyPost before the 2025 season, had been forced to abandon the race due to illness.

Stage 2 of this year’s Paris-Nice got off to a fast start when Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Alexandre Delettre (Team TotalEnergies), and Caja Rural’s Samuel Fernandez joined forces and formed the breakaway trio of the day. The trio fought its way to a lead of more than two minutes, while Soudal-QuickStep riders were keeping things under control for their race leader Merlier, who was also viewed as a favorite to take the victory in today’s stage.

While riders from Lidl-Trek had joined the chase effort at the front of the main peloton, Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ) crashed in a roundabout with 55 kilometers remaining but got back on his bike.

A major crash occurred near the front of the main peloton with 45 kilometers left. The crash also involved Arnaud Demare (Arkea) and race leader Merlier. Florian Senechal (Arkea – B & B Hotels) was forced to abandon Paris-Nice due to a fractured collarbone. Riders from Team Visma-Lease a Bike had increased the pace shortly before a corner and then reduced the speed shortly after the corner, which caused riders further back to pile up and touch each other.

While Delettre and Fernandez had been reeled in by the chasing peloton, Abrahamsen counterattacked and proudly fought on at the front while flying the red and yellow Uno-X Mobility colors. Abrahamsen’s lead was down to approximately one minute with twenty kilometers left of today’s stage.

A crash occurred at the intermediate bonus sprint with twenty kilometers left. Multiple riders hit the side barriers. Additional crashes happened in the kilometers that followed. The peloton was dominated by anxious riders. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) had also been involved.

The crashes had caused splits in the peloton. Abrahamsen was still the solo man in front, while a reduced peloton was fifteen seconds behind. Skjelmose, Maximilian Schachmann, Joao Almeida, Ben O’Connor, Guillaume Martin and other riders were chasing thirty seconds behind.

Luke Durbridge abandoned the race following his crash.

The peloton groups had merged with ten kilometers remaining and the sprinter teams were setting a fast pace to reel in Abrahamsen before the finish line. The peloton was still dominated by nervous riders, and this could cause further crashes.

Abrahamsen was reeled in with 2.5 kilometers remaining and the peloton was now riding full speed in support of the sprinters in the peloton.

Several teams wanted to dominate the front. Riders from EF Education-EasyPost, Intermarche-Wanty, Bahrain Victorious attempted to take the lead.

Axel Zingle (Team Visma) accelerated with other sprinters chasing, but Tim Merlier timed his sprint to perfection and won stage 2 of Paris-Nice 2025. Emilien Jeanniere finished second for Team TotalEnergies, while Hugo Page took third for Intermarche-Wanty. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was fourth and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) fifth.

“This is a win I will remember for sure,” Merlier told Roadcycling.com shortly after the finish. “Winning while wearing the yellow jersey feels great. Lidl-Trek helped us control the race and we did a really good job. Someone hit me from the back when I crashed during the race, but I recovered,” Merlier explained.

Merlier will wear the yellow jersey again tomorrow as he retains the general classification lead after today’s stage.

Tuesday’s stage 3 of Paris-Nice will be a team time trial where the fastest riders in the peloton and time trial specialists will have to join forces to help their general classification favorites obtain the best possible advantage to place them in an advantageous position before the mountain stages, which will come later in the race. The stage 3 team time trial will be 28.4-kilometer long on a flat route from Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours to Nevers.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from Paris-Nice 2025.