Merlier unstoppable: Belgian takes advantage of Zingle and Pedersen’s slipstream to hit double in Paris-Nice

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) won the second stage of Paris-Nice 2025 in Bellegarde. The fast man was the fastest in a bunch sprint after 184 kilometers of nervous racing, with several crashes.

On day one, we got the expected winner. Despite some attempts by a few punchy types, it 'simply' came down to a bunch sprint, in which Merlier proved the fastest. The Belgian was also allowed to start in the yellow leader's jersey on day two, featuring a flat stage, including real Paris-Nice weather conditions, which were dreary, although the wind remained mostly absent.

One man could not start: Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) fell ill during the night and could not continue Paris-Nice, a significant setback for Jonathan Vaughters' team as they head into the classics. Later in the day, Danny van Poppel, who had already finished in the back on Sunday, had to abandon the race for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe later in the day.

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Peloton prefers not to give Abrahamsen too much leeway

The race continued without these riders, but we did not see a real battle for the early breakaway. Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies) and Samuel Fernandez (Caja Rural) attempted to continue their battle for the mountain jersey. Still, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), a fast rider, joined them.

The peloton knew this, too, and kept them fairly close. Soudal Quick-Step and Lidl-Trek posted a man at the head of the peloton, which meant that the three in front never really had a chance at the stage win.

With approximately sixty kilometers to go, the GC teams showed themselves at the front for the first time, somewhat increasing nervousness. Guillaume Martin, leader of Groupama-FDJ, also crashed in this phase. The French rider had a nasty crash at a roundabout.

Delettre and Fernandez saw that the attempt to break away was useless, but Abrahamsen thought otherwise and continued to push the pace. The men from Visma | Lease a Bike did the same in the peloton before every turn, which caused anxiety in the rest. With forty kilometers to go, this resulted in a crash involving about fifteen riders, including yellow jersey Tim Merlier and green jersey Arnaud Démare. They could continue, but Démare's lead-out, Florian Sénéchal, was left behind in tears on the asphalt and had to abandon the race.

Numerous crashes in Paris-Nice, GC riders briefly behind

The peloton naturally allowed Merlier and co. to return, which solo rider Abrahamsen made the most of. The Norwegian extended his lead to a minute and a half and suddenly started to feel confident again, even though he is known as someone who always trusts in his abilities. The Norwegian did lose some of his momentum due to an intermediate sprint, as Visma | Lease a Bike wanted to give Matteo Jorgenson an extra second. In the background, there were more crashes, this time involving Luke Durbridge (Jayco AlUla) and Gorka Sorairran of Caja Rural. Two kilometers later, a man from Picnic PostNL also hit the asphalt: Warren Barguil.

This chaos caused the peloton to break into several pieces. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Max Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step), Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG), Ivan Romeo (Movistar), and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) were among those who fell behind but were able to return thanks to teamwork in the peloton. Again, Abrahamsen came out on top and started the last ten kilometers with a half-minute lead.

The leader continued to keep the faith. While behind, it took quite a while before the sprint teams appeared at the front. With six kilometers to go, Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step) took the lead, costing Abrahamsen a few seconds and ultimately the lead. This allowed the focus to be fully on the inevitable bunch sprint.

In the chaos, no team could get their train on track, causing a bit of a stop-and-go at the front. In the final kilometer, Merlier was pushed out of the wheel of Van Lerberghe by Pedersen, but in the slipstream of the Dane, the Belgian could do his thing. Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike) attacked from far away, but Merlier was unstoppable. Emilien Jeanniere (TotalEnergies) and Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty) finished second and third.

Results stage 2 Paris-Nice 2025

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