Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) sprinted to victory on stage two of Paris-Nice, while Elia Viviani (Cannondale Pro Cycling) moved into the overall lead after Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) crashed out.
Kittel missed a split in the peloton on stage one, thereby ruling himself out of the sprint finish, but the German made amends 24 hours later, outpacing Viviani and Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEDGE) to record his second victory of the season.
Second place proved enough for Viviani to take the yellow jersey after Bouhanni abandoned, and the Italian now leads the race by seven seconds from Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).
“I thought maybe I can win the stage, I thought it would be too hard for Kittel, but it was not hard for Kittel,” said Viviani. “He’s a very strong sprinter and my satisfaction is this jersey.”
Viviani, who finished sixth in the omnium on the track at London 2012, added: “This winter I really worked hard for this and for the road after a fantastic season last year on the track and in London. I see this result as the proof that the work paid off.”
Paris-Nice 2013 – stage two – result
1) Marcel Kittel (GER) Argos-Shimano – 5:42.18 hours
2) Elia Viviani (ITA) – Cannondale Pro Cycling – same time
3) Leigh Howard (AUS) – Orica-GreenEDGE
4) Borut Bozic (SLO) – Astana
5) Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) – Ag2r La Mondiale
6) Gianni Meersman (BEL) – Omega Pharma-QuickStep
7) Romain Feillu (FRA) – Vacansoleil-DCM
8) Jens Debusschere (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol
9) Jose Joaquin Rojas (SPA) – Movistar
10) Tony Gallopin (FRA) – Radioshack-Leopard
General classification
1) Elia Viviani (ITA) – Cannondale Pro Cycling – 10:33:11 hours
2) Sylvain Chavanel (FRA) – Omega Pharma-QuickStep +7″
3) Damien Gaudin (FRA) – Europcar +8″
4) Lieuwe Westra (NED) – Vacansoleil-DCM +9″
5) Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) Lampre-Merida +10″
6) Wilco Kelderman (NED) – Blanco Pro Cycling – same time
7) Geoffrey Soupe (FRA) – FDJ
8) Peter Velits (SVK) – Omega Pharma-QuickStep +11″
9) Tony Gallopin (FRA) – Radioshack-Leopard – same time
10) Borut Bozic (SLO) – Astana – same time
