Paris – Nice 2024 – Stage 2 Preview

Fifth preview of the day. It should end in a mass sprint.

Route

A flat stage as the peloton moves south.

Finale

Some corners far out but what matters are the two roundabouts inside the last 1400m. First one is left way around, second time right way around. Then a road island in the middle of it all with 300m left, which is insane.

Weather

This is our “echelon stage” but I’m sorry to disappoint. Headwind, cold and dry.

Contenders

Kooij – a good win today. He is not as quick as some of the others but he is a very fine surfer in the finale and you won’t find him out of position very often. One of the favorites.

Pedersen – not his type of sprint but it can get hectic. Gibbons and Stuyven are very skilled lead-out men and that should give Pedersen a real shot for the podium.

De Kleijn – he showed in UAE Tour that he is one of the quickest in the World. And he did that mainly with help from Zijlaard in the sprint. Now, he has Trentin too. I think De Kleijn will be tough to beat.

Groenewegen – Him, Reinders and Mezgec haven’t made it click yet. I doubt it will happen tomorrow.

De Lie – clearly not 100% after the crash in Le Samyn.

Jakobsen – the help he has is very good. Eekhoff and Lund Andresen. However, they don’t really seem to be getting it right either. They have the speed, they miss the timing.

Bennett – Naesen to lead him out? Not sure how that will work out.

Thijssen – I like the amount of support he has, it is almost the entire team. But, he doesn’t have the same caliber as some of the others here. A top-5 on a good day.

Groves – not his type of stage.

Démare – same goes for Démare.

Who will win?

De Kleijn takes his first WT win tomorrow.