March 05, 2012 (Orléans, France) – Bradley Wiggins (SKY) made his ambitions clear in this Paris-Nice when he seized the reins in the rain after the 185.5-kms second stage won by Tom Boonen (OPQ) in Orleans. Frustrated after missing top spot by a second in Sunday’s opener, mostly because of the rain, the Briton made the best of the weather this time, using crosswinds to his advantage to join the winning echelon and take more time over most of his rivals for final victory.

The former pursuit Olympic champion even grabbed three bonus seconds in the only intermediate sprint of the day for good measure. He now leads Levi Leipheimer (OPQ) by six seconds overall and Boonen by seven. In the finale, his job done, the Team Sky leader left the sprinters in the 21-man break have the final say. The Omega Pharma-Quick Step were justly rewarded for their efforts all day when Boonen surged to beat Jose Joaquin Rojas (MOV) and John Degenkolb (PRO) on the line.

Kaisen first in action
Bruised in a hard crash in the first stage, Nick Nuyens tried to start but was forced to call it quits before the gun. With strong headwind and crosswinds, the pace was rather slow at first (30 kph in the first hour).  The pace increased a bit and a first attempt took place at kilometre 60.5 in Rambouillet when Olivier Kaisen (LTB) broke clear. The Namur-born rider, who held a maximum lead of 2:50 (km 84), was first on top of the only climb of the day (Côte des Granges-le-Roi, 3rd cat) ahead of Thomas De Gendt (VCD), who retained his polka-dot jersey.

Echelons
Ivan Basso (LIQ) crashed at km 72 but was quickly back on his bike. The tempo went up a gear again after the feeding zone (km 93.5) and echelons took shape at the initiative of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team. A first group of eleven riders caught Kaisen at km 99 and a group of 30 emerged at kilometre 100.

Among the first riders to be dropped was Andy Schleck (RNT), who had lost 1:02 in Sunday’s opening time trial. As for yellow jersey holder Gustav Larsson, he was trapped in the second part of the peloton. The leading group, cut down to 21 after a crash at km 108, included most of the other favourites – Bradley Wiggins, Tejay Van Garderen, Levi Leipheimer, Sylvain Chavanel, Tom Boonen or Alejandro Valverde.

100th for Boonen
The field was spread all over the course and the yellow jersey group, led by Saur-Sojasun riders chased in vain, some two minutes adrift (2:17 with 25 kms to go). The gap remained stable until the finish line. In the last two kilometres, Sylvain Chavanel took the reins of the leading group to avoid any late attempts, paving the way for Boonen to crown a brilliant day.
The Belgian surged to hold Rojas at bay and win his 6th victory on Paris-Nice, six years before the last.

Results (brief)

1. Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step     4:22:15
2. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Esp) Movistar Team
3. John Degenkolb (Ger) Project 1T4i
4. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Garmin – Barracuda
5. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team

GC after Stage 2

1. Bradley Wiggins (Gbr) Sky Procycling     4:33:32
2. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quick Step     0:06
3. Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step     0:07
4. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team     0:11
5. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step     0:14