PREVIEW | Paris-Nice 2025 stage 2 - Unavoidable bunch sprint a nightmare for Tim Merlier's rivals
Cycling
Paris-Nice is one of the most reputable and toughest stage-races in the World Tour calendar and every single year it hosts many of the world's best climbers, sprinters and classics riders. This year the race takes place from the 9th to 16th of March. We preview stage 2.
Stage 2 will be the second and clearest opportunity for the sprinters throughout the race, having a mostly flat 186-kilometer long day that has almost no climbing whatsoever and a finale in Bellegarde.
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There isn't really anything meaningful to analyse in the day. The organizers have made sure the sprinters would have at least one day where they wouldn't have to think about small climbs or anything, and they can just focus on the final kilometers.
And these will be... ideal? Well they should be safe, let's put it like that. The final kilometers are in a completely straightforward road, no roundabouts, no corners, no gradients. A pure bunch sprint.
The Weather
Small northern breeze but it will not affect the outcome of the day. A regular day.
The Favourites
Tim Merlier - This will be the man to beat and there's little doubt about that. Yes it will be a bunch sprint, and Merlier doesn't have the best of leadouts, but he is just a very strong sprinter and it didn't seem like he had a match today despite the hard finale. I predict a second win because it will require him being severely out of position to miss out on it.
Without there being technical features in the final kilometers, it will make it harder to catch the Belgian out of position. Today there was no-one really to put on a leadout masterpiece and so we could potentially have another chaotic sprint. There were high expectations of Mads Pedersen but he was not in the Top10 in the end. But that doesn't mean he should be ruled out, even on a flat stage. Alberto Dainese, Arnaud Démare and Juan Sebastián Molano seem to be the riders who carried the most speed alongside him today.
Danny van Poppel would be a good contender and a master at positioning, but he did not finish in the peloton today and that's just about the worst sign he could've given. Picnic had both men, but although the bet will likely be on Fabio Jakobsen, the Dutchman doesn't seem to have it, whilst Tobias Lund Andresen will likely not thrive in a stage that features no climbing whatsoever.
Alexander Kristoff, Vincenzo Albanese, Michael Matthews, Axel Zingle, Stanislaw Aniolkowski, Iuri Leitáo, Emilien Jeannière and Max Walscheid will also be riders to consider for a strong result in the end.
Prediction Paris-Nice 2025 stage 2:
*** Tim Merlier
** Alberto Dainese, Juan Sebastián Molano, Mads Pedersen
* Arnaud Démare, Alexander Kristoff, Tobias Lund Andresen, Michael Matthews, Axel Zingle, Stanislaw Aniolkowski
Pick: Tim Merlier
How: Another win for Merlier. Although it is a flat sprint, there simply doesn't seem to be a sprinter here in regular conditions to beat him.
Original: Rúben Silva
☀ Voici le parcours de #ParisNice 2025 !
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) December 17, 2024
☀Here is the route of #ParisNice 2025! pic.twitter.com/ynMCs4sVut
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- The guy has changed teams so often they are not sure what one is currently his.Cyclingsbestfan25-03-2025
- Do you honestly not have a picture of Ewan in his correct team kit?JoBro25-03-2025
- that sounds right. at Roubaix, any of the strong riders who has better luck than the other elites can win. not the case at flanders, where THE strongest almost always wins. (which means rvv will be either tadej or mathieu.)OCexile25-03-2025
- Yes try riding same distances as themen as courses as hard. No point wanting same money if you are not putting the miles and same work in.paultryan200225-03-2025
- Come on, shorter stages, easier stages, less stages, easier one day races, shorter one day races, far lesser competition, slower speed, lack of bike handling skills and strategy … you can demand equality where it is due.. but that is rather not the case here. The men’s race was 20x more entertaining, so receiving 10x less is rather fair.
UltimateOpportunist25-03-2025 - this is officially the stupidest article i’ve ever read about cycling, or maybe anything else. i want those 2 minutes of my life back…OCexile25-03-2025
- I agree, this article is silly. Pogacar won that TdF because he was stronger than Roglic on the time trial not because he was unknown. Each rider has their own strengths and ride to those. Each of the classics and monuments have their own unique features that the riders must strategize.GB25-03-2025
- Yes, I think he still has a lot to say in road cycling. In the CX races he showed a very good gear but... the problem was essentially his NERVOUSNESS then he took bad decisions in finding the best strategies and paths. He needs confidence (calm down) and maybe a very good preparation gave him that.
maria2024202425-03-2025 - I don't believe so sadly, much as pulling another rider into that group I think Tadej and MVDP have raised the game so far they are essentially untouchable. The spoils of this season will be split between them, I believe Tadej will take RVV, LBL and Lombardia, MVDP MSR and Roubaix. I'm not even sure Remco will be at their level when he comes back. Tadej and MVDP are just a step above everyone elseslappers6625-03-2025
- Tadej and MVDP bring that panache back to cycling that we missed right through the Armstrong years, the Sky years and to an extent the couple of Visma tour wins. Whole team blocking a race, no attacking, no excitement till the leaders jumped away in KMslappers6625-03-2025