page_title: 2013 Paris–Nice
section_title: Stage 2
hierarchical_section_title: 2013 Paris–Nice / Stages / Stage 2
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Marcel Kittel
context_page_description: The 2013 Paris–Nice was the 71st running of the Paris–Nice cycling stage race, often known as the Race to the Sun. It started on 3 March in Houilles and ended on 10 March in Nice and consisted of eight stages, including a race-commencing prologue and a race-concluding mountain individual time trial. It was the second race of the 2013 UCI World Tour season.
  The race was won by Australia's Richie Porte of Team Sky, who took the lead after winning the race's queen stage – the fifth stage – to La Montagne de Lure, and also won the final time trial at Col d'Èze, to become the first Australian rider to win the race. Porte won the general classification by 55 seconds over runner-up Andrew Talansky, who was winner of the race's third stage. Talansky also won the white jersey for the young rider classification, as he was the highest placed rider born in 1988 or later. Ag2r–La Mondiale's Jean-Christophe Péraud completed the podium, 26 seconds behind Talansky and 81 seconds down on Porte.
context_section_description: 5 March 2013 — Vimory to Cérilly, 200.5 km (124.6 mi)
  The second stage was run predominantly in a north-to-south direction, starting in Vimory in the Loiret department and finishing in the Allier commune of Cérilly, via a finishing loop of 18 km (11.2 mi) in length, and two intermediate sprint points – one in Les Choux, while the other came on the first passage of the finish line in Cérilly – respectively. Although there were no categorised climbs during the stage, the final kilometre of the stage – at the end of a 4 km (2.5 mi) long stretch of road – was uphill, reaching a gradient of 4% in certain places. However, the stage was still designed to suit the sprinters, with the uphill finish also aiding the chances for the puncheurs.
  Strong headwinds were prominent during the stage, although this did not stop three riders attacking in the opening kilometre; Kris Boeckmans of Vacansoleil–DCM was joined by Saxo–Tinkoff's Mads Christensen and Team Katusha's Gatis Smukulis, and the trio remained together until Les Choux, when Boeckmans elected to return to the main field after winning the intermediate sprint. Smukulis and Christensen soldiered on with a lead of around four minutes, but the peloton were back together by the 43 km (26.7 mi) mark, as FDJ established the pace of the group, to keep the overall leader Nacer Bouhanni out of danger. After around 20 km (12.4 mi) of stasis within the field, two of Boeckmans' teammates – Thomas De Gendt and Juan Antonio Flecha – attacked, along with Euskaltel–Euskadi rider Mikel Astarloza and Maxime Bouet of Ag2r–La Mondiale, and their advantage reached a similar mark to that achieved by the first breakaway, at around four minutes. FDJ continued to set the pace on the front, bringing the lead gap to around a minute with 60 km (37.3 mi) remaining.
  However, Bouhanni hit the ground heavily while negotiating a left-hand bend, falling face first. He had to abandon the race with two broken teeth, and required eight stitches for a burst lip. The peloton was neutralised as Bouhanni was receiving treatment by the roadside, but the pace lifted once again, after confirmation of Bouhanni's abandonment had been received by his teammates. The breakaway was negated with 45 km (28.0 mi) left to cover of the stage, when the sprinters' teams started to make early headway towards the front of the peloton. Cannondale, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step and Argos–Shimano moved forward ahead of the second intermediate sprint, where Elia Viviani took maximum points for Cannondale, ahead of Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step) and the rest of the field. Several solo attacks were neutralised on the loop around Cérilly, which set up a sprint finish. Lampre–Merida tried to launch Alessandro Petacchi first, but Marcel Kittel (Argos–Shimano) finished strongest down the right-hand side of the road and achieved his second win of the season by three bike lengths. Finishing just behind was Viviani, who became the race's third leader in successive days, as well as taking the lead of both the points and young rider classifications.
caption: Argos–Shimano sprinter Marcel Kittel – pictured before the prologue – claimed his second victory of the 2013 season, winning the uphill sprint into Cérilly.
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