Outsider Arvid de Kleijn has won the second mass sprint of the Paris-Nice long-distance cycling race.
The Dutchman from the second-class Tudor team prevailed on Monday (March 4th, 2024) after 177.6 kilometers in Montargis ahead of New Zealander Laurence Pithie and his compatriot Dylan Groenewegen.
In the overall standings, Pithie took over the yellow jersey from the leader. Pithie and the Dutchman Kooij, who won the first stage, are at the top at the same time as the Dane Mads Pedersen. Because of the better stage results, Pithie is wearing yellow.
Slip loses the mountain jersey
Pascal Ackermann crossed the finish line in ninth place as the best German. The Hesse Jonasrutsch had to give back the mountain jersey he had won at the start. Although the 26-year-old secured the first mountain classification, he only finished third in the second and last one. The Frenchman Mathieu Burgaudeau is two points clear in the standings with 15 points.
In the third section on Tuesday, the peloton is awaiting one of the team time trials that have become rare in the cycling calendar. The course around Auxerre stretches over 26.9 kilometers and 330 meters in altitude. The mode: In the daily ranking, the team time remains after the first driver of each team – for the overall ranking, however, the professionals are stopped individually.
The 82nd edition of the “Race to the Sun” ends next Sunday in Nice, where the grand finale of the Tour de France will also take place on July 21st.