Stage 2 of the Paris-Nice cycling event was disrupted by a huge pile-up approximately 45 kilometres from the finish line on Monday. Around 10 riders hit the deck, with the rest of the field forced to swerve around them as the race descended into chaos.
The Paris-Nice, which is also known as The Race to the Sun, is a professional cycling event held in France every year. The race, which was first held in 1933, lasts eight days and forms part of the UCI World Tour. It typically starts in wintery conditions in the French capital and finishes in the spring sunshine in the south of the country.
After cyclists had already completed around 138km of the 183km run, there was a tangle near the front as Samuel Leroux went down. Florian Senechal and a host of other competitors followed suit, with Arnaud Demare, Santiago Buitrago and Lenny Martinez all held up by the incident.
And the lead commentator on TNT Sports Rob Hatch exclaimed: “Oh and a crash. Several riders down. Left and right they’re down and it’s a pile-up.
“It all went crazy just going into the corner, it seems insignificant – 45kmph they’ve been racing into every corner. This is a right old mess, deary me. What a shocker that is and so far from the finish.”
Senechal was the biggest casualty in the incident and was eventually taken away in an ambulance after breaking down in tears. And he may be forced to miss the rest of the event as he recovers from his injuries.
The yellow jersey of Tim Merlier and the green jersey of Arnaud Demare were both impeded but were able to avoid the worst of the crash and continue with their ride.
Merlier went on to cross the finish line in first position ahead of Emelien Jeanniere and Hugo Page. And after the race, the 32-year-old explained: “This is one I’m going to remember, for sure. I think it’s the first time I’ve won in the leader’s jersey. It was a lot for our team to have to control the race.
“The break kept coming back and going out again, but Abrahamsen was really strong, spent a long time in front. We’re going to try to keep the jersey tomorrow but it’s going to be tough in the time trial I think.”
Jeanniere, meanwhile, stated: “The team has a lot of experience in Paris-Nice sprints like that, so I got a lot of help from them.
“Unfortunately we lost a rider who was supposed to be there for that last long stretch, but Anthony Turgis placed me beautifully.
“I took one of the wheels and it was perfect. It’s strange to be happy with second, but behind Tim Merlier it’s amazing. He’s the best sprinter in the world.”