Mads Pedersen takes Paris-Nice overall lead after sprinting to stage two win

Tadej Pogačar also raises eyebrows as he gains seconds in an intermediate sprint – again

Paris-Nice 2023
(Image credit: Anne Christine Poujoulat / Getty)

Mads Pedersen took over the general classification lead in the 'Race to the Sun' after winning a chaotic sprint on stage two to Fontainebleau after 163.7km of racing.

The Trek-Segafredo rider beat Jumbo-Visma's Olav Kooij into second place, with Pedersen's fellow Dane Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) third after what was a hectic dash the the line. It saw Pedersen take over the race lead from Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) thanks to the 10 bonus seconds on offer.

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James Shrubsall

After cutting his teeth on local and national newspapers, James began at Cycling Weekly as a sub-editor in 2000 when the current office was literally a