Simon Yates’s hopes of winning Paris-Nice were dashed when the Briton was one of the casualties in a windswept second stage won by Dylan Groenewegen on Monday.
Brutal crosswinds repeatedly split the peloton on the 165.5-km stretch from Les Breviaires to Bellegarde and Vuelta a Espana champion Yates lost almost seven minutes.
A crash after 59kms took Gorka Izagirre (Astana) out, as well as Warren Barguil, with the Frenchman being taken to a hospital for a scan after losing consciousness.
His Arkea-Samsic team said the 27-year-old suffered a broken neck.
They were only 23 riders left – including overall contenders Romain Bardet, Nairo Quintana and Egan Bernal – in the front group some 30kms from the finish line.
A late split meant only seven riders contested the final sprint, Groenewegen prevailing again after Sunday’s opening win to strengthen his overall lead to 12 seconds.
You can rewatch the second stage of Paris-Nice 2019 HERE
Paris-Nice 2019 – stage 2 results (Les Bréviaires – Bellegarde):
| 1 | Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) | 3:14:04 |
| 2 | Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | ,, |
| 3 | Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 4 | Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 5 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 6 | Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) | ,, |
| 7 | Egan Bernal (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 8 | Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) | +05” |
| 9 | Andre Greipel (Arkéa Samsic) | ,, |
| 10 | Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
Paris-Nice 2019 – general classification after stage 2:
| 1 | Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) | 6:31:19 |
| 2 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | +12” |
| 3 | Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) | +13” |
| 4 | Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +16” |
| 5 | Egan Bernal (Team Sky) | +19” |
| 6 | Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) | +20” |
| 7 | Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale) | +22” |
| 8 | Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) | +23” |
| 9 | Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 10 | Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale) | +24” |
