Paris-Nice Stage 2 - Bouhanni relegated, Matthews extends lead

In a controversial sprint finish in Commentry, Cofidis' Nacer Bouhanni was first over the line, but was demoted to third after the race for a clash with yellow jersey holder Michael Matthews. The Australian was moved up to win his second stage in three days, and with the bonus seconds for victory he extended his lead in the overall standings.

Before the late race drama, it was an uneventful day's ride, over 200km of mostly flat riding. Like yesterday, a four man break went clear immediately, with Mathias Brandle (IAM), Anthony Delaplace (FVC), Tsgabu Grmay (LAM) and Evaldas Siskevicius (DMP) opening up a lead of ten minutes inside the first 20km.

The lead was brought down by a peloton unwilling to risk having too much to do later in the day, and was kept at a steady gap of under four minutes for the majority of the race.

The four man break held firm throughout the two intermediate sprints and the category 3 King of the Mountains climb, leaving the peloton with not even the most minor points to fight over. In the break, Sikevicius took both sprints, picking up six points.

While unthreatening, the climb up the Côte d'Estivareilles held slightly more prestige for the quartet, as it would give the winner the joint lead in the polka dot jersey standings. It was Frenchman Delaplace who was on the ball, punching clear of his breakaway buddies to take the spoils.

As the sprint teams picked up the pace as the kilometres ticked down, the break was reabsorbed halfway round the 17km circuit around Commentry, after an impressive 203km out in front. Inside that final circuit, Pierre-Luc Perichon was apparently involved in a collision with a spectator, the cameras only catching both the rider and fan lying prone by the side of the road. Perichon would suffer a broken collarbone and be unable to finish.

The run towards the finish included a few tight turns which allowed the peloton to string out, with three clear groups forming at the front inside the final few hundred metres. A leading trio of Bouhanni, Matthews and Niccolo Bonifazio (TFS) broke clear as Bouhanni's leadout man swung aside.

Leading after the slipstream, Bouhanni was challenged on his left by Matthews. The Frenchman began easing left towards the barriers in an attempt to block, but Matthews was already alongside. They straightened up momentarily, before another tiny deviation left took Bouhanni into the side of the Orica-GreenEDGE rider, clashing elbows and sending Matthews an inch or two from disaster against the barriers.

Bouhanni was first across the line, and responded to Matthews' angry protestations with equal arm-waving. The comissaires immediately set to reviewing the footage, and their decision was to drop Bouhanni to the back of the lead group into third, behind Matthews and Bonifazio.

He was spared further penalty by the one second time gap back to the second group of 18 riders, including Tom Dumoulin and Geraint Thomas, while other GC hopefuls Alberto Contador, Romain Bardet and Richie Porte were in the third group, dropping a further four seconds.

ASO/G. Demouveaux

Matthews' win gave him ten bonus seconds, extending his lead over Dumoulin in the GC to 14 seconds. While he is perhaps not regarded as a threat come the final stage on Sunday, those extra seconds could still prove vital in his quest to hold on to the yellow jersey tomorrow and beyond.

Equally important could be the four seconds given up by Contador et al to Dumoulin and Thomas, with the Spaniard already 19 seconds behind Dumoulin going into tomorrow's first summit finish, and needing to make some quick inroads lest he lose touch.

Stage winner and GC leader Michael Matthews (OGE)"I think Bouhanni changed his line. I nearly crashed. It's always difficult to sprint at the end of such a long stage. It's unfortunate but either way I would have won because I was coming around him and I would have won if we hadn't touched. Two out of three, it's exceptional.

"Of course tomorrow will be hard for everyone. I don't want to say anything at this point, but I definitely hope to be able to keep the yellow jersey."

Stage results
1. Michael Matthews (OGE) 5:04:26
2. Niccolo Bonifazio (TFS) + :00
3. Nacer Bouhanni (COF) + :00

General Classification
1. Michael Matthews (OGE) 9:41:46
2. Tom Dumoulin (TGA) + :14
3. Patrick Bevin (CPT) + :19
4. Ion Izaguirre (MOV) + :19
5. Geraint Thomas (SKY) + :19
6. Lieuwe Westra (AST) + :24
7. Dries Devenyns (IAM) + :25
8. Arnaud Démare (FDJ) + :25
9. Rafal Majka (TNK) + :27
10. Richie Porte (BMC) + :27

King of the Mountains
1. Ion Izaguirre (MOV) 4
2. Anthony Delaplace (FVC) 4
3. Geraint Thomas (SKY) 2

Points Classification
1. Michael Matthews (OGE) 38
2. Arnaud Démare (FDJ) 21
3. Nacer Bouhanni (COF) 18