Paris-Nice - Boonen Blasts Through on Stage 2

Stage 2 of the Paris-Nice is now over and done with..... It seems like just this morning that I was telling you about Stage 1, but here we go again....... So a look a today's profile would have suggested a bunch sprint might be on the cards.

And a sprint we had, with a tidy win from Tom Boonen.

It was a nice win, but there was plenty happening behind Tornado Tom today. Some stiff winds and some wet weather split the race up into a number of small groups, with the leading group putting around 2 minutes into the rest. Up front with Boonen were some of the GC hopefuls, but not others. It was a canny move for the likes of Levi Leipheimer, Alejandro Valverde and Tejay Van Garderen, (or Teej Van Geej as I like to call him). And it was a crappy move for those left behind, like Tony Martin, Ivan Basso and the Schlecks. The biggest winner though was our boy Bradley Wiggins, he was looking relaxed and strong, and earned himself the race lead.

And in the lead in the minileague are the Marras. They had a fair few riders in today's break and that win from Tom Boonen helped them out nicely.

Remember to use those transfers. I just noticed that Denis Galimzanov isn't actually riding, so I've made a few changes to my line-up. You might want to check all your boys started, or are still in the race - guys like David Millar and Nick Nuyens, for example. It looks a bit lumpier at the finish for tomorrow, maybe my new sprinter John Degenkolb can do something.