Outsider Arvid de Kleijn has won the second mass sprint of the Paris-Nice long-distance cycling race. The Dutchman from the second-class Tudor team prevailed after 177.6 kilometers in Montargis ahead of New Zealander Laurence Pithie and his compatriot Dylan Groenewegen. In the overall standings, Pithie took over the yellow jersey from the leader.
The Hessian Jonasrutsch had to give back the mountain jersey he had won at the start. Although the 26-year-old secured the first mountain classification, he only finished third in the second and last one. The Frenchman Mathieu Burgaudeau is two points clear in the standings with 15 points.
There will be more than one winner on Tuesday. There is a 26.9 kilometer long team time trial around Auxerre. In the end, one of the three top favorites Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel or Joāo Almeida could take the lead in the overall standings. The race that Roglic won in 2022 ends on Sunday in Nice.
