Despite not being the first rider to cross the line, Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) took his second victory in three days at Paris-Nice after Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) was relegated for deviating from his line on the stage 2 sprint.
Bouhanni opened up the sprint at the end of the 213.5km flat stage and, as Mattthews came up on the left, the Frenchman gradually moved over before leaning in and bumping shoulders with the race leader. It was a miracle that the two riders managed to stay upright, and the Australian waved his arm in remonstration as he crossed the line.
Matthews picked up 10 bonus seconds for his win, which sees his lead in the general classification grow to 14 seconds over Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin). There was a small split in the bunch at the end of the race, causing Alberto Contador (TInkoff), Richie Porte), and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) lose five seconds to other GC contenders like Dumoulin, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) and Ion Izaguirre (Movistar).
Pese a no ser el primer pedalista en crusar la linea final, Michael Matthews del Orica-GreenEdge, logro su segunda victoria en tres dias de la Paris-Niza, despues que Nacer Bouhanni del Cofidis, fuera descalificado por la forma como enfrento el embalaje final…
Fue un final hombro a hombro, pese a que hubo agresion mutua, quien segun los jueces hizo los desplazamientos irregulares fue Boyhanni, y las fotos muestra cuando separo su brazo para desplazar al rival…
Matthews logro 10 segundos de bono por su victoria y se mantiene en la general de la clasificacion ampliando su diferencia a 14 segundos sobre Tom Dumoulin….hubo un pequeño corte sobre el final de la jornada dejando damnificados a favoritos como Alberto Contador y Fomain Bardet quienes perdieron 5 segundos…..
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