Geraint Thomas (Sky) stayed attentive in the finale of today's second stage of Paris-Nice and this made him the big winner of the day among the GC riders. Due to splits in the peloton in the technical finish, Thomas and Lotto-Belisol's Tony Gallopin were the only GC riders to be given the same time as stage winner Moreno Hofland.

Geraint Thomas moved up to fourth place in the overall standings at Paris-Nice by rolling home in the front group after Moreno Hofland had outpaced John Degenkolb in a flat-out finish to stage two. Thomas was well marshalled throughout the 205-kilometre trek from Rambouillet to Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche, and positioned himself towards the head of affairs as the sprint trains battled their way to the fore.

With Edvald Boasson Hagen out of contention following a tumble 10km from home, Thomas was content to stay out of trouble in the closing stages, and crossed the line in 14th position once Hofland had kicked early and held off a determined chase from Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) to claim his first-ever WorldTour triumph.

Thomas climbed one place in the standings as Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) was unable to regain contact after falling with Boasson Hagen, and the Welshman now sits 13 seconds back on Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ), who retained his grip on the yellow jersey.

Sports Director Nicolas Portal admitted it had been a tense day in the saddle but was pleased to report that Boasson Hagen had not been seriously affected by his late crash.

"Edvald fell on the same shoulder he injured at the Tour de France last year, but thankfully this time everything was OK and he was able to get back on his bike. The racing was full gas at that point though so he couldn't contest the sprint.

"It's a shame in that respect because he was looking forward to testing his legs today, but we're more happy he wasn't hurt and nothing was broken.

"We also lost David Lopez near the end because his bike collided with another rider's and four of the spokes in his rear wheel snapped. Vasil [Kiryienka] and Gabba [Rasch] had already done their work at that point, and with Christian [Knees] stuck behind the crash it meant we only had Xabi [Zandio] and Luke [Rowe] there for G [Thomas] at the end. They both did a good job and G rode brilliantly in those last 2km to stay in contact.

"I'm happy with everyone today, they all rode well. It was really nervous during the second half of the stage because everyone wanted to ride near the front due to the threat of crosswinds. We came through it OK though, and it was nice to see G move up the GC.

"We'll aim to keep him there tomorrow as well and we're expecting that stage to finish in another bunch sprint on the Magny-Cours race track."

You can read our stage preview here and follow our live coverage at 14.25 CET on CyclingQuotes.com/live.