Andy Schleck has been seen struggling at the back of the peloton in the first few stages of Paris-Nice. After he lost more than 6 minutes in today's stage, his team insists that the plan never was for the 2010 Tour champion to be a leader in the French race.

The second stage from Rambouillet to Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche was a long, predominantly flat parcours of 205-kilometers, and after yesterday’s tension and crashes, it was a slightly calmer affair.

In the final sprint Moreno Hofland of team Belkin jumped first and held on to win the second stage just ahead of John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano). Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) was third and also maintained his lead in the overall.

Fabio Felline was the highest finisher for Trek Factory Racing in 19th, with most of the team finishing safely in the main peloton.

Danilo Hondo talked us through the day, how he felt after crashing yesterday, and the final sprint:

“It’s been a little crazy the last two days here; the feeling in the peloton is nervous and little bit uncontrolled. No one knows the parcours and how the wind can be, and the bonifcation sprints can decide the overall, so everyone has to be concentrated. There are also a lot of young riders here with not much experience, and the roads have been a little tricky these past two days. This has made for a little different feeling in the peloton. But the weather has been good!

"The body is a little blocked after yesterday crashes. It feels better when I am on the bike, so that is good. I know I will feel better each day.

"For the sprint finish it was descent a little bit before and with the whole peloton there it made it difficult for positioning. Fabio [Felline] went on the right side and it was the wrong side, and so Bob [Jungels] and I took him to the left side to bring him in front. He was there, it was not bad, but then the crash in the last corner blocked him a little. But we were there in the end, and the overall classification is still open. There is still lots of racing to come."

Director Kim Andersen echoed much of what Hondo said, and also commented on Andy Schleck:

“It was a fast day. At one moment it looked the breakaway could keep their lead. It was quite stressful in the final sprint, plus Fabio told me he was not in great position at the end.

“Andy [Schleck] is not here as one of our leaders, that was never planned. He is not in good enough form yet, as he is missing race days. He did a lot of work for the team today, going back often to get bottles. His motivation is good."

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