Jon Izagirre, leading a break in the 2012 Giro d’Italia on the stage he eventually won. Photo by Richard Schofield, via Wikimedia Commons

Jon Izagirre of Euskaltel-Euskadi is the new Point d’Appui after Stage 2 of the Paris-Nice spring classic. Izagirre placed fourth overall in the recent Tour Down Under and won a stage of the Giro last year. That says something about the top-flight quality of riders who still have excellent times at Paris-Nice but who are relegated to the middle of the pack by the relative ease of the race so far.

Izagirre finished 24 seconds adrift the leader of the race, Elia Viviani of Cannondale, and more than 17 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Alexander Kristoff of Team Katusha. Andrea Palini of Lampre-Merida holds the median time for the general classification.

Jerome Cousin, who held the fulcrum after Stage 1, drifted back more than 20 places but might still have a stab at the middle on Stage 3 as the route heads into the Monts du Livradois and hits its first category climbs, a couple of Category 3s and a Category 2 climb – the Côte de Mauvagnat – near the end of the day.

On the stage, Francis De Greef of Lotto Belisol finished at the center of the peloton. Four riders abandoned, including the leader after Stage 1, Nacer Bouhanni.