CERILLY, France (AP) — German rider Marcel Kittel won the second stage of the Paris-Nice race on Tuesday in a sprint finish against Elia Viviani, who took the overall race leader’s yellow jersey.
Kittel completed the124-mile flat trek from Vimory to Cerilly in 5 hours, 42 minutes, 18 seconds. Viviani and third-place Leigh Howard of Australia clocked the same time.
Viviani took the jersey from first stage winner Nacer Bouhanni of France, who was forced to pull out of the race with a bloodied face after crashing onto the pavement. He was taken away on a stretcher for a check-up.
Damien Gaudin, winner of Sunday’s prologue, also crashed but got back on his bike despite cuts and bruises to his left thigh and arm.
