"Martin attacked and Thomas went with him and with two strong guys in a breakaway I knew it was a good choice."

Those were the words of Lars Boom after stage two at Paris-Nice. Boom followed a solo attack by German rider Tony Martin in the final 10km, with Geraint Thomas of Great Britain joining to create a late-breakaway with nearly 30 seconds advantage over the peloton.

Teammates Luis Leon Sanchez and Rein Taaramäe remained at the front of the chasing group, and on a long, wide descent in the final 4km caught Boom and his breakaway companions to set up a mass sprint. Borut Bozic was the highest-placed finisher for Astana, with the same time as stage winner Andrei Greipel of Germany.

Sanchez and Boom remain 10 seconds behind race leader Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland, but stage three could see changes to the General Classification with the first significant climbs of the race.