Geraint Thomas helped to enliven stage two at Paris-Nice with a gutsy late attack into Saint-Amand-Montrond.

The Welshman jumped on the acceleration of Tony Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) with 9.4 kilometres to go and linked up with Lars Boom (Astana) as the trio looked to evade the peloton.

Panic temporarily spread through the bunch as waves of counter-attacks were reeled in, but after a concerted chase was finally mounted the attackers were hauled back with just 1.5km left to race.

That brought the sprinters back into play and it was Andre Greipel who won out. The German’s Lotto Soudal team had been instrumental in chasing down the late break and Greipel rewarded them by edging out Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) in a blanket finish.

Thomas was able to complete the day safely in the bunch alongside team-mate Richie Porte, with the pair retaining 10th and 13th positions respectively on GC. Prior to Thomas’s attack Team Sky moved up as a group, with Christian Knees, Nicolas Roche and birthday boy Luke Rowe leading the line.

Despite coming under threat as sprinters continued to amass time bonuses, Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx – Quick-Step) retained yellow after three stages by the slenderest of margins.

After the stage Sports Director talked TeamSky.com through the stage and praised Thomas for his attacking intent late on.

"When Martin attacked it was a smart move," said the Frenchman. "You never know when you have a high-quality move like that it can stay away. Sometimes you just need to try. G moved at the right time. He saw Lars Boom and Martin. Together that's three strong guys so he was right to do that. When they got caught he could just follow in the bunch. It was good for his confidence I think. He's super motivated.

"Today was similar to yesterday. It was all about saving energy and being in a good position, as you never know what can happen. The closer you get to the finish the more stressful it is. The last part of the stage was really hectic, but I would say about 80% of the stage was quite calm.

"Richie was feeling good again. Swifty just lost a wheel in the closing stages. It wasn't his day but tomorrow can be different. The sprint is quite punchy. There's a short kick - not too steep - but it could see some gaps open up. So it's important for the GC to be at the front."