Thibaut Pinot was within reach of breaking up the lead group when Beulah Hansgrohe attacked in a crosswind on stage 2 of Paris-Nice, but a moment of weakness caused him to lose the wheel of teammate Stephane Küng and the group disappeared with 10km remaining in the stage.

Up until that moment, according to Philippe Maudouy, director sportif of Groupama-FDJ, the team had five riders in the lead group of about 30.

"These situations are uncertain, because even if you succeed for 35 km, everything can change in the blink of an eye," he said. That's why you have to keep working on your race tactics and techniques."

"In the past, we have been rather passive in these situations. Today, they had an impact on the race and it's interesting because psychologically it gives you confidence, especially for the future."

Pinot lost 25 to 43 seconds to leader Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), but did better than Julien Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep), who had a flat tire, and Nairo Quintana (Alcare Sumsic), who crashed. Both lost 1:25.

Küng, who tried to close the gap to Pinot, said there was room for improvement.

"Before we came to Paris-Nice, we said our goal was to work as a team in these situations. Even if we fall behind, we must push to the end without letting up. We gave everything we had and did our best. But I can't say we did everything perfectly. It was good that Alaphilippe and Quintana were able to make up time, but I think we could have moved to the front. Our goal was never to finish in the second group, but to finish in the first group. But we are on the right track."

Pinot was happy to have survived two stages of fighting crosswinds and still be in a respectable position in the overall standings.

"I have no regrets about not being able to hang on to the first group today. I was exhausted and didn't have the legs anymore."

"Overall, I am happy with my day and after two tricky stages, the balance is rather good. The team was very strong today. No matter what happens, this job is very positive and gives me confidence for the rest of the season, especially in the echelon situation, which is not my specialty."

The team will also be on high alert for the 212.5-km stage from Chalet-sur-Loing to La Chatre, as there could be a repeat of stages 1 and 2 on Tuesday.

"I want to recover as much as possible for Wednesday's time trial, which is very important for me," Pinot said.