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German Haussler sprints to Paris-Nice win

  • Story Highlights
  • German Heinrich Haussler sprints to victory in the second stage of Paris-Nice
  • The Cervelo rider holds off Mark Renshaw and Mirco Lorenzetto to secure win
  • Alberto Contador retains the yellow jersey despite being held up by late pile-up
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(CNN) -- Cervelo rider Heinrich Haussler has sprinted to victory in the 195.5km second stage of Paris-Nice -- the first major European race of the season.

Haussler celebrates after taking the honors in the second stage of Paris-Nice on Monday.

Haussler celebrates after taking the honors in the second stage of Paris-Nice on Monday.

Haussler held off Australian Mark Renshaw and Mirco Lorenzetto of Italy at the finish line at La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin.

Reigning Giro d'Italia and Vuelta d'Espana champion Alberto Contador retained the race leader's yellow jersy following his victory in Sunday's prologue.

The Spaniard lies seven seconds ahead of Briton Bradley Wiggins with another Spaniard, Luis Leon Sanchez, another two seconds behind in third.

Contador was held up by a crash 2km from the finish, but benefited from the ruling which neutralises times when an accident occurs in the final 3km.

Remi Pauriol of the Cofidis team came off worse in the pile-up. The Frenchman was taken to hospital after suffering a fractured shoulder.

Earlier, a group of four riders, Aleksandr Kuschynski, Aitor Hernandez, Christophe Laurent and Piet Rooijakkers broke clear early on and built-up a lead of over seven minutes on the peloton.

However, the pack timed their chase well and reeled in the breakaway riders with 23km remaining.

The race ends on Sunday, with Tuesday's third stage taking the riders on a 178km route from Orval to Vichy.

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