French cyclist William Bonnet recorded his first major stage race success on Tuesday when he won the second stage of the Paris-Nice race, a 201 kilometres ride from Contres.

Dutchman Lars Boom held on to the yellow jersey.

Bonnet, 27, beat Slovakia's Peter Sagan and Spain's Luis Leon Sanchez in a sprint finish.

"This is my first big win, I've been waiting a long time for it," said Bonnet.

"I managed to avoid the collision in the last mile and caught up with Sanchez, who started the sprint with 400 metres to go."

The Spaniard said after the stage that he was going all out for first place but the elements got the better of him.

"I felt great. I decided to get involved in the sprint to try and win the stage," Sanchez said.

"There was a strong headwind, which complicated things but I'm very satisfied with third."

Slovenia's Grega Bole, who finished second in Monday's race, fell in the final sprint along with Bonnet's compatriot Jimmy Casper.

Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador completed the stage without incident after falling on Monday and bruising his leg.

Germany's Jens Voigt of the Saxo Bank team trails overall leader Boom by just five seconds, while Spaniard Sanchez is ten seconds behind the Dutch Rabobank rider.

The third stage is a 208-kilometre ride between Saint-Junien and Aurillac on Wednesday.