Max Kanter has been waiting for years to win in the World Tour and today his wait has finally ended thanks to his almost unexpected success at the finish line of the second stage of Paris-Nice in Montargis. The sprint was hectic and the German managed to position himself well thanks to the help of his teammate Mike Teunissen, who launched him towards victory.

"The last two weeks haven't been the best. I've had some setbacks: I can only say that for me it's a dream to win this race. It's a great honor and I'm truly happy".

The German born in 1997 has been a professional since 2016 and after racing until 2021 with Sunweb, he spent two years at Movistar and since 2024 has been part of the Astana team. Kanter had been seeking this victory for a long time and his two previous successes were no longer enough—one from the second stage of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey in 2024 and another from last year's Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic.

The cyclist from Cottbus worked hard to win in a World Tour race and now the reward has arrived. "I really don't know where I found the right strength to win this sprint. I was just trying to stay as focused as possible and then in the end I managed it, but it's not a victory that came alone. I have so many people around me in my life who try to support me at my best and it's a victory that I want to share with everyone".

Winning today wasn't easy. The peloton was nervous because there had been two crashes in the last 15 kilometers and one when there were just under three kilometers to go to the finish. The group then stretched out and it took a lot of energy to move back up to the front positions. "It was really complicated. There were 2 km to go. We lost many positions but Mike Teunissen stayed with me, he brought me to the last roundabout in a good position, and then he simply started to give it everything and nobody was able to pass us".

Now Kanter has achieved his dream of winning a World Tour race and this is currently his most beautiful victory, but the German now has greater confidence and wants to try to win again.

"This victory gives me a lot of confidence especially because, as I've already said, the last two weeks haven't been the best. So yes, I really didn't expect to win today. Yesterday I felt really bad on the bike, and today suddenly I managed to win and it's truly incredible and I want to try again".