Dorian Godon unleashed a solid sprint effort to claim fourth place from a technical finish at Paris-Nice.
As expected stage two culminated in a mass bunch sprint into Montargis, with the French national champion arriving late on the right-hand side of the road to secure a top-five finish.
Max Kander (XDS Astana) held on for the win, while Sunday's victor Luke Lamperti (EF Education - EasyPost) retained the race lead.
Despite a fractured finale, the team's GC trio Oscar Onley, Carlos Rodriguez and Kevin Vauquelin all emerged safely to sit on the same time overall.
Attention now quickly turns to Tuesday's 23.5km team time trial, which presents a key test in the GC battle.