Thongchai Jaidee and Mikko Ilonen moved to the top of the leaderboard midway through the second round of the 100th Open de France at Le Golf National.
Jaidee followed up his opening 67 with a 70 while Ilonen added a 68 to his 69 to join Denmark's Lucas Bjerregaard at the summit of a congested leaderboard in Paris.
Bjerregaard had come into day two with a one-shot lead at five under and he stayed at that mark with seven straight pars to begin his second round.
Defending champion Bernd Wiesberger, Dane Anders Hansen and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts were all a shot back with World Number Four Rory McIlroy making his move through the field at three under through seven holes.
Bjerregaard may be searching for a first European Tour title but Jaidee, Ilonen, Wiesberger, Hansen and Colsaerts have 20 between them with an elite field gathered to celebrate the centenary of one of the most prestigious events on Tour.
Wiesberger had set the early pace as he made gains on his first two holes. Three pars followed but three birdies in a row from the 15th put him in total command at nine under.
A triple-bogey on the 18th brought the Austrian back to the pack and a bogey-bogey finish saw him slip back to four under with a level par 71.
Jaidee and Ilonen were the men to take advantage.
The veteran Thai had three bogeys and three birdies in his round as he stood on the ninth but he took advantage of the par five to set the target where he was soon joined by Ilonen.
The Finn turned in 34 with three birdies and a single bogey and when he birdied the tenth, he was right in the mix. The 37 year old then bogeyed the 13th but picked the shot back up two holes later.
Hansen retried after the Portugal Masters last season but is aiming to play his five events to keep his card via the career money list and he posted a bogey-free 68 with birdies on the 11th, 13th and 14th.
Colsaerts was also bogey-free in his 68 with gains on the 15th, fifth and ninth, with Thomas Pieters and Andy Sullivan four under out on the course.
Dutchman Joost Luiten fired a 70 to sit at three under alongside McIlroy, who had birdies on the third, sixth and seventh as he stalked the leaders.
Earlier, Ireland's Paul Dunne had posted the 27th hole-in-one of the season and second of the week as he aced the eighth from 198 yards with a four iron.
