Paris-Nice 2016 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

March 12, 2016

Paris-Nice 2016 – Stage 6 – Nice – La Madone d’Utelle : 177 km

The 74th edition of Paris-Nice, running from March 6-13, is the second WorldTour event of the year after January’s Tour Down Under and many top riders – Classics and Grand Tour specialists alike – will be laying down foundations for coming weeks and months. Recent winners Alberto Contador and Richie Porte, with two wins each to their name, spearhead the GC challengers for 2016 while Astana’s Luis Leon Sanchez is the third former winner on the start line. Romain Bardet, Tom Dumoulin and Simon Yates represent the new generation of GC riders while Lampre-Merida’s Louis Meintjes is another rider capable of finishing on the podium.

Saturday’s 177km stage from from Nice to Madone d’Utelle featured an up-and-down route with seven categorized climbs interspersed evenly throughout the day.

The daunting parcours didn’t stop a determined group of seven riders from setting off just over 20km in, with Antoine Duchesne (Direct Energie), Florian Vachon (Fortuneo), Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep), Cyril Gautier (AG2R), Gregory Rast (Trek), Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseilles) and Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre) initiating the move. Cannondale’s Andrew Talansky bridged to the group and was quickly followed by Lotto Soudal’s Thomas De Gendt to form the day’s group of nine.

The gap reached 2:25 but was back down to 1:30 after 70km of racing. De Gendt took top mountains classification points at the first four KOMs, as the leaders’ pace first jettisoned Siskevicius and then Rast. Duchense, who had garnered KOM points on previous days, led the mountains classification at this point, but De Gendt had climbed into second with two climbs remaining on the stage.

Tinkoff kept up the pressure in the peloton, keeping the breakaway in check for Contador, and the gap was down to one minute with 55km to go. Talansky crashed on a descent and was fored to abandon from the breakaway, while the leaders’ pace whittled the group down to two as Vachon and Duchesne carried on at the front. Duchesne was soon alone with 35km to go as Tinkoff continued to lead the peloton at 1:12.

The 24-year-old Canadian eventually succumbed to the chase, now led by Team Sky, with 15km remaining, but he earned the polka dot jersey for his efforts.

The Sky pace on the final climb whittled the group down to about 30 riders, with most of the favourites clinging to the pack. Sky was still lined up on the front when Rafal Majka slipped up the side of the road with Contador on tow at 10km to go. Majka picked up the pacemaking as Sky riders started to fall off the lead pace. Sergio and Thomas followed the Tinkoff pair, followed by Zakarin, Porte, Dumoulin, Romain Bardet, Simon Yates, Ion Izagirre in a group of about 15.

When Majka pulled off with 5.5km to go, the lead group was down to just the handful of contenders, with Contador attacking briefly but unable to drop Thomas, Henao, Zakarin and Porte. Simon Yages fought his way back to the group, but on the final steep pitches it was left to Zakarin, Thomas, Contador and Porte to battle for the win and overall lead.

Results :
1 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 4:45:11
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
3 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team 0:00:01
4 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:07
5 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:10
6 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:20
7 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:00:31
8 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team
10 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
11 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
12 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
13 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:49
14 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:55
15 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 0:01:48
16 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:02:15
17 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale Pro Cycling
18 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
19 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:21
20 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
21 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:02:27
22 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:38
23 David De La Cruz (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:03:00
24 Gorka Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:21
25 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
26 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Lampre – Merida 0:03:43
27 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:04:27
28 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:04:46
29 José Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:05
30 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff Team 0:06:03
31 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie 0:06:13
32 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:06:15
33 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
34 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:06:55
35 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:07:52
36 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:09:41
37 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:09:47
38 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky 0:10:42
39 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:11:02
40 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:12:04
41 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky
42 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
43 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
44 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff Team
45 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:14:25
46 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
47 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
48 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Lampre – Merida
49 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha
50 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
51 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
52 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
53 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
54 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
55 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie
56 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:15:50
57 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ
58 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:17:11
59 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
60 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
61 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:18:02
62 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge 0:20:03
63 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
64 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin
65 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
66 Oliver Naesen (Bel) IAM Cycling
67 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
68 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
69 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
70 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
71 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
72 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
73 Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
74 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team
75 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team
76 Vicente Reynes (Spa) IAM Cycling 0:20:49
77 Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team
78 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling
79 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team
80 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
81 Leonardo Duque (Col) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
82 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
83 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie 0:22:17
84 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre – Merida 0:22:34
85 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:23:34
86 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:23:57
87 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
88 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:24:35
89 Mario Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:25:35
90 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie
91 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
92 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
93 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
94 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida
95 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Orica-GreenEdge
96 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
97 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
98 Julien Loubet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
99 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
100 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
101 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ
102 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
103 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
104 Daniel Diaz (Arg) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
105 Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
106 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge
107 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team
108 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha
109 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
110 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:34:41
111 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:35:58
112 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
113 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
114 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
115 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
116 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step
117 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team
118 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
119 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
120 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
121 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
122 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
123 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling
124 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
125 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
126 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
127 Steven Tronet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
128 Matt Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data
129 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
130 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ
131 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
132 Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ
133 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
134 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
135 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ
136 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
137 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal
138 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – Merida
139 Matti Breschel (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling
140 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
141 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
142 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
143 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling
144 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
145 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-GreenEdge
146 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge
147 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Daniel Mclay (GBr) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) IAM Cycling
DNF Youcef Reguigui (Alg) Dimension Data
DNF Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Cheng Ji (Chn) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team
DNF Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 24:10:26
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team 0:00:15
3 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:00:20
4 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:21
5 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:32
6 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:37
7 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky 0:00:39
8 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:44
9 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:00:51
10 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:00
11 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:01:07
12 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:09
13 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:12
14 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:39
15 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:02:32
16 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:02:42
17 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:02:54
18 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:03:05
19 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:36
20 Gorka Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:39
21 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:43
22 David De La Cruz (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:04:17
23 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:05:19
24 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff Team 0:06:17
25 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky 0:06:40
26 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:07:07
27 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie 0:07:09
28 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Lampre – Merida 0:08:22
29 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:08:27
30 José Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:09:22
31 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:10:02
32 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:10:15
33 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:12:09
34 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:12:22
35 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 0:13:05
36 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff Team 0:13:36
37 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:13:52
38 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:14:36
39 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:14:53
40 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie 0:15:01
41 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:15:22
42 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 0:15:40
43 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Tinkoff Team 0:15:44
44 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie 0:15:56
45 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:17:00
46 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 0:17:12
47 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:19:08
48 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:19:14
49 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:19:46
50 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:20:55
51 Oliver Naesen (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:20:57
52 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:21:09
53 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:21:41
54 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:21:53
55 Vicente Reynes (Spa) IAM Cycling 0:22:00
56 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:22:21
57 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:22:27
58 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:22:55
59 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie 0:23:09
60 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team 0:23:54
61 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:24:20
62 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:24:23
63 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
64 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:25:14
65 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:25:23
66 Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:25:49
67 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:26:04
68 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie 0:26:44
69 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge 0:26:58
70 Leonardo Duque (Col) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:28:30
71 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:28:43
72 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky 0:28:51
73 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:30:24
74 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:30:33
75 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:30:38
76 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:31:41
77 Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team 0:31:45
78 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:32:22
79 Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:32:29
80 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:33:42
81 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:34:45
82 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:35:02
83 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:36:16
84 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:36:40
85 Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ 0:37:04
86 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:37:07
87 Matti Breschel (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:37:10
88 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha 0:38:00
89 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:39:16
90 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:39:33
91 Julien Loubet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:40:07
92 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:40:30
93 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:40:44
94 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:42:41
95 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ 0:42:59
96 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:43:29
97 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:43:52
98 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:44:05
99 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge 0:44:31
100 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie 0:44:35
101 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team 0:45:05
102 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:45:11
103 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Lampre – Merida 0:45:12
104 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre – Merida 0:45:32
105 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:46:37
106 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ 0:46:38
107 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ 0:46:43
108 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:46:54
109 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha 0:46:57
110 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:47:01
111 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:47:33
112 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team 0:48:43
113 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:49:14
114 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Orica-GreenEdge 0:49:27
115 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:49:28
116 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ 0:50:18
117 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:50:29
118 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:51:49
119 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:51:59
120 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:53:12
121 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ 0:53:29
122 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:53:53
123 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:54:50
124 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:55:11
125 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:55:44
126 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:56:59
127 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie 0:57:14
128 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:57:20
129 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:57:25
130 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie 0:57:48
131 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge 0:58:07
132 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:59:22
133 Mario Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:59:25
134 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:59:32
135 Daniel Diaz (Arg) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:59:34
136 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo 0:59:38
137 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 1:01:24
138 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data 1:02:45
139 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:02:55
140 Steven Tronet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 1:02:58
141 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal 1:03:54
142 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling 1:06:05
143 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 1:08:02
144 Matt Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data 1:08:11
145 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 1:10:00
146 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-GreenEdge 1:12:01
147 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 1:14:24