Bennett, an Irishman in green

March 15 ^th 2019 - 16:36

The sprints of this Paris-Nice have been shared equally between two riders, Dylan Groenewegen and Ireland's Sam Bennett, who found the right form right on time to snatch his second stage win in this 77th edition in Brignoles. Already winner in Moulins in stage 3, the Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter found the extra gear in the last stretch of stage 6 to overtake France's Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) on the line, while Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) was third. Bennett also took the green jersey away from Groenewegen, winner of the first two stages. Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) controlled the race all day to retain his yellow jersey, even if he lost one second to Spain's Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) in the intermediate sprints of the day.

Three in the lead

The real start was given at 12:12 to 149 riders. France's Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) was the first rider in action, at kilometer 6. Ha was quickly joined by three other riders, Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo), Laurent Pichon (Arkea Samsic) and Mauro Finetto (Delko-Marseille-Provence) while Ivan Garcia (Bahrain-Merida), who had first moved in the break, finally waited for the pack. Calmejane then also decided to let go, leaving Kirsch, Pichon and Finetto alone in the front.

Peloton regroups

The trio remained in control until the first climb of the day, Cote de la Sainte-Baume (km 114), when the peloton made it back within 30 seconds. At the top, Finetto collected seven points while KOM leader De Gendt picked two. In the descent, the pack edged closer and caught the three escapees at kilometer 128. The acceleration split the pack. De Gendt found himself trapped at the back and was not in contention in the ascent of 3rd category Cote de Mazaugues (Km 114). Ivan Garcia was first at the top. Simon Yates and green jersey holder Dylan Groenewegen were also in the second bunch, trailing the front group by 30 seconds.

Sanchez picks time

At the first sprint of the day (Col de la Bigue, km 146.5), Luis Leon Sanchez, third overall, collected three bonus seconds ahead of his team-mate Ion Izagirre and Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott). The front group was led throughout by Mitchelton-Scott riders, paving the way for Matteo Trentin, and the Sky team-mates of race leader Kwiatkowski. With 12 km to go, a crash involving Rafael Valls (Movistar) and Jan Bakelants (Sunweb), slowed the front bunch, which quickly regrouped.

Bunch sprint

With most sprinters still in contention, to the notable exception of Groenewegen, Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Andre Greipel (Arkea Samsic), the stage was set for a bunch sprint. In the meantime, Kwitakowski won the last intermediate sprint ahead of Sanchez and took back one second off the Spaniard. A crash with 3 km to go quashed the sprint hopes of Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and Christophe Laporte (Cofidis). In the last kilometer, Groupama-FDJ seized the reins for Demare, who made his effort a little bit too early, to see Sam Bennett surge in his slipstream and pip him on the line.