Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) claimed the second victory of his career on stage 6 of Paris-Nice, adding to his team's success after Arnaud Démare's stage 1 victory and lead in the points classification.
Molard latched onto a select group of only 14 riders who chased down a late attack from Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and then laid down a stinging attack with 1.3km to go.
The chasing group, with race leader Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) entrenched, perhaps underestimated the 28-year-old Frenchman, and finished a frustrated two seconds after Molard shook his head in disbelief at his good fortune and celebrated the stage win. Wellens led the group to the line.
Sanchez holds a 22 second lead over Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors), with best young rider Marc Soler (Movistar) in third at 26 seconds.