Paris-Nice: Sam Bennett wins stage 6

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He had it, he had it, but then he lost it: Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), head down and a clean pair of wheels with just metres before the finish line, heaved a sigh of disappointment as Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) lunged through on his right and snatched the Paris-Nice stage 6 victory out from under him. Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) was third.

Groupama-FDJ had seemingly timed their well-honed lead-out perfectly, launching Demare with just 150m to go. But into a brisk headwind, Bennett, who followed wheels and even had to stop pedalling as he encountered traffic as the sprint wound up, was able to use the draft of a fading Trentin to slingshot past Demare at the line.

Just 40 riders contested the sprint after a quick succession of short climbs and several crashes splintered the peloton in the final 40km. Even Bennett said he didn't think he was going to make it for the sprint on the second to last climb.

"I came around, and the guys were doing a fantastic job in the final. Actually, in the last 5km, my legs were really good so I knew I didn't have to panic with regards to positioning, just follow my teammates as best as possible.

"I thought the gap nearly closed on me in the final, but it opened again and I was able to kick really hard. I was really happy and I just want to thank the team again.

"I've been working really hard this winter with my first target being Milan-San Remo, so everything's on track."

Race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) hoped to enjoy an easy day before the big mountain stages on the weekend but instead had to battle through crosswinds and aggressive moves by Astana to deliver Luis Leon Sanchez to the bonus sprints.

Ion Izagirre successfully led Sanchez out for the first intermediate sprint bonus and tried to go again in the second sprint with 4km to go. Kwiatkowski smartly marked that move and powered past to pad his lead.

Kwiatkowski now leads Paris-Nice by teammate Egan Bernal by 18 seconds, with Sanchez third at 22 seconds.

"That was a really hectic stage. Straight from the start, there were some attacks in the crosswinds, and the bunch was really nervous throughout the whole stage. Then of course when you've got riders like Matteo Trentin and all the strong sprinters in the race, they want to dig deep in the climbs and drop the other ones," the race leader said.

"We had some really technical descents, and the bunch was splitting all over the place and there were plenty of crashes.

"I was hoping for an easier day, in terms of even sprinting in the bonuses. (Sanchez) went crazy for those three seconds, but I was trying to stay on his wheel on the last one and I was able to out-sprint him for those three seconds. So I'm happy for another three seconds, but tomorrow it will be way harder to gain or lose those seconds."

Stage 7 of Paris-Nice, the queen stage, covers 181.5km from Nice with five categorized ascents on the way to the final ascent of the Col de Turini, a category 1 climb that's 14.9km long and has an average 7.3 per cent grade.

"It's going to be a big challenge for me to defend the title, but we are really motivated, together with Egan (Bernal) and having both of us in the front of the race it's going to be nice to play."

How it unfolded

The warm weather continued to welcome the peloton in the south of France, with 176.5km from Peynier to Brignoles, but much to the peloton's chagrin, the wind was back.

Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) kicked off the attacking in the first kilometre, and he was soon joined by Ivan Garcia (Bahrain-Merida), Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo), Laurent Pichon (Arkea-Samsic) and Mauro Finetto (Delko-Marseille-Provence) to form the day's main breakaway.

It was a cheeky move by Calmejane, the move's highest-placed rider, only 2:15 behind race leader Michal Kwiatkowski, so Team Sky kept the gap at a manageable level, but the peloton, buffeted by strong crosswinds in the early kilometres, began to fracture.

The scrambling to get back on terms with the front of the bunch meant that the leaders' gap was at only a minute. Garcia sat up, and finally, Calmejane relented and allowed the remaining three riders to soldier on without as much fear from the bunch.

With no real threat up the road, the peloton reformed and eased up slightly, allowing the trio to gain more time since Kirsch was the best-placed at 15:32.

A crash at the midpoint of the race took down Quentin Pacher (Vital Concept) and Lawson Craddock (EF Education First). Fran Ventoso (CCC Team) also went down and was forced to abandon the race.

The nerves in the bunch resulted in an uptick in pace, with the escapees holding just one minute and falling on the peloton with 70km to go.

By the time they reached the Côte de la Sainte-Baume, the day's first classified climb - a 5km, 5 per cent category 2 ascent - the trio were within arm's reach of the peloton.

Deceuninck-Quickstep led on the sinuous descent, slashing the trio's advantage and eventually mowing them down with 48.5km, two more short climbs and two intermediate sprints left to go. The time bonuses were clearly of interest for Bob Jungels, sitting fifth at 57 seconds.

The Côte de Mazaugues, a short, sharp category 3 climb, split the peloton in intense crosswinds, with the points leader Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) heading out the back and mountains leader Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) saving his legs for another day's assault on the polka dot jersey.

Rather than Jungels, it was Luis Leon Sanchez who was led out for the first sprint by Astana teammate Ion Izagirre. Sitting 24 seconds down at the start of the day, Sanchez whittled three seconds off that gap with the sprint bonus before going back to the peloton. Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) picked up the final bonus second.

Team Sky's Luke Rowe led the peloton over the Côte de Sainte-Philomène with 15km to go as the bunch resigned themselves to a bunch sprint but a crash from Rafael Valls (Movistar) and Jan Bakelants (Sunweb) caused a split in the peloton.

The injection of adrenaline upped the pace, with Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) forced to scramble to get back into the front group.

With Arnaud Demare making it back to the front, Groupama-FDJ began battling with Deceuninck-Quickstep for control of the pace-setting. With an uphill gambler's sprint coming with just 4km to go, Sanchez leapt to the front again with Izagirre but was closely marked by Kwiatkowski himself, who powered past to steal the three-second bonus.

Behind, there was another crash with Tao Geoghegan Hart (Sky) being caught up with Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) before Groupama-FDJ once more took control of the lead-out.

It looked like a perfect set-up for Demare, but he hit out just a bit too early, and a patient Bennett, tucked tight on his wheel, exploded past the Frenchman just before the line to snatch the stage victory.

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