Paris-Nice: Sam Bennett wins stage 5

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Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) claimed an authoritative victory on stage 5 of Paris-Nice in a bunch sprint in Bollène, while Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) overcame a crash in the final hour of racing to finish safely in the peloton and retain the overall lead.

Already a winner on the opening day in Saint-Cyr-l'École, Bennett continued his fine start to 2021 here, beating Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) to the line after sprinting from the front and all but daring his challengers to try to come around him.

Bennett's finishing speed was all the more noteworthy given that he had been forced into an unplanned effort just outside the final kilometre after he was briefly bumped from lead-out man Michael Mørkøv's wheel.

The Irishman had to move into the wind to make sure he was back in place ahead of a trickily placed roundabout, and the risk proved worthwhile. He was tucked securely behind three Deceuninck-QuickStep teammates beneath the flamme rouge, and then he unleashed a confident sprint in the gently curving finishing straight.

Bouhanni, Ackermann, Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos) never looked like overhauling Bennett, who already has four victories to his name this season.

"I was suffering the last few k. I don't know what it is, but people won't let me follow my own train here and it's frustrating in the final. I just got back on just before the roundabout," said Bennett. "It was a very hard final. I didn't think I'd hold it to the line, but the guys did an incredible job and I'm proud that I could finish it off.

"For some reason, I'm not being left to follow my own wheel. Guys are coming in and they just wanted to disrupt our sprint instead of concentrating on their own race. We don't look at anybody else, so I don't know why they're getting so fixated on us."

The answer is surely obvious, even if Bennett downplayed the idea that it was simply a tribute to his current strength. "Maybe not me, but maybe my teammates are too strong," he said.

The flat route and block headwind meant that a bunch sprint was inevitable from the outset, but the day was not without drama in the race for the yellow jersey, as Roglic was a faller with 35km remaining. The Slovenian crashed together with his Jumbo-Visma teammate Tony Martin, who was forced to abandon after sustaining a broken elbow.

Roglic, for his part, was able to remount quickly and he re-joined the peloton almost immediately, though he opted not to track overall contenders Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Ion Izagirre (Astana Premier Tech) and Tiesj Benoot (DSM) when they stole away to contest the bonus seconds at the second intermediate sprint with 15km to go.

Schachmann even appeared to toy briefly with the idea of persisting in his offensive after the sprint, but with Deceuninck-QuickStep eager to tee up a bunch sprint, he thought better of it. No matter, the cameo was still an indication of the defending champion's willingness to take the fight to Roglic between here and Nice.

He had also contested to first intermediate sprint in Nion, and he picked up 4 seconds in bonuses on the stage. In the overall standings, he now trails Roglic by 31 seconds, while Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) remains third at 37 seconds.

How it unfolded

For good and for ill, the wind can often condition the racing at Paris-Nice and as the peloton set out from Vienne on Thursday morning, it was clear that the spectacle was likely to be muted by the block headwind they faced on the long road south.

No would-be attackers could be coaxed into action when the flag dropped and the first three hours of racing saw the peloton trundle along at a relatively sedate 33kph. A rare frisson was provided by Schachmann, who placed second behind Jasha Sutterlin (Movistar) at the first intermediate sprint to pick up 2 seconds.

With 70km to go, Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal) and Oliver Naesen (AG2R-Citroen) tried to bring a group of eleven riders clear, if only to help hone their form for the Classics ahead, but the prevailing wind meant the move was doomed from the outset and they relented shortly afterwards.

A sharp change in direction at Bourg-Saint-Andéol saw the anxiety in the peloton rise noticeably with 50km to go, but the feared split never materialised. The crash that ended Tony Martin's race highlighted the need for vigilance in the finale – as had an earlier incident involving Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) – but the peloton remained grouped on the following category 3 ascent of the Côte de Saint-Restitut.

Schachmann was first to the top there, and later, he would have a fleeting foray off the front with Izagirre after the second intermediate sprint. He soon thought better of it, but the German appears to have signalled his intentions for the days to come – as indeed, did Izagirre, who now lies 4th at 40 seconds after picking up 3 bonus seconds.

On the run-in, Deceuninck-QuickStep and Trek-Segafredo were to the fore, while Groupama-FDJ and Bahrain Victorious were on hand to marshal Arnaud Démare (a distant 13th in the sprint) and Bauhaus, respectively.

Bennett had to compete more than he might have liked for his lead-out man Mørkøv's rear wheel in the finale but, despite his complaints, he knows that it is simply sprinting's sincerest form of flattery. And he will also hope that his current form can allow him to survive the Poggio and contest the spoils on the Via Roma at Milan-San Remo on March 20.

"From now it will be a bit of strength and conditioning until the end of the race and then San Remo," said Bennett.