As it happened: splits in bunch shake up GC at Paris-Nice stage 6

Hello and welcome to stage 6 of Paris-Nice.

The big news this morning is that Jonas Vingeagaard has left the race. The Dane lost the yellow jersey yesterday to teammate Matteo Jorgenson having gone down in a crash earlier in the stage, and it’s been decided that he’s best off not racing for now while he allows his injuries to recover.

You can read our full report on Vingegaard’s departure here.

It sounds like Vingegaard’s withdrawal is more precautionary than anything else. He was in some pain at the finish, especially his wrist, but still had the legs to finish not far off the leaders. 

His Visma-Lease a Bike team’s statement indicated that “it is best for him to recover from yesterday’s crash at home and focus on his next goals for the season” - they don’t want to aggravate any injuries with his main season goal, the Tour de France, on the horizon.

His absence will have a big affect on the rest of this Paris-Nice. It renders Matteo Jorgenson as Visma-Lease a Bike’s sole unambiguous leader, but also leaves him more vulnerable to attacks from rivals. Florian Lipowitz, João Almeida, Lenny Martinez and Mattias Skjelmose all look in good form, and are all within a minute of him on GC, with plenty of climbing still to come.

Those climbs are to come tomorrow and Sunday rather than today, however. This one is a flat stage, which, despite its excessive length of over 200km, should be easy enough to be decided by a bunch sprint, and not see any GC action.

The riders are in the neutralised section, and will begin shortly. 

210KM TO GO

And they're off!

Thomas Gachignard is on the attack.

He's joined by Rémi Cavagna.

The pair has a lead of 20 seconds. 

The first 10km of this stage are uphill, rising at a gradient not hard enough to be deemed an official climb, but still aiding riders wanting to attack to get into the day’s break.

Over one minute already for the two leaders. It seems the peloton are happy to let them go.

Jakub Otruba of Caja Rural has also attacked out of the peloton in an attempt to join the two leaders.

Otruba still has over a minute to make up. 

200KM TO GO

The pair of Thomas Gachignard and Rémi Cavagna are now clearly established in the day's break, with a lead over the peloton of over two minutes. The question now is whether or not Jakub Otruba can join them.

Given how happy the peloton is to let this break go, you’d think it wouldn’t be too hard for Otruba to join them. But he’s still a minute adrift.

Some breaking news - tomrrow's stage 7 has been significantly shortened, with two climbs removed as a result of continuing concerns regarding the weather. Find out all the details here.

That will have a big impact on how the rest of the GC race will play out. There’s now just the category one finish at Auron and the three category one summits on the final stage to Nice left in terms of major climbs, leaving fewer opportunities for riders to gain time on GC.

190KM TO GO

Back to today, and Otruba has succeeded in joining Gachignard and Cavanga. They're 2-30 ahead of the peloton.

Once again, it’s an unpleasantly cold day to be out racing, with a temperature of about 5 degrees. The riders are having to wrap up in several layers to try to keep warm. 

180KM TO GO

The trio’s lead has not been allowed to grow any more. It’s being kept at 2-30. With such a long way to go, the peloton could probably afford to grant them a bigger advantage, but are keeping them on a leash for now.

Soudal-QuickStep is the team leading the peloton, seeking out a third stage win for their sprinter Tim Merlier. But they’re also being assisted by Alpecin-Deceuninck, whose intentions are more oblique.

Here's Jakub Otruba earlier, before he'd joined the other two. He'll be glad to be out of no-man's land.

170KM TO GO

AA little more leeway being given to the break now. They're lead is up to nearly three minutes.

Tirreno-Adriatico is also ongoing, across the border in Italy. You can follow all the action here.

160KM TO GO

It's as you were, with the gap remaining just shy of three minutes. Today makes for a stark contrast with yesterday, where the fight to get into the break was still on at this point in the stage.

Some more cold-looking riders in the peloton. This isn't the 'race to the sun' they were promised. 

150KM TO GO

The gap remains at 2-50, as we enter 150km to go. We’ve been riding over 50km but are still only a quarter into the stage - this is a long, that, despite the mostly flat terrain, will sap energy from the legs of the riders.

Mads Pedersen will be one of the biggest threats to stage favourite Tim Merlier today. Though he’s been unable to compete with him in the bunch finishes, the way he’s time trilled and climbed suggests he’s in great form, and he thrives on a cold, long day like this.

The riders are climbing for the first time in a while, though it;s only a small lump, with no KOM on offer at the top.

Gachignard has gotten into the break in order to hunt those points, but will have to wait another 20km for the first of the day’s three category three climbs.

140KM TO GO

The gap between the leading trio and peloton has gone up a little, to over three minutes. 

Looking back to yesterday, Lenny Martinez’s stage win has given the French public and media more to get excited about. It was a seriously impressive win from the 21-year-old, and further confirmation of his considerable talent. Could he be the next French Tour de France contender the nation has so long hoped for? Expectations have increased.

130KM TO GO

The gap is at about 2-30. The peloton has this firmly under control. 

CÔTE DE POUZILHAC

We're on our first climb of the day, the category three Côte de Pouzilhac. It's 1.8km, and rises at 4.7%. 

You’d expect Cavanga and Otruba to let Gachignard take the points at the top, which would be enough to make the Frencham virtual leader of the KOM classification. 

That is indeed what happens. Gachignard reaches the top first, followed by Otruba, then Cavagna.

Here are the updated KOM rankings:

1 Thomas Gachignard 21

2 João Almeida 20

3 Lenny Martinez 14

4 Alexandre Delettre 12 

120KM TO GO

The gap has come down on that climb, to two minutes.

They're on the descent now after which another long flat stretch awaits them until the next climb.

The gap has continued to fall on this descent. It's now down to 1-30.

110KM TO GO

They're back on the flat again, with the gap still at 1-30. The next climb isn't for another 40km or so.

Gachignard has sat up and is waiting for the peloton to sweep him up. Having gained the points needed for the polka-dot jersey, he must feel his day is done, despite there being more climbs to come.

The pace is up in the peloton. It seems the wind could come into play…

100KM TO GO

The increase in space has seen the gap come down more to 1-10, but the peloton isn’t breaking up.

Mechanical for Pablo Castrillo.

The fear of wind has alleviated and the pace has been knocked off again in the peloton. The gap consequently increases back up to 1-45.

The pace is completely off in the peloton, allowing the gap to balloon all the way back up to over two minutes. Gachignard might regret his decision to drop back - there are up to six more KOM points he could have earned had he stayed in the break.

90KM TO GO

2-30 now for the leaders. We're into the second half of the stage.

The long flat stretch has been briefly interrupted by a short uphill, but one that’s not hard enough to be categorised.

The two remaining riders in the day’s break. 

Two have now become one - Cavagna has gone clear of Otruba. 

80KM TO GO

Cavagna is already a minute up on Otruba, and has increased his lead on the peloton to 2-50.

It seems Cavagna didn't attack to go clear of Otruba, but rather Otruba who sat up. 

70KM TO GO

Three minutes now for Cavagna over the peloton. Like Abrahamsen before him, he will not be an easy man to bring back.

CÔTE DES BAUX-DE-PROVENCE

Cavagna is climbing again. This one lasts 2.5km, and averages 5%.

Otruba is back in the bunch, who are also now on the climb.

Cavagna goes over the top of the climb, still about three minutes ahead of the peloton.

The pace is back up in the peloton, as Visma-Lease a Bike step on the gas. They seem to have caused a split, too.

There are only about 20 riders in the front peloton, being driven by Visma.

After such an uneventful day, this is some development! 

Behind the Visma-led group there's an even smaller group few seconds behind, then another larger group yet further behind.

There are onl about 10 riders here, 6 of which are Visma, including Jorgenson in the yellow jersey.

Skjelmose and Lipowitz are in the yellow jersey group.

Almeida is missing from it though, he's been caught out.

The race is in pieces. There is no peloton anymore, just a series of small groups.

The small group chasing the yellow jersey has made it up to them. That group was mostly made up of Ineos riders, including their GC man Arenesman.

It's not clear if Lenny Martinez is in this lead peloton.

So of the top 5 riders on GC, Jorgenson, Lipowitz and Skjelmose are present, Almeida isn't, and Martinez also appears to be missing.

There are about 30 seconds between the yellow jersey group and Almeida's group.

50KM TO GO

Meanwhile Cavagna's gap has inevitably been reduced amid this action, to 1-35.

There are between 15- 20 riders in the yellow jersey group, 6 of which are from Visma, another 6 of which are Ineos.

CÔTE DE MOURIES

We're on the final climb of the day, Côte de Mouriès. It's 1.2km at 4.2%.

Cavagna is over the top, as is the yellow jersey group, 1-25 later.

Mads Pedersen is also in the lead group, which is mostly made up of GC riders rather than sprinters. If these splits remain, he'll be favourite to win the stage.

His main rival would likely be Sam Watson, who sprinted for 5th at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and here has five Ineos teammates to help him.

And it’s looking more and more likely that this group could stay clear. Their lead over the chasers is growing to nearly a minute.

Here is the yellow jersey group, post-split.

The gap between the two groups is over a minute now.

Both Ineos and Visma seem fully committed to this group. Their riders are taking turns to set a searingly fast pace.

Red Bull's Matteo Sobrero is also helping, for his leader Florian Lipowitz. He's already moved up to second overall following Vingegaard's DNF, and now stands to strenthen his hold on a podium finish. 

Lenny Martinez has been spotted, and he’s even further down. While Almeida is in the main peloton 1-27 down on the yellow jersey group, he’s in another group even further adrift.

Cavagna has been brought back. The yellow jersey group is now the front group.

Cavagna has sat up and is waiting for the chase group to catch him. The plan must be for him to try and pace his GC leader Martin back up to the front group.

40KM TO GO

The gap's still 1-05 between the front group and the chasing peloton with Almeida in it. We're in for a thrilling finale!

Here are all 17 riders in the lead group: 

Visma-Lease a Bike:

Matteo Jorgenson

Eduardo Affini

Victor Campanaerts

Per Strand Hagenes

Bart Lemmen

Axel Zingle

Ines Grenadiers:

Thymen Arensman

Tobias Foss

Bob Jungels

Magnus Sheffield

Josh Tarling

Sam Watson

Matthias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek)

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)

Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe)

Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe)

Max Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep)

Their lead's still growing, up to 1-10.

The virtual GC now looks like this, with Almeida and Martinez slipping down:

1 Jorgenson

2 Lipowitz at 0-36

3 Skjelmose at 0-57

4 Arensman at 1-14

5 Almeida at 1-50

Here's the front group, pushing on.

30KM TO GO

Plenty of teams are contributing to the chase in the peloton, but they aren't making any inroads. The gap remains at about 1-15.

UAE Team Emirates are one of the big losers today. They still have some men to help chase, but Sivakov has just been burnt up.

It’s being reported that Lenny Martinez is three minutes down on the peloton, and 4-10 down on the lead group. His GC ambitions are going up in smoke.

The roads to the finish are all flat, apart from one small rise, the top of which has bonus seconds avaialble. Will the likes of Jorgenson and Lipowitz sprint for them?

The green jersey of Merlier has been spotted in the peloton. He's another hoping the race comes back together so he can sprnt for the win. 

25KM TO GO

It's still advantage yellow jersey group. The gap is holding firm at 1-15.

Who said a 200km+ slog through almost entirely flat roads would be boring?

Now the weather is taking a turn for the worst. It's starting to rain.

20KM TO GO

1-22 beween the two groups. The gap's gone up a bit.

The leaders are nearing the intermediate sprint.

Jorgenson attacks for the seconds.

And Jorgenson wins the sprint, ahead of Lipowitz.

Jorgenson gained 6 seconds, Skjelmose 4 seconds and Lipowitz two seconds.

They're all back together again and still all working together.

Here’s Visma and Ineos pushing on in the lead group. They’ve done a fantastic job today.

Visma-Lease a Bike’s main priority is securing Jorgenson’s yellow jersey, but might they have their eye on the stage win too? Axel Zingle was up there in the sprints earlier this week, so could challenge Pedersen and Watson.

Visma are down a rider - Lemmen has dropped out, fatigued from his efforts leading this group.

The chasing peloton is breaking up, with echelons forming and splits forming.

Soudal-QuickStep have given up the ghost, accepting that they won't be able to bring this back for a sprint for Merlier. That’s bad news for the GC teams caught out, who have lost a key ally in the chase.

10KM TO GO

Consequently, the gap between the groups is growing. It’s up to 1-40 as they go under the 10km to go banner.

Martinez’s group is well adrift, nearly four minutes behind the peloton, and 6-15 down on the lead group.

5KM TO GO

1-45 is the gap, with 5km to go. Riders in the lead group will be starting to think about the stage win, and not just the GC time gaps.

Visma still lead, with Campanaerts.

They're still working well together. Even Pedersen has just come through to take a short turn.

Visma lead into the final 3km.

Pedersen, Zingle and Watson are the riders to look out for in the sprint.

Still Visma lead, with 2km to go.

They're safely round the final roundabout.

1KM TO GO

Attack from Schachmann!

Ineos chase him down, led by Foss.

Pedersen is 2nd in line, behind Schachmann.

Pedersen sprints...

Tarling tries to round him...

MADS PEDERSEN WINS

...but Pedersen pips him at the line!

1 Pedersen

2 Tarling

3 Zingle

Now we wait for the chasing peloton to arrive, and see what the damage is.

1-20 has passed already and they still haven't arrive home.

Here they come now, and they arrive 1-54 down.

It seems Watson came around Zingle at the line, giving Ineos a 2-3 at the line behind winner Pedersen.

We're still waiting for Lenny Martinez to arrive home.

Pedersen only barely held off Tarling at the line, by a fraction. It seems sprinting is yet another string to the super-talented Tarling's bow.

At long last, Lenny Martinez and his group arrives at the finish. They've lost nearly 9 minutes, which will see the Frencham fall way out of the top ten.

Here is the new top 10, after all thet carnage:

1 Matteo Jorgenson 

2 Florian Lipowitz at 0-40

3 Mattias Skjelmose at 0-59

4 Thymen Arensman at 1-20

5 João Almeida at 2-40

6 Tobias Foss at 2-47

7 Magnus Sheffield at 2-54

8 Brandon McNulty at 3-05

9 Clément Champoussin at 3-22

10 Harold Tejada at 3-24

As for stage winner Mads Pedersen, this is his third win of the season, and reward for all the great work he’s done for his teammate this week. He’s looking in great shape for the upcoming spring classics.

Pedersen looks very cold during his post-stage interview. He might make it look easy, but that was a real tough day of racing, and a long time to be out in the cold - even if they tackle the stage at a frenetic pace.

In the race for GC, this was another great day for Matteo Jorgenson. Both of the men who defeated Visma-Lease a Bike on the summit finishes, João Almeida and Lenny Martinez, were distanced, and now only 3 riders are within 2-40 of his time - Florian Lipowitz, Mattias Skjelmose, and Thymen Arensman.

There’s been a change in the points classification, with Mads Pedersen taking the green jersey from Tim Merlier by just one point. Merlier might have had the better of everyone in the pure bunch sprints, but picked up no points today. It’s this versatility that makes Pedersen such a formidable competitor.

Thanks for joining us today, for what was an unexpectedly dramatic stage.

Tomorrow will be the first of a final weekend double-header of mountain stages that will determine the fate of the overall classification. It might be significantly shortened due to the weather, but today showed how GC action can happen even when there isn’t much climbing. There’s likely to be plenty more twists and turns in this Paris-Nice still.