Paris-Nice stage 6 Live - Bunch sprint expected on another cold day

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

80KM TO GO

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

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

The two remaining riders in the day’s break. 

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

90KM TO GO

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

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.

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.

Mechanical for Pablo Castrillo.

100KM TO GO

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

120KM TO GO

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

Here are the updated KOM rankings:

1 Thomas Gachignard 21

2 João Almeida 20

3 Lenny Martinez 14

4 Alexandre Delettre 12 

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

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. 

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%. 

130KM TO GO

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

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.

140KM TO GO

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

170KM TO GO

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

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

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.

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.

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. 

190KM TO GO

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Otruba still has over a minute to make up. 

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

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

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.

The pair has a lead of 20 seconds. 

He's joined by Rémi Cavagna.

Thomas Gachignard is on the attack.

210KM TO GO

And they're off!

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Hello and welcome to stage 6 of Paris-Nice.