Rémi Cavagna took advantage of the longest stage of Paris-Nice this Friday to stand out. The French rider led the day’s breakaway, while the peloton completely split apart following a descent, leading to a very intense final sixty kilometres. Caught by the first echelon with forty kilometers to go, the “TGV de Clermont-Ferrand” then chased together with his teammates and his leader to limit the losses. The former French champion won the combative prize, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet lost two minutes to the yellow jersey but retained his fourteenth place overall.
The Paris-Nice peloton headed to the Mediterranean coast this Friday on stage 6. On the road to Berre l’Étang, however, no fewer than 210 kilometres were to be covered, and with very gloomy weather once again. Rémi Cavagna wasn’t afraid of the conditions and immediately went up the road, along with Thomas Gachignard and Jakub Otruba. “The goal was to be in the breakaway even though we knew it would be difficult to make it to the end, because there were 200 kilometres and no one was motivated to go in front,” said the Frenchman. “The main goal was to be a step ahead in order to be in front if there were any echelons and to be able to wait for Guillaume if necessary. We first found ourselves three up front, we worked well together, then there were only two of us, and then I was all alone. So, I just kept riding… (smiles).” After getting a max lead of three minutes, the Groupama-FDJ rider found himself on his own with nearly 85 kilometres to go. “We know that Rémi likes solo breakaways,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “Then, with the rain, which he likes, the tailwind in the first half of the race, and some technical sections in the final, we thought ‘let’s go for it’, because you never know what might happen in the back. We can just regret that he was all alone. It’s a bit of a shame that other teams didn’t want to gamble more. There was little chance, but given the weather, something was possible”.
“Not a bad day, neither a great one,” Benoît Vaugrenard
The weather actually caused real chaos about sixty kilometres from the finish, after the downhill of the Côte de Baux-de-Provence. “The weather conditions were difficult,” confirmed Benoît. “We knew things could break down in this area. Everything was made for things to get crazy. The descent was technical, wet, a few splits happened, and when Ineos Grenadiers and Visma-Lease a Bike saw that the peloton had broken apart, they immediately put the hammer down with the ¾ tailwind.” Around fifteen riders joined the first group, with the aforesaid two teams over-represented. The Groupama-FDJ cycling team found itself in the “main” peloton and immediately organized to maintain the gap. Caught forty kilometers from the finish by the yellow jersey’s group, Rémi Cavagna waited for the peloton to give his teammates a helping hand. “Unfortunately, the gap was already too big,” said Benoît. The gap stayed at one minute for a long time but gradually increased in the final thirty kilometres. On the finish line, it had almost doubled.
“It’s nice to be in front,” Rémi Cavagna
After a fierce fight of an hour and a half, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet ultimately crossed the finish line 1’54 behind winner Mads Pedersen, but still held onto his fourteenth place overall. “It’s not a bad day, neither a great one,” Benoît summarized. “The boys did their best. We know Guillaume isn’t in his element on this type of stage, but we limited our losses. We’re where we belong.” As for Rémi Cavagna, he went onto the podium to receive the well-deserved trophy for the most combative rider of the day. “It’s one of the best races on the calendar, I love Paris-Nice, and it’s nice to be in front and take a bit of confidence,” he said. “He was going strong,” added his sports director. On Saturday, the decisive Paris-Nice weekend will start with a stage that won’t include La Colmiane, but with the expected summit finish in Auron (7.3 km at 7%). “It will come down to one climb only, but we’ll adapt,” concluded Benoît Vaugrenard. “We can see that it’s an elimination race. The weather will be bad again tomorrow, we’ll keep fighting, and we’ll take stock on Sunday evening.”
