The GC contenders, and Mattias Skjelmose in particular, eventually took the best on the hilly stage 6 of Paris-Nice. Laurence Pithie still tried to anticipate the big fight by entering the breakaway after a furious start, but the bunch decided otherwise and caught all the attackers before the last climb. Quentin Pacher was the first rider from Groupama-FDJ to reach the finish line, in twenty-second position.
The “Race to the Sun” resumed on Friday where it had ended the day before. From Sisteron, the riders tackled an uncertain sixth stage, due to the 3,000 meters of elevation gain and a final climb located almost thirty kilometres from the finish. Did the break finally have its chances? Many believed so, and this led to a fierce fight over the first sixty kilometers slightly uphill. Laurence Pithie actively took part in this fight. Six men ultimately opened a gap in the first classified climb, and the New Zealander made an extra effort to catch the right group. “It was a super hard day, full gas from the start, and it took a long time for the breakaway to actually go,” said Laurence. “I was attacking a lot and following all the moves. In the end, I had to really fight to be there. The breakaway was gone, but I managed to get away from the peloton on the descent and ride across.” “When we saw that Lidl-Trek wanted to get in the moves, we knew we absolutely had to put someone in front, and Laurence ended up with Pedersen,” added Benoît Vaugrenard. In addition to his competitor for the green jersey, the “Kiwi” also found himself with Bruno Armirail, Michael Storer, Georg Zimmerman, Marco Haller, Cedric Beullens, Christian Scaroni, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Gijs Leemreize.
“Laurence did a brave ride”, Benoît Vaugrenard
The lead of the ten men reached two minutes before the next two climbs, but the gap never went higher than that. “I was really motivated to be in the breakaway,” added Laurence. “I thought that if I could be in front, I’d have a chance to pass the climb in front of the GC riders, or even get caught towards the top and still stay with them and contest the win. But Ineos had other plans”. “It could have been a good move, but Ineos decided to make the race hard, and we couldn’t do anything about it,” said Benoît. “Anyway, Laurence had a very good race, he was up there where he had to. This kind of effort will make him progress. He did a brave ride today.” For more than an hour, the peloton kept the break within just one minute, then came back in the Col du Gourdon, before heading to La Colle-sur-Loup. Quentin Pacher, David Gaudu and Kevin Geniets held on to the right group, but shortly after passing the finish line for the first time, the race exploded on the final climb (1.8 km at 11%). The Groupama-FDJ riders were then unable to compete with the favourites. “We are satisfied with Laurence, who rode a good stage, but then we got a bit in trouble,” confessed Benoît. “David was not feeling well 48 hours after his crash. Kevin crashed at the bottom of the climb. There was only Quentin left, and he fought as best he could.”
The French puncher eventually reached the line in twenty-second place, more than four minutes behind the winner Mattias Skjelmose. Brandon McNulty took over the yellow jersey on Friday. “Tomorrow will come down to the summit finish in the Madone d’Utelle, then there will be the usual stage around Nice on Sunday,” Benoît concluded. “It’s going to be a hard weekend.”
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