Paris-Nice 2014 - Stage 6

Stage six of the 2014 running of Paris-Nice took place yesterday; it was a long hilly 221.5 kilometre stage from Saint-Saturnin Les-Avignon to Fayence. It was an uphill finish that would favour the puncheurs in the peloton, particularly the stage five winner Carlos Betancur. However, he would have to shake off the race leader Geraint Thomas, who would be determined to keep the maillot jaune.

A ten man breakaway decided to try its hand on the long stage, it included the likes of Steve Cummings (BMC Racing) and Pim Ligthart (Lotto-Belisol). They had too many men close to the overall lead of Thomas however, and they were never allowed much leeway as Sky looked to tightly control proceedings. With sixty kilometres to go, a French pair went to join the move up front. 

The duo were famous faces Thomas Voeckler and Sylvain Chavanel, who successfully bridged the gap, and with fourty kilometres remaining had laid waste to the break, only they, Ligthart, and Alessandro De Marchi of Cannondale remained. Their margin quickly decreased as Astana began to wind up the pace on the front of the peloton.

Frank Schleck and Vincenzo Nibali were among a number of riders trying their hand at attacks off the front, but the race would come down to the final ascent of the day in Fayence. A teammate of Betancur Alexis Vuillermoz and Tom-Jelte Slagter both attempted to attack on the final ascent, but Vuillermoz hit the deck, and Slagter crashed as bad luck marred their chances.

In the ensuing chaos reigning world champion Rui Costa powered clear and looked as if he was going to take the stage, but Carlos Betancur found it in himself to bridge the gap, and sprinted around the rainbow-clad Costa to win his second stage in a row in Paris-Nice. Zdenek Stybar finished third, and Geraint Thomas finished fourth losing three seconds. However, due to Betancur's win bonus he took the yellow jersey of race leader from Thomas, who sat second after the stage.