Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard withdrew from Paris-Nice after injuring his wrist. Meanwhile, British riders Josh Tarling and Sam Watson lost in a sprint finish on stage six.
Denmark’s Mads Pedersen won the 209.8km race from Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban to Berre l’Etang, holding off Tarling in the final 100 meters. Watson finished third.
With Vingegaard out, his American teammate Matteo Jorgenson extended his overall lead.
In tough weather, Jorgenson’s team attacked nearly 60km from the finish, leaving behind five of the top 10 riders, including Joao Almeida. Jorgenson gained another four seconds in the overall standings.
Saturday’s stage will take the riders over a tough 109.5km mountain route from Nice to Auron.
Stage six winners and standings
- Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) 4hrs 25mins 37secs
- Josh Tarling (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time
- Sam Watson (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) “
- Axel Zingle (Fra/Visma – Lease a Bike) “
- Matteo Sobrero (Ita/Red Bull – Bora Hansgrohe) “
- Magnus Sheffield (US/ Ineos Grenadiers) “
- Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) “
- Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma – Lease a Bike) “
- Max Schachmann (Ger/Soudal Quick-Step) “
- Thymen Arensman (Ned/ Ineos Grenadiers) “
Overall standings after stage six
- Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma – Lease a Bike) 20hrs 52mins 57secs
- Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull – Bora Hansgrohe) +40secs
- Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +59secs
- Thymen Arensman (Ned/Ineos Grenadiers) +1mins 20secs
- João Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 40secs
- Tobias Foss (Nor/Ineos Grenadiers +2mins 47secs
- Magnus Sheffield (US/ Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 54secs
- Brandon McNulty (US/UAE Team Emirates) +3mins 05secs
- Clément Champoussin (Fra/XDS Astana) +3mins 22secs
- Harold Tejada (Col/XDS Astana) +3mins 24secs
