A Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) victory might suggest normal scheduling at Paris-Nice, but stage six was far from it, torn apart by echelons, which ended some riders’ GC hopes.
Wind and rain laid waste to the peloton on Friday as it headed towards Berre l’Étang on the Mediterranean coast. Pedersen won the stage from a reduced bunch sprint, contested by the 17 riders who made the front group.
Josh Tarling finished a close second, gaining on the Dane in the closing moments, ahead of fellow Ineos Grenadiers man Sam Watson.
"After such a tough day like today, it’s of course nice to win. It would be a pity to get second or third," Pedersen said.
"No one likes to race in five or six degrees [Celsius] and rain, so it was a tough day. I just don’t care when it’s weather like this, but I really don’t enjoy it. In the end, I enjoy it now after the race, and it’s a victory in the pocket."
Shepherded by his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates, race leader Matteo Jorgenson also finished safely in the front group.
The big GC losers on the day were João Almedia (UAE Team Emirates XRG), winner of stage four, who lost almost two minutes, and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), stage five’s winner, who lost nine minutes, freefalling out of top five.
Seventh on the day, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) hopped up to third in GC going into the race's final weekend. "It’s super nice to get a victory with the team, and also Skjelmose moving up in GC. For us this was a perfect day," said Pedersen.
How it happened
Once again, the rain fell on Friday at Paris-Nice, the not-so-aptly named ‘Race to the Sun’. Stage six brought this edition’s longest, at 209.8km, heading to the south coast, over a trio of nondescript category-three climbs.
Groupama-FDJ’s Rémi Cavagna led an early breakaway out of Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban. The Frenchman eventually ended up on his own, dressed in a rain cape and trudging through the wind.
In the second half of the stage, the conditions turned sharply on the racing.
Echelons ripped through the bunch, tearing the peloton into small groups. After a battle for the front of the race, a 17-strong group formed, containing all six of the Jonas-Vingegaard-less Visma-Lease a Bike, and six of the seven Ineos Grenadiers riders.
Six bonus seconds were offered in a sprint with 20km remaining. Shooting out of the front group, yellow-jersey-wearer Jorgenson claimed maximum honours ahead of Skjelmose and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), both smartly placed at the fore, and earning four and two seconds respectively.
The gap to the peloton then began to grow. By the time the leaders bore down on the final kilometre, their advantage stood at almost two minutes.
Sensing weary legs, and perhaps knowing he was the favourite in the group, Pedersen launched a long sprint, looking to get a jump on his breakaway rivals. Tarling followed, but the line came too soon for the Brit, who shook Pedersen's hand afterwards, a valiant runner-up.
"Tarling is just so strong," the Dane said post-race, shivering in a bulky jacket. "You know never to [count] him out of the race, even in a sprint like this. In the end, I’m just happy that I won. If you win with one centimetre or half a metre, it doesn’t matter."
Paris-Nice continues on Saturday with its penultimate day, a stage shortened to just 109km due to "unfavourable" weather conditions.
Results
Paris-Nice 2025, stage six: Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban to Berre l’Étang (209.8km)
1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek, in 4:25:37
2. Josh Tarling (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
3. Sam Watson (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Axel Zingle (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
6. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers
7. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek
8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike
9. Max Schachmann (Ger) Soudal Quick-Step
10. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, all at same time
General classification after stage six
1. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 20:52:57
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +40s
3. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +59s
4. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:20
5. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates XRG, +2:40
6. Tobias Foss (Nor) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:47
7. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:54
8. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates XRG, +3:05
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS Astana, +3:22
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +3:24
