BORA – hansgrohe delivered Sam Bennett to a good position to win the bunch sprint in the sixth stage of the 2019 Paris – Nice.
The stage took the peloton from Peynier over 176.5 km to Brignoles. The course featured three categorized climbs, all in the second half of the stage.
As three riders went clear from the bunch, the peloton held them on a short leash, never allowing them more than three minutes advantage. Right before the first ascent of the day, the Côte de la Sainte-Baume, the gap fell quickly as the bunch increased the pace significantly. Before the break crested the climb, the race was all back together. From that point on the tempo remained high and strong wind effected the race as well. As a result, some of the sprinters lost contact and the bunch split into several groups.
With Bennett, Drucker, Großschartner and Poljanski BORA – hansgrohe had four riders at the front. There was another selection on the last climb and a greatly reduced bunch approached Brignoles. On the fast run down into the city, BORA – hansgrohe was able to deliver Sam in a very good position.
The Irish Sprinter waited until the last minute to open his sprint, but got his timing almost to perfection, overtaking A. Démare to the line with the highest speed. With this impressive second stage win at Paris-Nice, Bennett also took over the points classification.
“I wanted to go hard today, because it was a perfect stage in terms of preparation for Sanremo,” said Bennett at the finish. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to survive the second last climb, but I made it. In the last few kilometres I had really good legs. I knew there is no need to panic, I just had to follow my teammates, who did a fantastic job. I got almost boxed in on the final metres but made my way through. I could beat some of the best sprinters once again, I am really looking forward to Sanremo now, which is my first goal of the season.”
“Sam is in an amazing shape,” added BORA-hansgrohe Sports Director Jens Zemke. “He climbs impressively well and knows when to ride in good positions. The team supported him more than perfect today, and this paid off with an impressive second stage win. The stage was not just undulated, there was wind up to 75 km/h which made the day other than easy. After six days of racing we have two stage wins, the green jersey and Felix in 6th position overall. I think we can be more than happy with that.”
Stage 6 Brief Results:
- Sam Bennett (BORA-hansgrohe) at 4:12:35
- Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ) s.t.
- Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-SCOTT) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 6:
- Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) at 21h35’36”
- Egan Bernal (Team Sky) at 18″
- Luis León Sanchez (Astana Pro Team) at 22″
- Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) at 1’00”
- Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) s.t.
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