Friday 14 March 2014 at 19h00

The 6th stage of Paris-Nice 2014, between Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon and Fayence, the longest stage of this 72th edition of the Race to the sun saw quite some variation in the breakaways.

A 10 rider strong breakaway animated the stage before it all got messed up in the first climb towards the finish line in Fayence. Sylvain Chavanel ended up leading the race (like he did early in the stage) but the rider with the polka dot jersey didn't manage to stay ahead until the finish line. From the group of favourites, Carlos Betancur finally attacked at the right time and won this 6th stage, second victory in row for him in this Paris-Nice.

The summary of the 6th stage: Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon > Fayence

The 6th stage of Paris-Nice 2014 started early today because it was 221.5 kilometers long. The stage started at 10.34AM and after several unsuccessful attempts it was finally Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) who ended up in front, first accompanied by 7 other riders but solo afterwards in the climb of the first difficulty, the Côte de Bonnieux. The rider of the Swiss team takes the points for the King of the Mountains classification he's currently leading on top there and at that time he's still 15 seconds ahead of the peloton. He keeps the lead in the descent as well, but at kilometer 46, juste after the intermediate sprint in Lourmarin which was won by John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Shimano), Chavanel is taken back by the peloton.

At kilometer 68 it was the turn for 10 riders to get away from the peloton, after an attack by Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale), together with Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team), Jens Keukeleire (Orica-GreenEDGE), Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre-Merida), Pim Ligthart (Lotto-Belisol), Gregory Rast (Trek Factory Racing), Giovanni Bernaudeau (Team Europcar), Aleksandr Kuchynski (Team Katusha), Adrien Petit (Cofidis) and Florian Vachon (Bretagne-Séché Environnement).

About thirty kilometers further, just after the feeding zone, their gap was 3'05" and Jens Keukeleire thus becomes the virtual yellow jersey. Led by Team Sky, the peloton brings back the gap to a stable value of 2'30" and in the climb of the Côte des Tuilières after Draguignan the Astana team brings the peloton even closer to the leading group. In this climb, Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) starts the chase, together with Sylvain Chavanel. Early in the descent the two French riders get back on the breakaway and there are thus 12 riders leading the race.
Sylvain Chavanel seizes the occasion to take the points on top of the next difficulty, the Côte de Mont Méaulx. While approaching Fayence the gap went down to 40 seconds and that's the sign for Voeckler, Chavanel, Ligthart and Di Marchi to accellerate and get away from the leading group. This group of 4 thus starts the famous climb of the Mur de Fayence together and Sylvain Chavanel again shows he's the strongest while climbing to the first crossing of the finish line. On the finish line he didn't take any points however because the climb continued to the top of the Col de Bourigaille.

Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale) and José Serpa (Lampre-Merida) are then chasing behind Chavanel and when they get back on him they continue their route as a new leading duo, a little bit later joined by Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling). At 3 kilometers from the top their adventure in the lead of the race is over however since the leading trio is taken back by the peloton of favorites, from which Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling), Frank Schleck (Trek Factory Racing) and again Alexis Vuillermoz attack, a few hundred meters joined by Yuri Trofimov (Team Katusha), Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida). This leading group arrives on top of this last climb before the one towards the finish, with a 12 seconds lead on the peloton of favorites and with Stefan Denifl being the first to start the descent.

At 14 kilometers from the finish this leading group however gets taken back by the peloton and a new attempt by Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) also remains unsuccessful.

At 2 kilometers from the finish, at the foot of the last climb of the Mur de Fayence, we then see the AG2R La Mondiale team in front of the peloton, with Alexis Vuillermoz attacking again, followed by Denifl. Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale) however ends off the stage with an attack at the right time, and he arrives at the finish line with the World Champion, Rui Costa.

The photos of the 6th stage of Paris-Nice 2014 - Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon > Fayence

You can find a selection of 46 photos of this 6th stage of Paris-Nice 2014 in the dedicated photos section:

>> The photos of the 6th stage of Paris-Nice 2014 - Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon > Fayence

The classifications of Paris-Nice 2014 after the 6th stage

Carlos Betancur actually took a double win today, as we can see in the current classifications of Paris-Nice 2014:

Stage classification of 6/ Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon > Fayence

Here's the top 10 of this stage:

1/ Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale) - 5h12'11"
2/ Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida)
3/ Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - +0'03"
4/ Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
5/ Arthur Vichot (FDJ.fr)
6/ Cyril Gautier (Team Europcar) - +0'07"
7/ Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team)
8/ Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol)
9/ Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling)
10/ Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar Team) - +0'11"

General classification

By taking the 10 bonus seconds and 3 seconds at the finish line on the former leader of the race, Carlos Betancur also takes the lead in the general classification, with an 8 seconds lead on the British rider:

1/ Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale) - 27h04'48"
2/ Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) - +0'08"
3/ Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) - +0'18"
4/ Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - +0'22"
5/ José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team) - +0'24"

Points classification

John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Shimano) keeps the lead in the points classification:

1/ John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Shimano) - 41 points
2/ Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale) - 30 points
3/ Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) - 20 points
4/ José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team) - 20 points
5/ Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) - 17 points

King of the Mountains classification

Thanks to his presence at the lead of the race at two times, Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) secured a bit more his polka dot jersey of the King of the Mountains classification:

1/ Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) - 20 points
2/ Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale) - 13 points
3/ Valerio Agnoli (Astana Pro Team) - 12 points
4/ Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) - 10 points
5/ Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) - 10 points

Young riders classification

By taking the lead in the general classification, Carlos Betancur, the 24 year old rider of the AG2R La Mondiale team, also takes the white jersey for the young riders classification. This jersey will thus be worn by the rider who currently holds the second position in this classification, Sébastien Reichenbach (IAM Cycling).

1/ Carlos Betancur (AG2R La Mondiale) - 27h04'48"
2/ Sébastien Reichenbach (IAM Cycling) - +0'35"
3/ Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) - +0'46"
4/ Wilco Kelderman (Belkin Pro Cycling) - +1'01"
5/ Tom-Jelte Slagter (Garmin-Sharp) - +1'43"

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Paris-Nice 2014 | Paris-Nice

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