Andre Greipel wins messy sprint on Paris-Nice stage five
Lotto Fix ALL's Andre Greipel came out on top in a messy sprint finish on Paris-Nice stage five following a chaotic final few kilometres to notch his first WorldTour stage victory of the year.
Greipel finished ahead of Arnaud Demare (FDJ), Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto NL-Jumbo), Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), John Degenkolb (Trek Segafredo) and Magnus Neilsen (Orica-Scott) in a really tricky finish that consisted of a trio of roundabouts and an uphill section before going flat for the last 150-200 metres. However Greipel's compatriot Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) could only achieve seventh and was never in contention for the stage victory. Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Sam Bennett (Bora Hansgrohe) rounded out the top ten.
"It's always nice to win a stage here in Paris-Nice, I think it's my second", said a beaming Greipel, "The last seven to eight kilometres was quite tricky with a block head wind and it wasn't easy to stay at the front. I think I managed to wait as long as possible and it was good timing for my sprint".
At 199km, stage five from Quincie-en-Beaujolais to Bourg-de-Peage was the longest of the eight stages and the last chance for a show of exhibitionism from the sprinters.
Axel Domont (AG2R), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Natael Berhane (Dimension Data), Remi Di Gregorio (Delko-Marseille Provence), Federico Zurlo (UAE Team Emirates) and Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) made up the expected breakaway. Domont had extra motivation to make it to the end with the break too, seeing as the finish was in his hometown.
Crosswind with 20km didn't help the breakaway and soon their advantage plummeted. It was always going to be a tough ask to stay out all day though and the break was caught at 12km to go, just leaving the question of which team could best deliver their sprinter for the stage win.
Katusha-Alpecin, spear-headed by Tony Martin, controlled the pace into the last ten km but never pushed too hard in order not to knacker their man, Alexander Kristoff, before the sprint.
Heading into five km to go and the main road into Bourg-de-Peage was so wide that all eleven sprint trains - Bahrain-Merida, Bora Hansgrohe, Delko-Marseille Provence, Direct Energie, FDJ, Katusha-Alpecin, Lotto Fix ALL, Lotto NL-Jumbo, Orica-Scott, Team Sunweb and Trek Segafredo - were able to fit into its width with room to spare: like swarm of multi-coloured javelins flying through the south eastern France countryside.
A delicate battle for position ensued, with elbows on guard and the occasional helmet to shoulder budge to maintain space and places.
There was a massive speed change at three km and gaps appeared all over the place, with riders desperately trying to stick behind their team mates.
Each roundabout was navigated safely and all that remained was for the sprinters to maintain their rhythm and speed over the climb to the finish line.
Up the hill and lead out men were pinging off the front left, right and centre after huge efforts and all that remained was the final 200 metres.
Demare still had one lead out man left but was already battling Degenkolb on his right and Groenewegen on his left. Greipel, who was sheltering behind Demare and Groenewegen, suddenly swung out and ignited an explosion of power with less than 100 metres to go to take the stage win.
Stage six moves the race to the Alps of southern France, taking the riders from Aubagne to Fayence and tackles the category one Col de Bourigaille twice in the last 60km before a steep ramp up to the finish. It's going to be a rough day for the whole peloton from km 0 though, with the category one Col de l'Espigoulier to be summited in the first 13km.
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| Credit: velonews.com |
"It's always nice to win a stage here in Paris-Nice, I think it's my second", said a beaming Greipel, "The last seven to eight kilometres was quite tricky with a block head wind and it wasn't easy to stay at the front. I think I managed to wait as long as possible and it was good timing for my sprint".
At 199km, stage five from Quincie-en-Beaujolais to Bourg-de-Peage was the longest of the eight stages and the last chance for a show of exhibitionism from the sprinters.
Axel Domont (AG2R), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Natael Berhane (Dimension Data), Remi Di Gregorio (Delko-Marseille Provence), Federico Zurlo (UAE Team Emirates) and Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) made up the expected breakaway. Domont had extra motivation to make it to the end with the break too, seeing as the finish was in his hometown.
Crosswind with 20km didn't help the breakaway and soon their advantage plummeted. It was always going to be a tough ask to stay out all day though and the break was caught at 12km to go, just leaving the question of which team could best deliver their sprinter for the stage win.
Katusha-Alpecin, spear-headed by Tony Martin, controlled the pace into the last ten km but never pushed too hard in order not to knacker their man, Alexander Kristoff, before the sprint.
Heading into five km to go and the main road into Bourg-de-Peage was so wide that all eleven sprint trains - Bahrain-Merida, Bora Hansgrohe, Delko-Marseille Provence, Direct Energie, FDJ, Katusha-Alpecin, Lotto Fix ALL, Lotto NL-Jumbo, Orica-Scott, Team Sunweb and Trek Segafredo - were able to fit into its width with room to spare: like swarm of multi-coloured javelins flying through the south eastern France countryside.
A delicate battle for position ensued, with elbows on guard and the occasional helmet to shoulder budge to maintain space and places.
There was a massive speed change at three km and gaps appeared all over the place, with riders desperately trying to stick behind their team mates.
Each roundabout was navigated safely and all that remained was for the sprinters to maintain their rhythm and speed over the climb to the finish line.
Up the hill and lead out men were pinging off the front left, right and centre after huge efforts and all that remained was the final 200 metres.
Demare still had one lead out man left but was already battling Degenkolb on his right and Groenewegen on his left. Greipel, who was sheltering behind Demare and Groenewegen, suddenly swung out and ignited an explosion of power with less than 100 metres to go to take the stage win.
Stage six moves the race to the Alps of southern France, taking the riders from Aubagne to Fayence and tackles the category one Col de Bourigaille twice in the last 60km before a steep ramp up to the finish. It's going to be a rough day for the whole peloton from km 0 though, with the category one Col de l'Espigoulier to be summited in the first 13km.
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