Pedersen wins crazy echelon stage in Paris-Nice, while Visma deals a blow to UAE

Mads Pedersen won the sixth stage of Paris-Nice. In a spectacular echelon stage, where Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS Grenadiers dealt a heavy blow to teams, including UAE Team Emirates XRG, Pedersen was the best in a group of seventeen riders. Matteo Jorgenson also did an excellent job for the GC, and Thymen Arensman performed well.

After yesterday's spectacular stage, in which Lenny Martinez left his competitors in his wake and claimed his first WorldTour victory, stage six of the Tour of the Sun brought less good news. Jonas Vingegaard, who crashed in the fifth stage, would not be starting. The Dane was told in hospital that he had sustained a hand contusion, and his team did not want to take any risks.

Nevertheless, Visma | Lease a Bike still has enough to fight for in the remaining stages of Paris-Nice. Jorgenson, wearing the yellow leader's jersey for the Dutch team, has a half-minute lead on number two, Florian Lipowitz. It's a nice lead, but nothing is certain yet. With the tough final weekend coming up and the chance of echelons today, anything can happen.

Soudal Quick-Step controls traditional breakaway

Three riders quickly created the traditional breakaway in this stage, which started again in freezing conditions. The riders, with Rémi Cavagna as the most famous name in the breakaway, were not given a large lead by the peloton, in which Soudal Quick-Step was in control for Merlier. With 100 kilometers to go, the two remaining riders still had a small minute lead, and it looked like they would be caught.

But that did not happen. The gap soon increased again, and with 90 kilometers to go before the finish, the two leaders had a lead of over two minutes. With 80 kilometers to go, Cavagna dropped his fellow breakaway rider Jakub Otruba, and the Frenchman, with a three-minute lead, began the uphill zone, which included two short climbs.

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Visma and INEOS stay focused during the first echelon

Behind Cavagna, the wind began to play a major role in the peloton. Although there had been warnings about echelons this morning, not all teams paid attention. Those who did pay attention were the men of Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS Grenadiers. Both teams had six riders in the first echelon. Tim Merlier, the favorite for the stage win, and GC contenders João Almeida and Lenny Martinez, among others, had missed this echelon.

The gap between the first and second echelons quickly grew to one minute. The men from Visma | Lease a Bike and INEOS Grenadiers kept up the pace in the first echelon, which meant that breakaway rider Cavagna soon came into view and was caught by the first echelon with 40 kilometers to go.

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Pedersen wins, Visma deals blow to UAE

With 30 kilometers to go, the first echelon still had a lead of over a minute on the chasing group. Despite UAE Team Emirates, XRG, and Soudal Quick-Step giving it their all, they did not come any closer. With twenty kilometers to go, the gap was one and a half minutes, and it was clear that the winner would come from the front group.

Jorgenson had managed to pick up some bonus seconds, while in the group, all eyes were slowly turning towards the finish. Even though several teams still had riders in the group, no one attacked in the final kilometers. Pedersen was the strongest in the sprint, just ahead of Joshua Tarling and Samuel Watson.

Results stage 6 Paris-Nice 2025

Read also

Queen Stage of Paris-Nice shortened due to extreme winter weather: 40 kilometers less, maybe snow at the finish

Rather dull in sprints, but as a mountain domestique, the strong Pedersen breaks records with crazy wattages

Vingegaard withdraws from sixth stage in Paris-Nice: Hand contusion bothers Visma's leader too much

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