Italian Niccola Bonifazio sprinted to victory on stage five of Paris-Nice, which finished in La Cote-Saint-Andre today.
Niccola Bonifazio won stage five of Paris-Nice, which finished in La Cote-Saint-Andre today. Photo: Bora-Hansgrohe/Bettiniphoto & VeloImages
The Total Direct Energie rider completed the 227km stage, which started in Gannat, in 5:18:02.
Ivan Garcia Cortina (Bahrain McLaren) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) placed second and third respectively.
“When the bunch was about to reach the escapee in the final straight I found myself a bit boxed in,” said Sagan.
“Bonifazio had space, timed his sprint well and took the victory. I would have liked to finish the day with a win but I did my best. On the other hand, we were successful in our GC goals and both Felix [Grossschartner] and Max [Schachmann] didn’t lose any seconds which was important today.”
Overall leader Schachmann said it was the longest stage of this year’s race, and actually also one of the hardest.
“The first 120km or so were not particularly difficult, with the tempo not being so demanding. However, the final 15km, with the constant attacks, were really hard and very fast.
“However, the guys supported me in these moments really well, and like over the past few days, did a fantastic job. Peter took another podium place, and we didn’t lose any time in the general classification, so we’re coming ever closer to our goal here.”
View more results below:
Stage five
| 1 | Niccola Bonifazio | ITA | Total Direct Energie | 5:18:02 |
| 2 | Ivan Garcia Cortina | SPA | Bahrain McLaren | |
| 3 | Peter Sagan | SVK | Bora-Hansgrohe | |
| 4 | Nacer Bouhanni | FRA | Team Arkea-Samsic | |
| 5 | Hugo Hofstetter | FRA | Israel Start-Up Nation | |
| 6 | Andrea Pasqualon | ITA | Circus-Wanty Gobert | |
| 7 | John Degenkolb | GER | Lotto Soudal | |
| 8 | Elia Viviani | ITA | Cofidis | |
| 9 | Bryan Coquard | FRA | B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | |
| 10 | Marc Sarreau | FRA | Groupama-FDJ |
*Selected
| 36 | Ryan Gibbons | RSA | NTT Pro Cycling |
General classification
| 1 | Maximilian Schachmann | GER | Bora-Hansgrohe | 18:49:00 |
| 2 | Soren Kragh Andersen | DEN | Team Sunweb | +0:00:58 |
| 3 | Felix Grossschartner | AUT | Bora-Hansgrohe | +0:01:01 |
| 4 | Nils Politt | GER | Israel Start-Up Nation | +0:01:05 |
| 5 | Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia | COL | EF Pro Cycling | +0:01:06 |
| 6 | Dylan Teuns | BEL | Bahrain McLaren | +0:01:09 |
| 7 | Tiesj Benoot | BEL | Team Sunweb | +0:01:11 |
| 8 | Mads Schmidt Wartz | DEN | Israel Start-Up Nation | |
| 9 | Giacomo Nizzolo | ITA | NTT Pro Cycling | +0:01:15 |
| 10 | Michael Matthews | AUS | Team Sunweb | +0:01:16 |
*Selected
| 46 | Ryan Gibbons | NTT Pro Cycling | +0:06:54 |
