Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic stamped his authority on the 2021 edition of Paris-Nice with victory on stage six today. Photo: Supplied
Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic stamped his authority on the 2021 edition of Paris-Nice with victory on stage six today.
Jumbo-Visma’s Roglic, a two-time Vuelta a Espana winner, pipped Cofidis’ Christophe Laporte in second while Bike Exchange’s Michael Matthews finished third after a tense final climb near the town of Biot.
Roglic extended his lead in the yellow jersey over German Maximilian Schachmann to 41 seconds with Spaniard Ion Izagirre in third place nine seconds further adrift.
“It’s cool to win like this. It was really hard from the beginning of the day, that’s why I was happy at the end,” Roglic said.
Meanwhile, the routes of the last two stages of the race have been reconfigured to finish outside Nice to avoid a local Covid-19 lockdown.
The race, which traditionally finishes on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, will instead end on Sunday around 40km north in the town of Levens which is outside the regional quarantine zone.
It will start from the Plan du Var, about 30km north of Nice.
Saturday’s stage seven, which was due to set off from Nice, will now start from Le Broc and will end as planned in Valdeblore La Colmiane.
“I have to deal with it (the changes). The stages are quite short both of them and for sure it will be super exciting,” Roglic added.
Stage six results:
1. Primoz Roglic (SLO) Team Jumbo-Visma 4:40:22
2. Christophe Laporte (FRA) Cofidis
3. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange
4. Dylan Teuns (BEL) Bahrain Victorious
5. Aurelien Paret Peintre (FRA) AG2R Citroën
6. Lucas Hamilton (AUS) Team BikeExchange
7. Bryan Coquad (FRA) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
8. Quetin Pacher (FRA) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
9. Sergio Henao (COL) Team Qhubeka-Assos
10. Krists Neilands (LAT) Israel Start-Up Nation
GC standings after stage six:
1. Primoz Roglic (SLO) Jumbo-Visma 23:22:53
2. Maximilian Schachmann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:41
3. Ion Izagirre Insausti (ESP) Astana-Premier Tech 00:50
4. Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS) Astana-Premier Tech 00:51
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team 01:08
6. Tiesj Benoot (BEL) Team DSM 01:14
7. Lucas Hamilton (AUS) Team BikeExchange 01:16
8. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP) Astana-Premier Tech 01:21
9. Pierre Latour (FRA) Total Direct Energie 01:21
10. Aurélien Paret Peintre (FRA) AG2R Citroën Team 01:23
