The sixth stage of Paris-Nice was won by Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl – Trek), after 198.2 kilometers between Sisteron and La Colle-sur-Loup. The Danish champion was the strongest in the final stretch, winning the duel with the Americans Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) 2nd and Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 3rd.
The French race presented a hilly menu on this day with four second-category passes and one third-category climb. The final stage featured a steep uphill terrain that ended up selecting the race.
The day’s breakaway was led by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ), Gijs Leemreize (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Cedric Beullens (Lotto Dstny), Marco Haller (BORA-hansgrohe), Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan), Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), but all were caught about sixty kilometers from the finish.
On the first pass through La Colle-sur-Loup (1.8 km at 10.3%), Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) tried, however, he didn’t ride ahead of the peloton for long. Colombian Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain – Victorious) was the first to catch him, followed by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick Step) and the rest of the favorites.
Then Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) attacked and immediately took a lead. A few minutes later he was joined by Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl – Trek) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), forming a leading trio. While the chasing group Buitrago had no luck and went to the ground. As a result, Buitrago had to change bikes and lost a lot of time.
The group with leader Luke Plapp remained behind Jorgenson, Skjelmose and McNulty, but the chase took a while to get going, allowing the three leaders to increase their gap.
In the final kilometers, Skjelmose saved his strength and pulled away from his breakaway companions in the final kilometer. McNulty took second place and Jorgenson was third. Remco Evenepoel crossed the finish line in fourth place with a delay of 52 seconds.
Regarding the Latinos, the best were the Colombians Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan Team) in fifth place and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) in tenth, both 53 seconds behind the winner. While Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain – Victorious), affected by a fall, finished 16th and Rigoberto Urán (EF Education.EasyPost) finished 31st, more than 4 minutes behind Skjelmose.
In the general classification, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) regained the lead. The American is now escorted by his compatriot Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 23 seconds behind. The podium is completed by Australian Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) at 34 seconds. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) is the best American in sixth place at 1:14.
The ‘Race of the Sun’ will continue this Saturday with the dispute of the seventh part, a short mountainous stage of 103.7 kilometers that will connect the city of Nice with Madone d’Utelle.
París – Niza 2024 (2.UWT)
Results Stage 6 | Sisteron – La Colle-sur-Loup (198,2 km)
| 1 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl – Trek | 4:36:51 |
| 2 | Brandon McNulty | UAE Team Emirates | ,, |
| 3 | Matteo Jorgenson | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | ,, |
| 4 | Remco Evenepoel | Soudal – Quick Step | 0:52 |
| 5 | Harold Tejada | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 0:53 |
| 6 | Aurélien Paret-Peintre | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | ,, |
| 7 | Felix Gall | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | ,, |
| 8 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | ,, |
| 9 | Primož Roglič | BORA – hansgrohe | ,, |
| 10 | Egan Bernal | INEOS Grenadiers | ,, |
Ranking General
| 1 | Brandon McNulty | UAE Team Emirates | 22:15:58 |
| 2 | Matteo Jorgenson | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 0:23 |
| 3 | Luke Plapp | Team Jayco AlUla | 0:34 |
| 4 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl – Trek | 0:54 |
| 5 | Remco Evenepoel | Soudal – Quick Step | 1:03 |
| 6 | Egan Bernal | INEOS Grenadiers | 1:14 |
| 7 | João Almeida | UAE Team Emirates | 1:30 |
| 8 | Felix Gall | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 1:36 |
| 9 | Harold Tejada | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 1:37 |
| 10 | Wilco Kelderman | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 1:39 |
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico