The sixth stage of Paris - Nice is also the queen stage of the race as it's the only high mountain finish we have this year. Sella is the big favorite to take the stage win, but Henao Montoya, Gomez Marchante, Popovych, Pluchkin and Schleck, who will try to get back some of the time lost in the 4th stage, are also some names that should be followed today. It will be interesting also to see if Berthou will be able to defend the yellow jersey he got after the winning breakaway from yesterday
At the first intermediate sprint Rabou and Criel were leading the race and it was the Dutch rider who got most of the points there
On the first climb of the day the situation was completely different though, with the duo being caught by the pack and with Morizot leading now the race
He was followed at 40 seconds by a large group of the other escapes. Castro Rodriguez, Ochoa Quintero, Thuaux, Mourey, Poels, Barton, Bontenackels, Pires, Medvedev, Osella and Oste-Macdonald where there
On the second climb of the day, Morizot was caught by the chasing group and it was Castro Rodriguez who was first at the top in front of Osella and Ochoa Quintero
Castro Rodriguez was first at the top of the third climb as well, this time in front of Morizot and Barton
On the next climb, Castro Rodriguez couldn't catch the podium, the leading 3 riders there being Morizot, Ochoa Quintero and Thuaux
But the Warner Brothers rider won the last intermediate sprint of the day in front of Bontenackels and Oste-Macdonald
And there are some good news for the escapes as this looks to be the second winning breakaway in a row. After being 8 minutes behind the escapes with 100 kilometers before the finish, 6 minutes with 35 kilometers left, the pack is now with just 20 kilometers left still 5 minutes behind the leading riders
At the top of the fifth climb of the day, Thuaux was first in front of Bontenackels and Castro Rodriguez
As soon as the final climb of the day started, Thuaux, Osella and Medvedev attacked from the breakaway group and got away from the other escapes
The Russian rider from Vesuvio proved to be stronger than the other 2 and he took a solo lead at the 10 kilometers banner
Behind, Sella made his move in the pack, with van der Hugenhaben and Sinkewitz trying to follow him but only the Italian was able to get away
At the 5 kilometers banner, Medvedev was still in front and it looked like he was heading to an amazing stage win
Thuaux and Osella were already 50 seconds behind him and it looked impossible for them to catch the Russian now
Sella, who had already caught most of the escapes, was somewhere around 2 minutes behind the Vesuvio rider, while a group of other favorites also managed to get away from the pack, but they were already 1 minute behind Sella, with Berthou being dropped off from the pack
Medvedev kept a high pace in the next kilometers and with only one kilometer left and a 50 seconds lead it was clear that no one will be able to stop him now
In the fight for the second spot, Thuaux dropped Osella off and he looked like having secured the second place now
But Osella's third place was in danger as Ochoa Quintero and Sella were coming really strong from behind
And Medvedev wins the queen stage of this year's Paris - Nice, bringing Vesuvio a great result after Schleck's mediocre performances
Thuaux defended his second place, while Osella lost the third one in front of Ochoa Quintero, who was really strong in the final kilometers of the climb
Osella also lost the 4th place to Sella, who is now the big favorite to take the yellow jersey at the end of the stage and the final win in Nice as well
Oste-Macdonald and Castro Rodriguez took the next 2 spots, while Popovych lead the favorites group 2 minutes and 40 seconds behind Medvedev. Henao Montoya, Pluchkin, Joaquim Rodriguez and Pellizotti got the same time as the former yellow jersey wearer, while Marzano and Brajkovic lost 10 seconds more
Berthou taking the yellow jersey didn't prove to be too good for Pearl in the end, as their 2 leaders, Walker and Weening, waited for the yellow jersey but they lost 10 minutes to Medvedev and any chance to get a high spot at the end of the race.
Sella is the new leader of the race now, with Popovych and Pluchin keeping it quite close though, within 1 minute
