Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) will play no further part in Paris-Nice after he withdrew from the 'Race to the Sun' today. Following the cancellation of yesterday's stage 6, due to strong winds, it means Bennett completed five stages of the event.
That is a blow for the Irishman as completing the final two stages today and tomorrow would have been ideal preparation for Milan-Sanremo next weekend. However, his team had said after stage 5 the Irishman's health was an issue on the race and today it confirmed that illness had been the reason for his withdrawal.
It appears a cold has been circulating in the Paris-Nice peloton and Bennett was just one of the top riders to leave the race today. Like the Irishman, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) also withdrew before the stage started, as did Bennett's team mate, and two-time Paris-Nice winner, Maximilian Schachmann.
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Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) abandoned, due to a cold, during the stage, with illness and crashes forcing a total of 15 riders out during today's stage, including Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Dstny).
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Today's 142.9km queen stage, from Nice to Col de la Couillole, saw race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) take a second stage victory and increase his overall lead. He again proved strongest on the final climb to the finish, pulling clear with David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).
In the final kick to the line, Pogačar was far too strong, winning by two seconds from Gaudu with Vingegaard 3rd at six seconds. Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) was next, in 4th at 19 seconds, followed by Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) at 24 seconds.
Going into the final stage tomorrow, starting and finishing in Nice, Pogačar leads by 12 seconds from Gaudu with Vingegaard 3rd at 58 seconds. Ireland's Ryan Mullen (Bora-hansgrohe) was 116th today at 30:54.
