Tarling and Watson power to second and third at Paris-Nice

Josh Tarling and Sam Watson sprinted to second and third place on the sixth stage of a wet and wild Paris-Nice, while three teammates all moved up the general classification after a long-range attack paid off.

Tackling a flat 209 kilometres on the sixth stage of Paris-Nice, a flurry of attacks occurred early on, but the wind and rain made it difficult for breaks to form.

Visma | Lease A Bike put the hammer down inside the final 60km, with Victor Campenaerts pulling a group of 10 clear, with Tarling well in the mix against the strong crosswinds.

The Grenadiers squad was quick to respond, with Watson, Tobias Foss, Bob Jungels, Magnus Sheffield and Thymen Arensman bridging over to make a group of 16, chasing and eventually catching solo leader Remi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ). A number of big-name GC riders missed the move and would lose key time on the day.

The Grenadiers continued to storm on the front, battling rain, wind and cold conditions, but it was all still to play for as the riders came into the final 5km.

Maximilian Schachmann (Visma Lease A Bike) made the first move inside the final kilometre, before Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) launched his attack. Tarling was straight on his wheel, fighting all the way to the line to grasp an incredible second place.

Watson showed a nice turn of speed to sprint from the back and power to third. In the general classification, Arensman now sits in fourth, while Foss and Sheffield moved up to sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Speaking after the finish line, Tarling said: “Campenaerts moved to the front of that climb, and luckily we were in the right place, and it didn’t come back from there really. I had to roll through and slow it down once and the boys got on and it was the right mix and never came back.

“We were planning on doing something similar, but we didn’t think the wind was enough. In the end with the rain, it was sketchy enough.

“I knew with it being slippy, I had to get to the [final] left hander and move up. I got on Mads’ wheel and I tried to come round but Mads is a bit of a diesel.”