The riders rolled out of Le Broc this morning for the queen stage of this year’s Paris-Nice, with it’s summit finish atop La Colmiane. With a category-two climb from the flag drop, it was an incredibly fast start to the stage with Jai Hindley initially infiltrating a large group that had a small gap over the peloton but it was soon back together. Eventually the elastic snapped and a break of 13 went clear. With all Team DSM riders in the bunch, attention switched to saving energy and regrouping for the finale.

With 40 kilometres to go, stage two winner Cees Bol brought the team forward to the front of the bunch. The team then helped to set tempo, helping bring the gap to the breakaway down to just over one minute. The bunch continued to slowly whittle down as they took on the La Colmiane climb, with Tiesj Benoot and Jai Hindley riding strongly towards the front after being well positioned on the foot slopes by the team.

As the finish drew nearer, an infernal pace was set at the front before Benoot tried an attack but he was quickly closed down by race leader Roglic. The attacks and strong pace continued, as the riders fought all-out until the line, with Benoot and Hindley digging deep. Both rode a good finale, with Benoot crossing the line in sixth place with Hindley not too far behind in tenth place. Today’s results see Benoot consolidate his top ten on GC, moving up to fifth place in the overall standings with tomorrow’s short 93 kilometre stage to go.

“The guys kept me and Jai safe today and pulled the pace in the peloton at good moments,” explained Benoot after the finale. “There was a narrow road before the final climb and we were positioned perfectly by the guys which meant we saved a lot of energy which was good. Then on the final climb itself Jumbo set a very high pace. After the attacks I struggled to get my rhythm and just went all out to the line, but fifth place out of the GC guys is not bad. I had hoped for more, but to be honest I felt good today and we’ll take that positive feeling into the coming races.”

Team DSM coach Marc Reef added: “Compared to the original parcours we did 50 kilometres less today, but it was arguably an even harder stage with a fast race from the start. On the first climb out of the neutralised zone, 13 strong riders got clear with four of them close enough on GC to make sure it was a fast day. Our goal was to protect Tiesj and support him during the day into the critical points, plus be there as long as possible on the final climb with Jai too. The team did a really good job, we were always well positioned and going into the final climb we had Jai there nicely with Tiesj, until the attacks near the finish. Tiesj tried to take his moment and attacked but he was quickly followed by Roglic who countered. Tiesj fought to the line and finished in a good sixth place and moves up to fifth on GC now for us.”