Tejada keeps Astana’s Paris–Nice hot streak alive with another stage win, as Vingegaard moves one day closer to overall success
CyclingFriday, 13 March 2026 at 16:59
Harold Tejada won stage 6 of Paris–Nice in Apt on Friday. The Colombian from XDS-Astana surprised a heavily reduced peloton on the final climb of the day. Tejada managed to hold off the chasing group and celebrate the biggest victory of his career, after Max Kanter had already delivered a stage win for Astana earlier this week. Visma | Lease a Bike and Jonas Vingegaard stayed out of trouble and moved another day closer to sealing the overall victory.
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That left a peloton of around 120 riders: after everything Paris–Nice had already thrown at the field over the opening five days, the race headed into the final weekend with an exhausted bunch. Not only had the sprinters begun to disappear, but climbers such as Oscar Onley and Spanish champion Iván Romeo were also no longer in the race.
After two hard days of rain, wind and climbing, all signs pointed to Friday’s stage being one for the breakaway specialists. It looked too difficult for the pure sprinters, yet not hard enough for the true climbers to make the decisive difference from far out. Still, the finale towards Apt included several hills at around five percent, enough to leave room for late attacks.
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Sébastien Grignard and Stefan Bissegger were the first riders to build an advantage, but a relatively brisk pace in the peloton soon brought them back. That meant it still took a while before the day’s move was properly established.
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Tarling move shapes the race, but Kragh Andersen cannot bridge across
After just over forty kilometres, Joshua Tarling joined the action and immediately put the bunch on alert. Igor Arrieta, Steff Cras and Arthur Kluckers followed the Welshman, and although another counter-attack briefly tried to form behind them, a leading group of four had been created.
Tarling and company initially built up a lead of two minutes, with Cofidis controlling things in the peloton. Benjamin Thomas then did much of the work almost single-handedly to bring the gap down to a minute and a half. With 50 kilometres remaining, the riders still had the Col de l’Aire Deï Masco and the Côte de Saignon ahead of them.
Because Thomas had kept the break on such a short leash, Søren Kragh Andersen launched an effort for Lidl-Trek on the run-in to the finale. The Dane quickly moved to within around 40 seconds and flew past the dropped Cras on the descent from the penultimate climb. For a moment, it looked as though he might make contact, but the three leaders would not allow it.
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Breakaway or sprint? Tejada settles it late in Apt
Tarling, Arrieta and Kluckers entered the final phase with a lead of just over a minute. Kragh Andersen drifted back into the peloton and then contributed on the front there as well. Lidl-Trek clearly had plans, and when the gap to the break dropped to 25 seconds, Arrieta accelerated. Kluckers was dropped, leaving the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and Tarling to tackle the final ten kilometres together.
The pair defended a lead of 30 seconds over a peloton that had been thinned out significantly by Lidl-Trek, but it was not enough on the Côte de Saignon. Tarling and Arrieta were caught just as the finish came into view, and it seemed the stage would now be decided by the fastest rider in a heavily reduced bunch.
Or maybe not. In the final metres of the Saignon, some of the climbers still had something left. Lenny Martinez could not ride clear, but Tejada did manage to open a gap. The Colombian then held on impressively in the final kilometre against the charging peloton, securing his first WorldTour victory.
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Results stage 6 Paris-Nice 2026
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Latest Comments
- Can anyone help me understand the thinking behind the two punishments? Are the commissaires saying you get thrown out of the race for a second inadvertent disposal of a bidon (even to the delight of fans) but that as long as you can afford it you can show off your phalangeal cuticles all day long on international TV? Aking for a friend.packfiller7112-03-2026
- It's a bit embarrassing that. Isn't the main sponsor supposed to keep them at 36.5 ?tomjacques03-03-2026
- They were close to cracking a very tired Tadej that wasn't fully focused on the TdF with a team of riders focused solely on cracking Tadej. And if they cracked him, he would have still won. Tadej won't be racing the giro this year. It'll be an even easier win for him.Veganpotter09-02-2026
- Nice!Bea22-01-2026
- Those events are mental rest for him. Fun, without expectations. *Sagan lost his abilities because he gained weight and got lazy. Pogi will likely retire before that has a chance at happening.Veganpotter14-12-2025
- Ah, the consequences of riding for Israel.Veganpotter11-12-2025
- Pidcock could follow everyone but Pogi while finishing 3rd. No second place rider this season😃Veganpotter16-11-2025
- Now the Palestinian protestors can stop their whining. Trump came to the rescue. So they can now STFU and go back to waving the rainbow flags.raufus15-10-2025
- Cracked the code lol. If it was that easy to 'crack the code' jonny Vegas would be charging up the Kwaremont giving Pog a dose of his medicine. Evenepoel can't match pog on a climb and neither can mvdp. Anything with a half difficult climb and Pog smashes the field. Even on flat(ish)parcours like Roubaix it came down to a mistake and crash by pog to definitively crown mvdp. MSR is the only one that Pog probably won't win.kevpt10-10-2025
- We've seen this movie before. I think Pogacar is doping.DeadBlow10-10-2025
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