Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal) has transformed Paris-Nice. The Frenchman surged away from the lead group on the day’s last climb to take Stage 6, a mountainous, 184.5-km ride from Vence to Nice, in 4:52:57. Simon Spilak (Katusha) outsprinted Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) for second at 0:32. Gallopin’s exploit has catapulted him into the overall lead with one stage left.

Rain and fog greeted the riders at the start. Thirty-one riders made an early escape, but the bunch kept the break on a short leash, with the fugitives’ lead maxing out at 2:55 at 80 km. Etixx-Quick Step and Sky, two teams that lacked representatives in the break, mounted a chase.

On the Category 2 Col de Coaraze, race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quick Step) attacked. The world road race champion and teammates Tony Martin, Julian Alaphilippe, and Michel Golas forged a 0:40 lead, but Sky led a chase that reeled in the break before the summit. At the summit, only 10 of the 31 escapees remained in the break. They were Jan Bakelants (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Jon Izaguirre (Movistar), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Nicolas Edet and Luis Mate (both from Cofidis), Michael Valgren (Tinkoff-Saxo Bank), and Jack Bauer (Cannondale-Garmin).

On the descent, Kwiatkowski attacked again, taking Alaphilippe, Gallopin, and Martin with him. The move caught and dropped the break with 40 km to go. At that point, a group containing the heads of state was 0:35 behind the new leaders. Sky chased for 10 km and caught the break.

On the day’s last categorized climb, the Category 1 Col de Peille, Sky struck back. Richie Porte (Sky) attacked and dropped Kwiatkowski. Porte’s teammate Geraint Thomas followed the Australian. Gallopin attacked and pulled away from the lead group. At the summit, the Lotto-Soudal man led the Porte group by 0:25 and the Kwiatkowski group by 0:40.

Gallopin pulled away on the descent, and with 18 km remaining, Porte and Thomas crashed in short order. The mishaps allowed the Kwiatkowski group to catch the Porte group. Porte attacked and took several other riders with him. The 2013 Paris-Nice winner finished 0:02 ahead of Kwiatkowski.

Gallopin’s solo win surprised him. “I’m really happy with this stage win,” said the Frenchman. “It’s an incredible victory, I didn’t expect this scenario. Before the start I thought we would go to the finish line with a group of about fifteen riders and sprint for the win. The weather conditions made the race harder than expected and then there was the big break with Tim [Wellens]. That made the peloton nervous. It rained and it was very cold, but that didn’t bother me. In the descent of the Col Saint-Roch I followed Kwiatkowski and his teammates and we bridged to the leaders.”

The Lotto-Soudal man is uncertain about his chances tomorrow, but he is happy about his and his team’s success. “Paris-Nice is my first goal this season and it’s marvellous that I win a stage here,” Gallopin said. ”It has been a successful stage race so far for the whole team with two stage wins, the polka dot jersey and me in the running for the overall victory. The legs felt great today. With five km to go I realized that I was close to the stage win. I gave all I got till the end to have as much lead in the GC as possible. The people in the team car motivated me. I don’t know what to expect tomorrow. It will be difficult against those specialists, but I’ll do my best that’s for sure.” In the overall, Gallopin leads Porte by 0:36 and Kwiatkowski by 0:37. Stage 7, the final stage of this year’s Paris-Nice, will be a 9.5-km uphill time trial from Nice to Col d’Eze. As Gallopin has admitted, he is not a time trial specialist. Will he hang on for the overall win? Who will win the stage? Porte? Kwiatkowski? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!