Bollene (France) (AFP)

Full box for the Deceuninck team!

The Irishman Sam Bennett won the 5th stage of Paris-Nice on Thursday in Bollène (Vaucluse), in parallel with the success of Julian Alaphilippe in Tirreno-Adriatico.

"I will now think about Milan-Sanremo", commented Sam Bennett after his victorious sprint, the second since the start from Paris-Nice.

Sanremo, the first great classic of the season that will also compete ... Alaphilippe, two years after his masterful success on Via Roma.

In the "classicissima" scheduled for March 20, the Belgian team will be able to play on several tables.

With the Frenchman dressed in his world champion jersey to create the selection in the Poggio or respond to other attacks, depending on the most likely scenario.

But also with Bennett, without forgetting the Italian Davide Ballerini, in the - random - hypothesis of a massive sprint.

Except that the Irishman was never able to appear on the famous Sanremo artery in the leading group during his first five participations.

On the planet of the sprint, on the other hand, Bennett (30) is on the way to carving out good territory for himself, especially since the start of the season.

No one was mistaken in seeing the scenario of Bollène, at the conclusion of a stage of 200 kilometers long languishing because of the head wind.

"The others were trying to be in my wheel", noted, with a touch of amusement, the green jersey of the Tour 2020 about this final mastered by his teammates.

Under the red flame of the last kilometer, Bennett still had three of his teammates ahead of him and, as the line approached, the precious Michael Morkov to launch it in the best conditions.

- Change of course -

At the finish, the winner of the day was clearly imposed on the Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni, who had not obtained such a result (2nd) in WorldTour since his stage success in the Vuelta 2018, and on the German Pascal Ackermann .

He scored the 53rd victory of his career, his fourth since starting the season on February 21 at the UAE Tour.

Conversely, the French champion Arnaud Démare found himself locked up.

He crossed the line in 13th position before being sanctioned by the jury for a helmet hit and demoted to last place in the peloton.

Nothing is definitely succeeding at the moment at Picard, who started the race on Sunday with a second place behind Bennett.

"I was too wait-and-see", he admitted.

If the peloton remained grouped, the yellow jersey Primoz Roglic, found itself on the ground 37 kilometers from the finish.

The Slovenian left quickly ("luckily, all is well", he said then on arrival) but he lost in the case one of his teammates, the German Tony Martin, forced to abandonment.

Friday, the 6th stage, the longest of the week, connects Brignoles (Var) to Biot (Alpes-Maritimes).

With five climbs or passes in the hinterland on the 202.5 kilometer course favorable to attackers.

Before the weekend called to be modified when the confinement of the coastal fringe of the Alpes-Maritimes, due to covid-19, requires the organizers to modify the routes of the last two stages.

"In any case, these stages can only take place outside the confined area and behind closed doors," said the prefecture.

This amounts to excluding, just like last year, an arrival on the Promenade des Anglais.

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