The idiom 'a picture paints a thousand words' could never have been more relevant than on stage six of Paris-Nice. They didn’t need to speak at the finish in Berre l’Etang, the riders' faces and body language told you all you needed to know. Once again, the weather took hold on the road to Nice, with Friday’s stage played out in torrential rain, wind and sub zero temperatures, the perfect appetiser for stage seven’s summit finish at Auron, or not.
Thymen Arensman looked like a man who would have been quite happy if someone told him the race was over on Friday evening. The Dutchman was one of several Ineos Grenadiers riders to make the head of the race when the weather caused splits in the main field, but he appeared to be paying for his efforts outside the Ineos bus, as he was helped into warm weather gear by waiting soigneurs as they frantically warmed his hands. Magnus Sheffield warmed down next to him, the American’s face pale with the cold as he shivered on a turbo trainer.
