Geraint Thomas sixth at Paris-Nice as Alexey Lutsenko wins stage five
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 11/03/16 4:32pm
Geraint Thomas dropped to sixth overall at Paris-Nice after Kazakhstan's Alexey Lutsenko claimed a surprise solo victory on stage five.
Lutsenko (Astana) attacked out of the peloton with 29km to go and held on to win by 21 seconds.
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) prevailed in the sprint for second place, while race leader Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) finished third.
Lutsenko's efforts saw him climb from 15th to second place in the general classification, six seconds down on Matthews and 12 seconds ahead of third-placed Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).
Thomas (Team Sky) consequently fell one place and is also now 23 seconds off the race lead after Matthews received four bonus seconds for third place.
The eight-day race continues on Saturday with a 177km sixth stage starting in Nice and ending with a category-one summit finish on La Madone d'Utelle.
Stage five result
1 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana, 5:00:26
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, +21sec
3 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, same time
4 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st
5 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo, st
Selected other
22 Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky, st
General classification
1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, 19:24:58
2 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana, +6sec
3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, +18
4 Patrick Bevin (NZ) Cannondale, +23
5 Ion Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, same time
Selected other
6 Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky, st
