Cycling: George Bennett avoids chaos in Paris-Nice to sit in solid position

George Bennett and Esteban Chaves share a laugh on a more sedate stage three of Paris-Nice. Photo / Getty

New Zealand cyclist George Bennett has survived a chaotic start at Paris-Nice, to be in a strong position after three stages of the famous French race.

On paper, the first three stages looked like traditional sprint stages, but they were anything but, with ferocious 50km/h winds causing echelons, and creating major splits on the road.

On the first two stages, those winds caught out a number of contenders who were expected to contest for the overall title. Stage one saw a clump of general classification riders lose over a minute, including the likes of Miguel Angel Lopez, Ion Izagirre, and defending champion Marc Soler.

Stage two was even more drastic, with Rigoberto Uran and Gorka Izagirre crashing out, while riders such as Vuelta a Espana champion Simon Yates got caught out by the winds and never recovered, losing nearly seven minutes.

Bennett managed to finish safely inside the lead groups on both stages, and crossed the line in 49th on a more traditional finish this morning, to sit 26th overall, 25 seconds off the lead held by his teammate and sprint specialist Dylan Groenewegen.

Happy for everyone of the 55teeth I was rocking on the front today. Seriously one the hardest days I can remember on the bike. So good from @GroenewegenD and the rest of the boys. Full squad in front group. my Soft climbing hands are not made for this hard man style of racing pic.twitter.com/APeOXkUqh2

— George Bennett? (@georgenbennett) March 11, 2019

Others were not so lucky. One moment of bad positioning in the crosswinds, and you can lose serious time, with the benefits of drafting and sheltering in a group so significant, and making it nearly impossible to move from one group to another without the assistance of several teammates.

The winds on the first two stages were so strong that multiple riders got pushed off the road, and Bennett was most in trouble on stage two, where he was caught in the second group on the road for most of the race.

It was a group that was still a minute behind with 20 kilometres to go, but they managed to fight back on. When the race broke up in the wind with five kilometres to go once more, eight riders went up the road, but Bennett held steady in the second group to cross the line just five seconds down.

Stage three this morning was a sedate affair by comparison, with a crash with 32 kilometres causing the most drama, before Team Sky tried to create some echelons with six kilometres remaining. However, despite some nervy moments, it all came back together for a sprint, won by Sam Bennett.

Despite the relatively drama-free stage, the damage had already been done for many contenders, with only 13 riders who could be considered general classification contenders still within a minute of the lead.

Bob Jungels, Jack Haig, Ilnur Zakarin, Wilco Kelderman, Nairo Quintana, Felix Grossschartner, Lilian Calmejane, Romain Bardet, Tony Gallopin, Egan Bernal, Luis Leon Sanchez and Michal Kwiatkowski join Bennett in being the main contenders for a top overall finish, with Bennett having moved from 81-1 to 41-1 with the bookmakers – the 10th-most favoured rider.

He should move close to the top 10 on the general classification after stage four tomorrow, which sees the race go to the hills, where most of the sprinters should be dropped.

A 25.5 kilometre time trial will follow, in which Bennett will likely lose over a minute to some contenders, but he should still be in a solid position before the race hits the mountains for the final three stages.

There, if he's in good form, he could be a threat for a stage win, or at least a top 10 overall finish, and with the chaos that has unfolded to date, it would be unwise to rule anything out as we head into the deciding stages of a rabid race.