Video - Cimolai times it right on stage five
Stage five of Paris-Nice was well suited to the sprinters, but Davide Cimolai was the man to take victory with a well-timed move.
Davide Cimolai timed his break to perfection to claim a narrow victory ahead of Bryan Coquard on stage five of the Paris-Nice on Friday.
Lampre-Merida man Cimolai clung on to the wheel of Coquard (Europcar) in a typically frantic ending before making his move in the final few metres to cross the line first and overshadow the better recognised sprinters.
Stage three winner Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEDGE), who had led the general classification before Thursday's stage four, brought home a bunch sprint to take third place and improve his chances of winning the green jersey.
With the 192.5-kilometre route from Saint-Etienne to Rasteau more suited to the sprinters in the field, the result had little impact on the overall standings and Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quick Step) continues to lead by one second from 2013 victor Richie Porte (Team Sky).
Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) was part on an initial five-man breakaway and his efforts saw the King of the Mountains leader pick up more valuable points in the quest to win the polka-dot jersey.
As De Gendt continued to lead the way a crash in the main field caused several splits in the peloton.
There did not appear to be any serious injuries from the incident but Arthur Vichot (FDJ) seemed to be hobbling before he remounted his bike.
The commotion did not cause too much disruption and slowly but surely the original break was reeled in.
De Gendt continued to push hard and the Belgian harboured hopes of reaching the line first.
The chasing pack finally caught up within the final 500 metres, though, and Coquard was the first to make his move.
But Cimolai was quick to react, latching on to his rival's wheel before coming through on the inside.