Bob Jungels proved why he is widely described as one of the greatest talents in the professional cycling world when he finished 2nd in today's Paris-Nice stage. Having felt good all day, the Luxembourger made a great move in the finale but had to admit defeat to a fast Carlos Betancur.

It was an aggressive day for the Trek Factory Racing team as Matthew Busche was part of the day’s key move, joining Sylvain Chavanel (IAM), Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Jon Izaguirre (Movistar) and Brice Feillu (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) at kilometer 17 of the 153 kilometer fifth stage.

Team Sky was forced to keep the breakaway in check with Bakelants only 19 seconds behind race leader Geraint Thomas (Sky), and they never allowed the five escapees more than a couple minutes lead.  Bakelants further put pressure on the yellow jersey team by winning both intermediate sprints, and gaining six more seconds.

As a result the escapees had little chance and were caught at the bottom of the final long gradual climb (12.5kms and 2.8%.)  A counter attack by Trek Factory Racing’s Laurent Didier had him gaining up to 10 seconds before he too succumbed to the fierce pace behind. A few others unsuccessfully tried their hand off the front, but it wasVincenzo Nibali (Astana) who launched an attack that saw him go clear, leading over the top and down the twisty narrow descent towards the finish. 

However, Nibali’s move was quickly tamed as Carlos Betancur(AG2R-La Mondiale) countered, followed by Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Bob Jungels. The trio gained 10 seconds, swapping turns, and barely held off the chasing peloton to contest a 3-up sprint.  Betancur played the tactics to perfection, following the wheels in the final kilometer and easily came around Jungels and Fuglsang to win the stage. Bob Jungels, the youngest rider in this year's Paris-Nice, grabbed the first valuable WorldTour points for Trek Factory Racing with his second place finish. The peloton sprinted in two seconds later leaving the top rangs of GC unchanged.

“I felt really good today,” said Bob Jungels wiping the sweat of his effort from his face. “When Nibali attacked in the last climb I was able to follow, and after the downhill there was a small hill, which was difficult after descending. Betancur attacked here, Jakob [Fuglsang] followed and I went too. Then we managed to make it to the finish together. We said as a team before the stage that we should really try something, because we have nothing to lose anymore. So we tried and we are back in the game I think.

"I knew I could beat Jakob, but Betancur....I just had to try and make a long sprint, but in the end Betancur was stronger. For me I did the best I could. I am already happy to be up there with these guys and to play for the victory here in such a big race - that was very special."

As part of the day’s long breakaway Matthew Busche knew the chance of it succeeding were slim at best, but he was still satisfied to be part of the key move.

“I did my best to get in there. It hurt,” admitted Matthew Busche. “The problem for me was the others in the break were close in the GC, so they did not give us a lot of time. Also the sprinters’ teams were going to pull with the hope it could be a bunch sprint. I was happy to be there, but in terms of trying to win from the breakaway it probably was not the best day. But you never know, so I am happy that I could be there anyway.”

You can read our preview of stage 6 here and follow our live coverage of the stage at 14.25 CET on CyclingQuotes.com/live.