Zakarin upstages Thomas and Contador at Paris-Nice stage six

The four riders were clear of the chasing pack as the penultimate stage of the face came to a climax at La Madone d’Utelle.

And it was Zakarin rather than any of his illustrious opponents who proved strongest in the race for the line, picking up his biggest win since victory on stage 11 of last year's Giro d'Italia.

"I am really happy with this victory," said Zakarin. "I was preparing for this race at altitude, so I was able to get a good form. I wanted to fight for a good result in this race.

"Today I knew it would be hard, but I felt really good today. The team was super and I felt the support in every moment. Especially from Pavel Kochetkov, who helped me a lot, and Michael Mørkøv and Simon Špilak in the final.

"I knew there were two hard moments in this climb at 6km to go and 500 meters to go. So I just did my best to pass it and to save the energy for last few hundred meters, where I gave my best."

Though he missed out on victory there was a fine consolation for Thomas, who now leads the general classification by 15 seconds from Contador going into Sunday's final stage, with Zakarin third overall a further five seconds back.

1. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 4:45:11

2. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky "

3. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team +1"

4. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team +7"

5. Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky +10"

6. Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge +20"

7. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre - Merida +31"

8. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale "

9. Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team "

10. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal "

1. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 24:10:26

2. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team +15"

3. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha +20"

4. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team +21"

5. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin +32"