Max Schachmann held on to his Paris-Nice lead despite a minor crash in the last kilometer of the 161.5km stage from Sourges to Apt. His overall victory, however, was not assured as the race progressed to Saturday's final Category 1 stage, the 16.3-km Bardebrolle-La Colmiane, where his advantage was threatened, or a coronavirus pandemic forced the race to be stopped before the stage began and Schachmann was the de facto The race will depend on two possibilities: a coronavirus pandemic will stop the race before it begins, and Schachmann will be the de facto winner.

The race started on stage 6 without Bahrain McLaren. In the race, Schachmann marked nearly all of his rivals' moves on stage 6, with second-placed Søren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) making a dangerous move on the Côte de Casneuve with 38km to go, and high-profile climbers Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Nicolas Ede ( Cofidis) caught up with the rest of the day's breakaway group, which included Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), with 32km to go, putting enough distance on the peloton to enter the "maillot jaune virtuelle."

However, this lead was broken just before the Côte d'Auribeau (4.5km, 5.8%), as Kraig Andersen left his companions behind, dropping to just 19 seconds on the climb. Behind him, Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) made his move and was joined by Benoot.

Schachmann's teammate Felix Großschartner minimized his losses and held the lead group until a yellow jersey rider spilled on a sharp right-hand bend.

"I crashed with about 800 meters to go, but I'm fine," Schachmann said.

"The race was on full throttle, everybody was on full throttle. The race was on full throttle, everyone was on full throttle. I made a mistake, but I managed to get back on the bike. I still have the yellow jersey and tomorrow will be a tough stage for sure. I rode a little defensively today, but I will definitely give it my all tomorrow."

On Friday, the French Federation announced the immediate cancellation of all cycling events except Paris-Nice, raising questions as to whether the final seventh stage will take place. The race has been allowed to continue for now, as the number of coronavirus cases in France has doubled since the first stage.

Most major sporting events around the world have been cancelled in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The Amaury Sports Organization has taken steps to isolate the race from the public and hold the last five stages "behind closed doors," but Bora Hansgrohe announced Friday morning that one of its staff members had begun to develop symptoms. This staff member did not meet the criteria for coronavirus testing, but was quarantined as a precaution.

Scientists report that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the cause of Covid-19, can be transmitted from person to person before symptoms become apparent.

ASO's action to continue the race to the summit finale to La Colmiane on Saturday is in contrast to the UAE Tour organizers, who canceled the final two stages after two people showed symptoms of possible Covid-19. Most of the riders' teams were quarantined after testing negative a few days later, but Groupama-FDJ, Cofidis, Gazprom-RusVelo, and UAE Team Emirates were quarantined. Two Gazprom players, Dimitry Strakov and one other, Fernando Gaviria and lead-out man Max Richeze, tested positive for the virus but were found to be in good health.

There is still a possibility that ASO will be forced to cancel the race before the seventh stage scheduled for Saturday. The answer to the question, "Will Schachmann be the winner of Paris-Nice?" may depend on forces outside the cycling world.