Sam Bennett was one of a number of riders that failed to make the start line for the penultimate stage of Paris-Nice where Tadej Pogacar tightened his grip on the leader's jersey with a second stage win.Bora Hansgrohe sports director Rolf Aldag said that Bennett failed to deliver in a sprint finish on stage five because he wasn’t physically at his best, and the Carrick-on-Suir native was absent entirely on stage seven due to a cold, ending his participation in the event.Yesterday's stage was cancelled due to high winds.Maximilian Schachmann and Arnaud De Lie also failed to make the start line, while green jersey Mads Pedersen was among those to abandon the race today as high winds, testing pace and challenging climbs led to further drop outs.Ryan Mullen was in a group that finished just over half an hour down on Pogacar.The Slovenian was unable to pull clear of David Gaudu and Jonas Vingegaard on the climb to La Couillole, the highest summit of Paris-Nice, and will take a 12-second lead over Gaudu going into the final stage, Sunday’s 118.4-km final showdown around Nice.Gaudu and Vingegaard worked together on a number of occasions to make inroads on the race leader, but the Tour de France champion showed his mettle in a thrilling uphill finish to take the stage and his seventh win of the season.