Ivan Garcia Cortina, has still not been returned to the third stage of Paris-Nice, won the game. The 24-year-old Spanish rider beat Peter Sagan in a chaotic bunch sprint. Mr Ball ended up in fourth place.
In the final kilometer, caused by the Frenchman Hugo Hofstetter, an order with the Ireland's top sprinter Sam Bennett to be the biggest victim. Garcia Cortina was sitting in front of it and was dealing with the visible difference with Sagan, Andrea Pasqualon, Ball and Nacer Bouhanni.
The young rider of the Bahrain-McLaren notched up his second stage win in a WorldTour race. Last year, he was the best in the fifth stage of the Tour of California.
The German Maximilian Schachmann has retained the yellow leader's jersey. The 26-year-old German had to defend Wednesday's fourth stage is a hilly individual time trial, from a 15.1 miles, with start and finish in Saint-Amand-Montrond, with a lead of three seconds on the Italian, Giacomo Nizzolo, who was second in the overall standings.
