Tour de France Stage 6

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Tour win number 29 for Mark Cavendish as he wins his third stage in this years Tour de France and Dan McLay is third. Round up of what the riders said afterwards

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Tour de France Stage 6

Jerseys
Yellow: Greg van Avermaet
Green: Mark Cavendish
KoM: Thomas de Gendt
Young rider: Julian Alaphilippe


The fairy tale Tour de France continued on stage 6 for Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka’s Mark Cavendish as he sprinted to his third victory at this year’s race. Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quickstep) was 2nd in the lunge for the line and Britain’s Dan Mclay (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) placed 3rd.

At 190km from Arpajon-sur-Cere to Montauban, the terrain took in a few undulations but nothing significant enough to stop a big bunch sprint from deciding the final stage outcome. Only two riders made the early break of the day and this all but assured that the sprinters would have their day, as the sprinter teams along with the GC teams later on, had no trouble at keeping the escapees at around three minutes for the majority of the day.

The inevitable catch took place just inside of 15km to go, and this is where things would get really interesting. The road was rather narrow and it meant that the peloton was tightly packed, with almost no room for teams to move up. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka were in the front third of the peloton but there just didn’t seem to be a way through for our leadout team to get to the front.

The narrow road continued right up until 3km to go and it was clear that a long leadout train was not going to work today. Cavendish just wanted to be taken to the wheel of Kittel, from where he would then freelance to the finish. Our African Team were able to get Cavendish locked on to the German’s wheel after some clever work by Mark Renshaw, and from there our Manxman showed his class. Jumping with around 300m to go, Cavendish came from behind Kittel to forge ahead on the slightly downhill sprint and took another incredible win for Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka.

Mark Cavendish “That was terrifying,” said the 31-year-old Cavendish. “That was like the old days, just wheel surfing. It was carnage in the final straight.” “I knew it would be the right thing to go early because it was downhill. I went for the line and I had to come again, I did what Marcel has done to me in the last four years and held on.”

“It was a hot day. Daniel Teklehaimanot did an incredible job to control the breakaway. He was riding super strong actually and he was up there for a long, long time. The guys are getting more and more confident as the race goes on. Steve Cummings was up there fighting with us until the end which was phenomenal, he is a strong guy to keep us there in the final”.


“There were essentially two finish lines, one was at 12km to go and one was at the finish. We were a little bit too far back at the first one but Mark Renshaw did a great job at 4km to go to get me just there and out of a sticky situation. I thought the best wheel to follow in the final was Kittel”.

“It was a fast finish and with the finish line not appearing until late I knew the guys would leave it late because your instincts are not to go before you see the line. I knew Kittel’s wheel was the one to get the biggest slingshot from and with the speed of the finish, I knew if I got a good slingshot I could be going 3-4km/h faster than him before he had time to react so that’s what I did and I was happy to hang on for the win.”

Dan McLay: “Compared to previous sprints, we were able to stay longer in the finale. Pierre-Luc and Florian were the last two guys with me at the end. They did a great job, I did not have too much to do and I thought that the win was possible! Obviously in the last kilometres I am impressed with guys like Cavendish and Kittel, but there are a lot of respect among all. For other stages of the Tour, I hope to survive in the mountains (laughs) and I’ll always try to make good sprints. If I had one thing to say to my teammates, it would be ‘thank you’.”
Marcel Kittel: “Congratulations to Mark Cavendish, he was fast and played it smart today. In this year’s finales it’s impossible to have a team tactic, because you always get small and narrow roads, tricky corners, and on top of all, the GC teams, which are crowding in. You never know what’s going to happen and because of the crazy sprints it’s almost impossible to have a lead-out. That makes me even more proud of the boys, who managed to bring me to the front for the last part of the stage. We lost today, but for sure we will try again.”

Greg Van Avermaet: “It’s been a beautiful day for me. With the nice weather, not too many hills and not too much stress in the peloton, it couldn’t have been better. It was nice to be able to ride at the back of the peloton with no pressure and have friendly chats with some compatriots in our native language. I enjoyed the moment. Almost the whole peloton came and congratulated me. I had also received a lot of messages after my crash at the Tour of Flanders but I prefer these ones. My phone exploded! I’m happy that the country supports me. I’ve seen many Belgian flags on the road side today and I’m looking forward to see even more of them tomorrow in the mountains. It’ll be hard to keep the lead beyond tomorrow but the yellow jersey is something you fight for every second you have it. I’ll see how far I can go. Five minutes lead can seem a lot on paper but in the mountains, it can be very little as well.”


Julian Alaphilippe (Best young rider): “The heat made it a difficult day on the saddle even though it was a relatively calm stage. It was nervous as we were approaching the end. I’m disappointed for Marcel Kittel. He’s very close again. It’s always difficult to win at the Tour de France. It’s a fight between the world’s best sprinters! Yesterday’s stage to Le Lioran was difficult and it will be even more difficult tomorrow with the col d’Aspin. I’m looking forward to the Pyrenees although I know it’ll just be harder and harder for me. At some stage, the battle of the top climbers will begin. But for now, I enjoy every day I am in the white jersey.”

Thomas De Gendt (KoM leader): “Today it was quite ok. It was easy to defend the polka dot jersey. I tried to save energy but there were still 190km to cover and I also went to the car to take bottles for the team. Tomorrow it’ll be difficult to get into the breakaway but I hope for the right guys to be in there and take the points away from my rivals. My goal is more to break away the day after. It’s nice to have a different jersey as there are only four of them at the Tour de France. It’s good for the morale to be given a different bike too.”
Nairo Quintana: “It was another day of work properly done by my team-mates – they were excellent, without any errors. We got well through this final flat stage, which combined with all that first week was our first main goal in the Tour, and we’re raring to do into the mountains. Tomorrow’s finale will be already difficult with the Aspin, where we hope that the road will start setting things straight in the race. Froome attacking on the first mountain day as in previous years? Well, I think we might see more of the same tomorrow…!”

Alejandro Valverde: “It was quite of an easy day, but despite that calm pace, the rolling route and especially the heat made for some tough legs in the end and lots of nerves with the swerving into the finish. That’s how the Tour de France looks anyway. Those nerves will happen again tomorrow, but in a very different way. It will be an important day, and I feel like we could see something important tomorrow. However, I feel like the hardness on those two mountain stages from Saturday and Sunday might make tomorrow’s racing more conservative – we might not see as much of a difference on the Aspin as if the race scheme was less focused on the weekend.”

Geraint Thomas (looking ahead): “I don’t think it will be [as decisive as last year’s opening mountain stage]. It’s predominantly flat all day, then a little fourth cat climb and then obviously the Aspin. It’s a tough climb but it shouldn’t be too selective I don’t think. The day after is harder with four big climbs and it’s going to be hot. I think that could be more selective for sure. Then obviously Andorra is the hardest stage of the race so far.”

“I’m still feeling my ribs a bit but getting better every day. For Froomey I think if it’s hard like last year it would be nice for him to take time. But every day it’s getting tougher and I think that should favour him.”

Richie Porte: “It was good to pass the day with no troubles. It had a bit of a technical finish but I’m looking forward to tomorrow, going back into some climbing. I’ve raced up Col d’Aspin quite a lot. I’ve done the recon on it this year. I think someone has to try there. It’s not the most technical descent down to the finish. The stage in Andorra is one of the hardest stages in the Tour this year, so we’ll have to evaluate on the day and in the moment and see what’s possible.”

Tejay van Garderen: “I don’t quite know what we’re expecting from tomorrow. A breakaway could win, or maybe we’ll see Movistar make another hard tempo like they did yesterday. There are possibilities so we just have to be prepared for everything. The Andorra stage will certainly be one of the hardest stages. Some of the stage sin the Alpes are also really hard.” … continued after advert

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Stage Result
1 CAVENDISH Mark TEAM DIMENSION DATA 04h 43′ 48”
2 KITTEL Marcel ETIXX-QUICK STEP
3 MC LAY DANIEL FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT
4 KRISTOFF Alexander TEAM KATUSHA
5 LAPORTE Christophe COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
6 SAGAN Peter TINKOFF
7 GROENEWEGEN Dylan TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO
8 THEUNS Edward TREK – SEGAFREDO
9 COQUARD Bryan DIRECT ENERGIE
10 ARCHBOLD Shane BORA-ARGON 18
11 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE
12 CIMOLAI Davide LAMPRE – MERIDA
13 DUMOULIN Samuel AG2R LA MONDIALE
14 BRESCHEL Matti CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM
15 GREIPEL André LOTTO SOUDAL
16 DEGENKOLB John TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN
17 SABATINI Fabio ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00′ 03”
18 PETIT Adrien DIRECT ENERGIE
19 GUARNIERI Jacopo TEAM KATUSHA + 00′ 04″
20 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM
21 NAESEN Oliver IAM CYCLING
22 QUINTANA Nairo MOVISTAR TEAM
23 KREUZIGER Roman TINKOFF
24 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY
25 SCHÄR Michael BMC RACING TEAM
26 NIBALI Vincenzo ASTANA PRO TEAM
27 BARGUIL WARREN TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN
28 VAN AVERMAET Greg BMC RACING TEAM
29 HENAO Sergio Luis TEAM SKY
30 PANTANO Jarlinson IAM CYCLING
31 ROSA Diego ASTANA PRO TEAM
32 OLIVEIRA Nelson MOVISTAR TEAM
33 MARTIN Daniel ETIXX-QUICK STEP
34 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt TEAM DIMENSION DATA
35 FONSECA Armindo FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT
36 ALAPHILIPPE Julian ETIXX-QUICK STEP
37 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM
38 BURGHARDT Marcus BMC RACING TEAM
39 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM
40 YATES Adam ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE
41 BONNET William FDJ
42 VICHOT Arthur FDJ
43 THOMAS Geraint TEAM SKY
44 ARU Fabio ASTANA PRO TEAM
45 PORTE Richie BMC RACING TEAM
46 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE – MERIDA
47 PINOT Thibaut FDJ
48 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen TEAM KATUSHA
49 LADAGNOUS Matthieu FDJ
50 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LOTTO SOUDAL
51 HENDERSON Gregory LOTTO SOUDAL
52 KOREN Kristijan CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM
53 ENGER Sondre Holst IAM CYCLING
54 CHEREL Mikael AG2R LA MONDIALE
55 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE
56 KELDERMAN Wilco TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO
57 MOLLEMA Bauke TREK – SEGAFREDO
58 GAUTIER Cyril AG2R LA MONDIALE
59 LINDEMAN Bert Jan TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO
60 PIBERNIK Luka LAMPRE – MERIDA
61 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF
62 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin TEAM KATUSHA
63 KONRAD Patrick BORA-ARGON 18
64 RAST Gregory TREK – SEGAFREDO
65 SANCHEZ GIL Luis-Leon ASTANA PRO TEAM
66 HAYMAN Mathew ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE
67 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR TEAM
68 IRIZAR Markel TREK – SEGAFREDO
69 PREIDLER Georg TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN
70 ZAKARIN Ilnur TEAM KATUSHA
71 REICHENBACH Sébastien FDJ
72 HOLLENSTEIN Reto IAM CYCLING
73 MOINARD Amaël BMC RACING TEAM
74 PERICHON Pierre-Luc FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT
75 ZUBELDIA Haimar TREK – SEGAFREDO
76 ELMIGER Martin IAM CYCLING
77 FRANK Mathias IAM CYCLING
78 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald TEAM DIMENSION DATA
79 BUCHMANN Emanuel BORA-ARGON 18
80 CLEMENT Stef IAM CYCLING
81 ROY Jérémy FDJ
82 STUYVEN Jasper TREK – SEGAFREDO
83 TIRALONGO Paolo ASTANA PRO TEAM
84 JEANNESSON Arnold COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
85 NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM
86 GATTO Oscar TINKOFF
87 FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto LAMPRE – MERIDA
88 PAUWELS Serge TEAM DIMENSION DATA
89 SEPULVEDA Eduardo FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT
90 DELAPLACE Anthony FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT
91 KANGERT Tanel ASTANA PRO TEAM
92 ROELANDTS Jurgen LOTTO SOUDAL
93 MATE MARDONES Luis Angel COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
94 FEILLU Brice FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT
95 AVUILLERMOZ Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE
96 SCHLECK Frank TREK – SEGAFREDO
97 BAKELANTS Jan AG2R LA MONDIALE
98 SORENSEN Chris Anker FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT
99 CRADDOCK Lawson CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM
100 GASTAUER Ben AG2R LA MONDIALE
101 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R LA MONDIALE
102 MORABITO Steve FDJ
103 GOUGEARD Alexis AG2R LA MONDIALE
104 JEANDESBOZ Fabrice DIRECT ENERGIE
105 GERRANS Simon ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE
106 SINKELDAM Ramon TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN
107 LOSADA Alberto TEAM KATUSHA
108 CURVERS Roy TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN
109 COPPEL Jérôme IAM CYCLING
110 BENEDETTI Cesare BORA-ARGON 18
111 POLANC Jan LAMPRE – MERIDA
112 STETINA Peter TREK – SEGAFREDO
113 BARTA Jan BORA-ARGON 18
114 ALBASINI Michael ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE
115 NIEVE Mikel TEAM SKY
116 KISERLOVSKI Robert TINKOFF
117 BOOKWALTER Brent BMC RACING TEAM
118 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel TEAM DIMENSION DATA
119 MARTIN Tony ETIXX-QUICK STEP
120 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAMPRE – MERIDA
121 RICHEZE Ariel Maximiliano ETIXX-QUICK STEP
122 CARUSO Damiano BMC RACING TEAM
123 GESCHKE Simon TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN
124 HERRADA Jesús MOVISTAR TEAM
125 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel MOVISTAR TEAM
126 ANACONA GOMEZ Winner Andrew MOVISTAR TEAM
127 ROOSEN Timo TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO
128 BERHANE Natnael TEAM DIMENSION DATA
129 ROWE Luke TEAM SKY
130 SOUPE GEOFFREY COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
131 VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael TINKOFF
132 ARASHIRO Yukiya LAMPRE – MERIDA
133 DURASEK Kristijan LAMPRE – MERIDA
134 DUMOULIN Tom TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN
135 KEISSE Iljo ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00′ 26”
136 MARTENS Paul TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO + 00′ 26”
137 RENSHAW Mark TEAM DIMENSION DATA + 00′ 26”
138 EISEL Bernhard TEAM DIMENSION DATA + 00′ 26”
139 VERMOTE Julien ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00′ 26”
140 IZAGUIRRE Ion MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 26”
141 CANCELLARA Fabian TREK – SEGAFREDO + 00′ 26”
142 HANSEN Adam LOTTO SOUDAL + 00′ 38”
143 VANMARCKE Sep TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO + 00′ 42”
144 HALLER Marco TEAM KATUSHA + 00′ 44”
145 LANDA Mikel TEAM SKY + 00′ 53”
146 HOWES Alex CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM + 00′ 53”
147 GRIVKO Andriy ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 57”
148 SLAGTER Tom Jelte CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM + 00′ 57”
149 DE GENDT Thomas LOTTO SOUDAL + 00′ 57”
150 CHAVANEL Sylvain DIRECT ENERGIE + 00′ 57”
151 EDET Nicolas COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS + 00′ 57”
152 BONO Matteo LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 57”
153 TULIK ANGÉLO DIRECT ENERGIE + 00′ 57”
154 FUGLSANG Jakob ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 57”
155 DURBRIDGE Luke ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE + 00′ 57”
156 NAVARRO Daniel COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS + 00′ 57”
157 PLAZA MOLINA Ruben ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE + 00′ 57”
158 TEN DAM Laurens TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN + 00′ 57”
159 IMPEY Daryl ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE + 00′ 57”
160 WYNANTS Maarten TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO + 00′ 57”
161 POELS Wouter TEAM SKY + 00′ 57”
162 BREEN Vegard FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT + 00′ 57”
163 VACHON Florian FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT + 00′ 57”
164 HUZARSKI Bartosz BORA-ARGON 18 + 00′ 57”
165 KIRYIENKA Vasili TEAM SKY + 00′ 57”
166 HOWARD Leigh IAM CYCLING + 00′ 57”
167 VAKOC Petr ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 00′ 57”
168 WAGNER Robert TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO + 00′ 57”
169 VOSS Paul BORA-ARGON 18 + 00′ 57”
170 COUSIN Jérome COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS + 00′ 57”
171 VAN BAARLE Dylan CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM + 00′ 57”
172 SIEBERG Marcel LOTTO SOUDAL + 01′ 06”
173 ROUX Anthony FDJ + 01′ 12”
174 TIMMER Albert TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN + 01′ 12”
175 LEMOINE Cyril COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS + 01′ 16”
176 BOZIC Borut COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS + 01′ 16”
177 TOSATTO Matteo TINKOFF + 01′ 25”
178 BODNAR Maciej TINKOFF + 01′ 25”
179 PINEAU Cedric FDJ + 01′ 33”
180 PIZAGUIRRE Gorka MOVISTAR TEAM + 01′ 33”
181 VICIOSO Angel TEAM KATUSHA + 01′ 33”
182 GALLOPIN Tony LOTTO SOUDAL + 01′ 33”
183 STANNARD Ian TEAM SKY + 01′ 33”
184 SCHILLINGER Andreas BORA-ARGON 18 + 01′ 33”
185 CUMMINGS Stephen TEAM DIMENSION DATA + 01′ 38”
186 MAJKA Rafal TINKOFF + 01′ 38”
187 GENE Yohann DIRECT ENERGIE + 01′ 38”
188 BENNETT George TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO + 01′ 59”
189 JUUL-JENSEN Christopher ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE + 01′ 59”
190 LANGEVELD Sebastian CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM + 02′ 02”
191 ZLUTSENKO Alexey ASTANA PRO TEAM + 02′ 21”
192 DENNIS Rohan BMC RACING TEAM + 02′ 34”
193 DUCHESNE Antoine DIRECT ENERGIE + 03′ 12”
194 SICARD Romain DIRECT ENERGIE + 03′ 15”
195 VOECKLER Thomas DIRECT ENERGIE + 03′ 15”
196 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO SOUDAL + 06′ 26”
197 MORKOV Michael TEAM KATUSHA + 06′ 26”
198 BENNETT Sam BORA-ARGON 18 + 06′ 26”

Overall
1 VAN AVERMAET Greg BMC RACING TEAM 30h 18′ 38”
2 ALAPHILIPPE Julian ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 05′ 11”
3 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM + 05′ 13”
4 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin TEAM KATUSHA + 05′ 14”
5 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY + 05′ 17”
6 BARGUIL WARREN TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN + 05′ 17”
7 QUINTANA Nairo MOVISTAR TEAM + 05′ 17”
8 ROLLAND Pierre CANNONDALE DRAPAC TEAM + 05′ 17”
9 ARU Fabio ASTANA PRO TEAM + 05′ 17”
10 MARTIN Daniel ETIXX-QUICK STEP + 05′ 17”
11 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM + 05′ 17”
12 KELDERMAN Wilco TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO + 05′ 17”
13 YATES Adam ORICA-BIKEEXCHANGE + 05′ 17”
14 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE + 05′ 17”
15 HENAO Sergio Luis TEAM SKY + 05′ 17”
16 MOLLEMA Bauke TREK – SEGAFREDO + 05′ 17”
17 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen TEAM KATUSHA + 05′ 26”
18 KREUZIGER Roman TINKOFF + 05′ 28”
19 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE – MERIDA + 05′ 28”
20 PINOT Thibaut FDJ + 05′ 28”

25 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF + 06′ 38”
27 PORTE Richie BMC RACING TEAM + 07′ 02”

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