Boasson Hagen waited patiently behind Thomas as a number of riders made late-race stabs at escaping, using the hills as springboards to launch attacks. Lotto’s Jelle Vandendert attacked in the final two kilometers, followed and passed by Europcar’s Thomas Voeckler. As soon as they were caught Astana’s Alexandre Vinokourov took a flyer, only to be quickly overtaken by Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema.
Geraint Thomas clung to Mollema’s wheel, with Boasson Hagen and Thor Hushovd in two. Boasson Hagen waited till the final 200 meters to swing out past Thomas and break for the line. HTC’s Matt Goss, able to go for the win since Mark Cavendish didn’t need a lead-out, made his move down the middle, beating Hushovd across the line by inches but not quite able to catch Boasson Hagen.
“I got it wrong in the last meters yesterday so I was more calm today,” Boasson Hagen told letour.com.
“I waited a little longer and also had the benefit of Geraint Thomas who came up in the last three kilometers and did a really good lead-out. It’s amazing to win a stage.”
The top of the General Classification was unchanged; Garmin Cervelo’s Thor Hushovd continues to wear the yellow jersey.
Cavendish Takes the Intermediate Sprint
Mark Cavendish might not have made it to the final sprint, but he dominated the intermediate sprint.
Cavendish was stripped of his intermediate sprint win in Stage Three after race stewards judged that he had head-butted Thor Hushovd to gain an advantage. The HTC sprinter got squeezed aside in the intermediate sprint in Stage Five, after which two riders, Movistar’s José Rojas and Quick Step’s Tom Boonen, were stripped of their points.
Cavendish told Versus, “Nice to see some consistency I don’t feel like the whole world is against me anymore”
Apparently unwilling to get involved in more controversy, Cavendish made sure to bring the heavy firepower to the Stage Six sprint.
Rojas, who lost the green Best Sprinter jersey when his points were stripped, was determined to get the jersey back, but he only lined up one leadout rider. The HTC train carried Cavendish past both Movistar riders before Cavendish started sprinting; Rojas lost the sprint before it started.
Tyler Farrar and Philippe Gilbert took third and fourth, keeping Gilbert in the green jersey ahead of Rojas, Hushovd, and Cadel Evans, with Farrar sixth.
The win briefly brought Cavendish into third place in the sprint points; he dropped to fifth by missing the final sprint.
A Cold Rainy Stage Suited to No One
The longest stage of the race, dotted with hills including two Cat 3s and a Cat 4, the stage seemed suited to a successful breakaway, and five riders gave it a try. Ultimately, the stage didn’t suit them either.
Lieuwe Westra and Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil,) Adriano Malori (Lampre,) Anthony Roux (FDJ,) and Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) attacked in the first six kilometers, braving the cold rain. Hoogerland, Duque, and Westra quite 60 kilometers from the end; Roux lasted until 20 to go. Malori soldiered on alone but was ridden down 2.5 kilometers from the finish.
The rain eased up midway through the race, but the roads were still wet through the closing kilometers, a fact which hurt Team RadioShack, already decimated by crashes in Stage Five.
Levi Leipheimer slipped on a painted line 4.3 kilometers from the finish, and lost 1:05 on the peloton. This dropped the American rider form 14th to 31st in the General Classification, from 18 seconds to 1:23 off the leader.
After losing GC contender Janez Brajkovic the day before, a day in which half the team crashed and were injured to one extent or another, this latest bit of bad luck depleted RadioShack’s arsenal considerably; the team will have two fewer riders for the other teams to fear when the mountain stages start.
Finally, One for the Sprinters
Stage Seven will finally offer the sprinters a stage which is undeniably perfect for their craft. Though long at 218 km, the route from Le Mans to Châteauroux is free of hills, and the final five kilometers are perfectly flat.
The much-anticipated showdown between American Tyler Farrar and Mark Cavendish, the Manx Missile, might come in Stage Seven. Châteauroux was the scene of Cavendish’s first Tour stage win back in 2008; the Manxman would surely like to repeat, while Farrar will be eager for his second Tour stage win.
| 2011 Tour de France Stage Six Results |
| General Classification after Stage Six | ||||||
| 1 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky | 5:13:37 | 1 | Thor Hushovd | Garmin-Cervelo | 22:50:34 | |
| 2 | Matthew Goss | HTC-Highroad | 0:00 | 2 | Cadel Evans | BMC | 0:00:01 | |
| 3 | Thor Hushovd | Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00 | 3 | Fränk Schleck | Leopard Trek | 0:00:04 | |
| 4 | Romain Feillu | Vacansoleil | 0:00 | 4 | David Millar | Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00:08 | |
| 5 | Jose Rojas | Movistar | 0:00 | 5 | Andreas Klöden | RadioShack | 0:00:10 | |
| 6 | Arthur Vichot | FDJ | 0:00 | 6 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky | 0:00:10 | |
| 7 | Philippe Gilbert | Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:00 | 7 | Geraint Thomas | Sky | 0:00:12 | |
| 8 | Gerald Ciolek | Quickstep | 0:00 | 8 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Sky | 0:00:12 | |
| 9 | Marco Marcato | Vacansoleil | 0:00 | 9 | Jakob Fuglsang | Leopard Trek | 0:00:12 | |
| 10 | Arnold Jeannesson | FDJ | 0:00 | 10 | Andy Schleck | Leopard Trek | 0:00:12 | |
