Dylan Groenewegen has won his first Tour de France stage in two years after edging out Jasper Philipsen in a big bunch finish in Dijon on stage six.
Distinctive in his nosepiece shades and Dutch champion's jersey, the Jayco-AlUla rider netted what was his sixth Tour de France victory in total, after a chaotic, high-speed dash.
Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who won the green jersey last year and was given a masterful leadout by Mathieu van der Poel, was ultimately relegated after being judged to have deviated from his line and closing in Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike).
He was given 107th place – last rider in the large front group that finished at the same time as the winner.
The decision saw Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) moved to second place, with Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) third.
The 163.5km parcours took the race from Mâcon to Dijon in eastern France, and though it lacked any major climbs and was considered a nailed-on sprint finish, crosswinds made it a tense day.
At one point the race did split, with yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar finding himself isolated from his UAE Team Emirates team-mates. It came back together though, and there was ultimately no change to the top-10 on GC.
Speaking after the race, Jayco AlUla boss Matt White talked about how important the win was for the team.
"A massive chunk of our publicity is these two weeks (sic)," he said. "That's win number 19, but I think we'd trade the other 18 in for today's one.
"It was a very messy sprint, but the main thing is that he got there fresh, and he got open air, because he's got a lot of speed. He's changed his training this year, backed the volume off a little bit and really concentrated on what his biggest quality is and that is speed."
How it happened
The peloton rolled out of Mâcon bound on a northward trajectory for the home of French mustard and what was almost certain to be a bunch finish. The only climb of note was the fourth-category Col du Bois Clair (1.7km, 5.8%), dispatched after only 10km.
Polka-dot jersey Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) managed to slip the peloton almost unopposed to add a single point to what is now a six-point lead over Tadej Pogačar in the mountains competition, though that seems unlikely to last long.
He continued onwards, too, accompanied by Axel Zingle (Cofidis), before being caught 20km or so later as the race approached the intermediate sprint. Philipsen won this, followed in by Girmay and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), apparently recovered after his high-speed crash in sight of the finish line yesterday.
A nagging westerly wind that was gusting up to 40kph had the whole peloton working hard mid-stage, as riders attempted to stay on their guard against echelons and splits.
UAE Team Emirates were not, apparently, on guard enough, and when a split did happen with 80km to go, only its leader Pogačar managed to be on the right side of it.
Disaster was averted though, with the race coming back together 10km later, though the wind remained a threat.
As the bunch approached the outskirts of Dijon the sprinters' teams began massing at the front, and with Astana doing a fine job of keeping Mark Cavendish near the front of the race, fans of the Manxman may have thought they were about the witness yet another stage win from him.
But into the final kilometre, things got a whole lot messier despite a valiant effort from Uno-X Mobility for Alexander Kristoff and Mathieu van der Poel for Philipsen, and it was Groenewegen who ducked into open space to take the honours.
Results to follow...
Results
Tour de France 2024, Stage 6: Mâcon > Dijon, 163.5km
1. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jayco-AlUla, in 3:31:55
2. Biniam Girmay (ERI) Intermarché-Wanty
3. Fernando Gaviria (COL) Movistar
4. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
5. Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto Dstny
6. Wout van Aert (BEL) Visma-Lease a Bike
7. Arnaud Démare (FRA) Arkéa-B&B Hotels
8. Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Uno-X Mobility
9. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Israel-PremierTech
10. Piet Allegaert (BEL) Cofidis, all at same time
General Classification after Stage 6
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 26:47:19
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +45sec
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +50sec
4. Juan Ayuso (Esp) UAE Team Emirates, +1:10
5. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:14
6. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:16
7. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal-Quick Step, +1:32
8. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at s.t.
9. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +3:20
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +3:21
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