Associated Press
MONTAUBAN, France — British sprinter Mark Cavendish used all his tactical experience and an impressive burst of speed to win the sixth stage of the Tour de France in a mass finish Thursday.
It was Cavendish’s third stage win of the Tour and his 29th overall.
Cavendish beat German sprinter Marcel Kittel by half a wheel, with Daniel McLay third.
Kittel launched the sprint but Cavendish, who was without his lead-out man Bernhard Eisel in the final sprint, attached himself patiently to Kittel’s wheel before overtaking him in the final 200 meters.
“We were a little too far back, Bernie and I, going into that,” Cavendish said. “It was just carnage in the final with guys coming left and right. I wanted Kittel’s wheel. I was fighting and fighting for Kittel’s wheel.”
Cavendish passed five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault to be alone in second on the all-time list of stage winners. Eddy Merckx holds the record with 34 to Cavendish’s 29.
“I didn’t really think about that. I’m just thinking about my little brother, he had a little baby girl yesterday,” Cavendish said. “So I’d like to dedicate this to my little niece, Darcy, who was born yesterday.”
The stage took the peloton from Arpajon-sur-Cere to Montauban in southwestern France on a 190.5-kilometer ride.
Greg van Avermaet kept the yellow jersey going into Friday’s first stage in the Pyrenees.
On a very hot day in southwestern France, Yukiya Arashiro and Jan Barta attacked from the off. The peloton did not chase and duo built a comfortable lead of 4 1/2 minutes.
With temperatures as high as 98 degrees, the breakaway riders’ lead started to decrease after the first intermediate sprint when Frenchman Bryan Coquard topped rivals Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan and Kittel in their battle for the best sprinter’s green jersey.
They were reined in with 22 kilometers left after Coquard’s Direct Energie team moved to the front of the pack to organize the chase.
On the eve of the first big mountain stage in the Pyrenees, Van Avermaet enjoyed a quiet day in the peloton, well protected by his BMC teammates. Defending Tour champion Chris Froome stayed safely in the pack too, surrounded by his Sky teammates.
In the overall standings, Van Avermaet holds a lead of 5:11 over rising French rider Julian Alaphilippe, with Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde third, 5:13 behind.
Froome is fifth, 5:17 behind, with his main rival Nairo Quintana in seventh place with the same time.
The 162.5 kilometers in Stage 7 on Friday feature the grueling ascent of the Category 1 Col Aspin, a 12.5-kilometer climb at an average gradient of 6.5 percent, as well as a very technical descent to the finish line at the Lac de Payolle.
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