The defending champion Tadej Pogacar won stage six of the Tour de France, from Binche to Longwy, sprinting across the line and into the yellow jersey
The defending champion, Tadej Pogacar, won stage six of thefrom Binche to Longwy, sprinting across the line to win at a canter from Michael Matthews and David Gaudu with Ineos’s Tom Pidcock placing fourth.
The tough uphill finish suited the double Tour winner Pogacar, leader of the UAE Emirates team, who took his first stage win in this year’s race, on the eve of Friday’s first summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles. The Slovenian had already tried his hand on the short and sharp climb of the Cote de Pulventeux, with only 5km to race, but his rivals quickly closed down the move.
There have been few bolder displays of attacking riding in the first week of the Tour than Van Aert’s. Three second places ended with a stage win in Calais, while he was a force of nature on Wednesday’s stage to Arenberg. On the rolling roads from Binche to Longwy there was another virtuoso display, with the 27-year-old Belgian leading a three man breakaway for much of the stage.
Van Aert’s move began as the peloton crossed back into France with just under 150km to race. From there on, he drove his two breakaway companions, Trek-Segafredo’s Quinn Simmons and Jakob Fuglsang of Israel Premier Tech, to their limits. Fuglsang, beset by a mechanical problem, was first to drop away, while Simmons, with 30km to race, simply could not hang on to Van Aert’s coat tails and shook his head in resignation as the race leader sped on towards the finish.
In the immediate aftermath of the stage, the rationale behind Van Aert’s move was unclear, given that Jumbo-Visma’s leadership duo of Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic had endured such a torrid day on the cobbles of northern France 24 hours earlier and that Pogacar had gone on to win the stage.Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhones or the Google Play store on Android phones by searching for 'The Guardian'.
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