Criterium du Dauphine stage 6 - Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné.

The riders will roll out to start the stage in just a few minutes.

At 196.4km, today's stage is the longest of the Dauphiné.

The riders are off and into the neutral zone ahead of the official start.

Four classified climbs on today's stage, including two second-category tests. The last one, the Col de Cabre, comes 57km from the line, though, so the versatile fastmen should be able to get over just fine to contest the finish.

One major non-starter this morning as Juan Ayuso leaves the race from eighth place.

The 19-year-old had suffered stomach problems and a fever.

Three of the four jersey holders at the start – Pierre Rolland in the KOM jersey, Wout Van Aert in the yellow jersey, and Hugo Page in the green jersey.

Van Aert is actually the green jersey holder, and Ethan Hayter (white jersey) is in second place, so third-placed Page races in green today.

A steady start to today's stage with 40km of flat roads before the first climb. Plenty of time for a breakaway to form. 

That first climb of the day will be the fourth-category Côte de Sainte-Eulalie-En-Royans (2.1km at 4.4%).

146 riders take the start today. The flag has dropped and they're off to start the stage.

192km to go

A few kilometres in and things are all together in the peloton.

The pace is high early on and there are splits in the peloton. It looks like Ethan Hayter is on the wrong end of it here.

184km to go

Things are coming back together but attacks are going at the front once again now.

There's no breakaway yet as a few riders have a slim advantage on the peloton.

Chris Froome has 'no guarantees' of Tour de France start

Briton says Israel-Premier Tech's hunt for WorldTour points could change strategy

Still no breakaway established yet and the peloton is 15km away from the start of the day's first climb.

171km to go

56kph average speed so far.

Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Andrea Bagioli (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) are on the move now.

165km to go

Lukasz Owsian (Arkéa-Samsic) is also in the move.

The gap is only small at the moment, around 10 seconds. It's hard to see just a three-man group making up the break today.

The trio have 20 seconds now as they head towards the climb, just a few kilometres up the road.

158km to go

And now they're back in the peloton after being chased down.

Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) is out of the race.

Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies) led the way over the first climb of the day with an attack.

152km to go

He's part of a new move up front now.

Vuillermoz has Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ), Mikkel Honoré (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Samuele Battistella (Astana Qazaqstan) for company.

Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) was among the riders dropped on the first.

The riders are climbing again now – up the third-category Côte des Grands Goulets (5.8km at 4.7%).

More attacks at the front.

KOM leader Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-KTM) attacked over the top of the climb to get two points. Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) was second for one point.

145km to go

More riders attack after the climb.

Rolland and Barguil have been joined out front by Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroën), Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), Andrea Bagioli (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Victor Lafay (Cofidis), and Valentin Ferrond (TotalEnergies).

There's no real descent after the climb. Instead it's false flats before the climb to the second-category Col de Rousset.

138km to go

That group of riders have quickly built a good gap here.

Two minutes for the breakaway already.

The riders are on the false flat section following the climb now. The break's advantage is increasing.

130km to go

Taj Jones (Israel-Premier Tech) has abandoned the race.

Now the breakaway riders start the third climb of the day, the Col de Rousset (6.6km at 5%).

More points on offer for Rolland here to extend his KOM lead further.

3:55 back to the peloton at the moment.

A look at today's breakaway.

125km to go

Rolland takes the maximum five points over the top. Barguil follows with three points.

Long descent coming up. The break lies four minutes up on the peloton.

Ineos Grenadiers leading the peloton.

Race-ready Colnago Prototipo breaks cover

From today, UAE Team Emirates will be adding the Colnago Prototipo to their stable of bikes for all high-profile races

115km to go

Still four minutes for the break as they near the bottom of the descent.

Geoghegan Hart all but out of Tour de France contention

Briton going well at Dauphiné but Grand Tour plans up in the air

44.7kph average speed so far for the stage.

Jumbo-Visma are leading the peloton at the moment.

A shot of Jumbo-Visma leading the peloton.

92km to go

The riders are on the flat roads after the climb now. 4:10 between the break and peloton.

The break's lead is still edging up, It's 4:20 now.

Around 17km to go until the riders hit the intermediate sprint in Beaurières.

Leon Heinschke (Team DSM) has quit the race.

A look at the peloton tackling that last descent.

68km to go

4:25 for the break now. They're closing in on the final climb of the day.

The second-category Col de Cabre measures in at 9.2km at an average of 4.6%.

The breakaway out on the road on the run to the final climb of the day.

Barguil led the break over the sprint ahead of Ferron and Bouchard.

64km to go

The riders are tackling this final climb of the stage now.

Today's stage is likely to end in another bunch sprint, just like yesterday's stage 5.

Van Aert took his second win in Chaintré, beating Jordi Meeus. Click here to read about the day's events.

Bruno Armirail is the first man to drop from the breakaway on the Col de Cabre. Six men remain up front.

The break reaches the top and it's another five points for Rolland. He's on 29 KOM points now after collecting 12 to add to his previous total of 17.

55km to go

As the riders take on the descent, the gap between the break and peloton is now down to 3:10.

Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-KTM), Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroën), Andrea Bagioli (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Victor Lafay (Cofidis), and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies) left up front at the moment.

47km to go

The sprint teams will be taking control now and bring the gap to the break down as they head towards the finish.

The peloton is closing in on the flat roads following the descent.

35km to go

Three minutes for the breakaway riders now.

Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) has abandoned the race.

A look at the breakaway on that final climb of the day.

It's still Jumbo-Visma and Ineos Grenadiers doing the work at the head of the peloton. Several other teams such as Bora-Hansgrohe and Trek-Segafredo are also up there working.

The breakaway riders are still taking turns and pushin on but they're losing seconds here and there. 2:50 now.

28km to go

Chris Froome gets back into the peloton along with several other riders after the descent and a chase back.

Despite the efforts of Trek, Bora and Jumbo, the break still lies 2:50 up the road...

A shot of the breakaway racing up the final climb of the day. Can they hang on today?

22km to go

The quickest predicted time schedule for today (41kph) would've had the riders crossing this point of the course at 15:49 local time.

It's currently 15:29 in France. 44.7kph average so far...

Jumbo-Visma now with their full squad on the front working.

UAE Team Emirates moving up too. Ineos behind Jumbo.

UAE and BikeExchange have one man each on the front. It seems like it's quite late and not really enough..

18km to go

2:30 now. The gap is coming down but not very quickly.

Contenders for the win today if the peloton does manage to bring the break back:

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers), Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates), Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe), Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo)...

16km to go

2:25 for the break now. The gap isn't coming down quickly enough for the sprinters here.

There is one lump remaining before the line but nothing hard enough to really throw off the breakaway. 

Out front, it's hard to say that any of the riders are particularly fast in the sprints. The likes of Bouchard, Rolland, Lafay, Bagioli, Barguil, and Ferron are better on the climbs.

Bagioli did outpace a select group to win the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya in Barcelona a few months ago, though. Something to maybe keep in mind.

13km to go

2:15 for the breakaway now. The seconds continue to slip away but so do the kilometres...

Chris Froome stops with a puncture. He gets a bike change and gets rolling again.

11km to go

Jumbo-Visma back up front now. Groupama-FDJ and Bahrain Victorious among the teams at the head of the peloton too.

2:05 between the break and peloton now.

Still six up front.

10km to go

1:55 now as Jumbo-Visma have taken more time off the gap.

Now it's just a matter of time before the breakaway riders begin to attack each other. It doesn't look as though the peloton will be able to bring them back.

Back in the peloton a UAE Team Emirates rider puts his hands on green jersey wearer Hugo Page. He has words with the Frenchman and then reaches out to push him again.

A teammate of the UAE rider then has words with him. That should be a DSQ really. We don't know who the UAE man was.

7km to go

1:30 for the breakaway now. Still all rolling through in the front.

The breakaway men have rolled over that last lump and are now heading downhill towards the finish.

The UAE rider might've been Molano. Unconfirmed, though.

Harry Sweeny (Lotto Soudal) goes on the attack from the peloton.

5km to go

A minute for the breakaway now.

No attacks up front but the riders are looking around at each other as they continue on.

Bouchard tries a move now. Bagioli gets across to him with Lafay.

Jumbo and Ineos domestiques Ganna and Laporte drop out the back of the peloton.

50 seconds from the peloton to the break.

4km to go

BikeExchange up there with Jumbo in the chase.

The breakaway still all together. Bouchard the only man to make an attacking effort so far.

The riders heading downhill at the moment. It's a fast pace on the run to the line.

3km to go

Still 45 seconds.

The metres are ticking by and Jumbo-Visma are taking a few seconds away here and there but it's going to be too late.

2km to go

40 seconds. Break still together.

Ineos on the front of the peloton now.

The group is flying down at almost 70kph here.

1km to go

The break is still flying along. It's been too fast to attack in the last few kilometres.

Now it's flat and straight to the line. Ferron attacks.

Ferron gets a gap!

A big move. The rest look to Bagioli to lead the chase.

Bagioli leading the way but Ferron has his gap into the final 200 metres!

Ferron is going to take it!

Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies) takes the win on stage 6! A huge attack in the final kilometre.

Pierre Rolland and Warren Barguil round out the podium three seconds later.

The break was on the left-hand side of the road, then Barguil moved across to the left and Ferron accelerated from the rear of the group right through the gap. Clever and powerful by the 24-year-old.

The peloton rolled home at 32 seconds down.

A great race for TotalEnergies with two stage wins from the break.

Ferron celebrates his win.

Molano led the peloton home ahead of Boasson Hagen and Groenewegen.

Here's what Ferron had to say after the stage...

"It's absolutely enormous for me. we've worked hard every single day. It's a WorldTour race so it's a huge event for me and the biggest win of my career. You don't get many chances like that so you have to take them and that's what I did. A lot of hard work and huge satisfaction that we did it.

"I don't have the best sprint and I knew that. I knew Bagioli would have the advantage so I bided my time. When I saw the line I had to go for it and when I made it I couldn't believe it. It's wonderful.

"it's hard to describe all the emotions that washed over me. It's an amazing victory. We came here looking for some good results and it's fantastic for the team."

Here's a look at Ferron's massive stage-winning attack. Well worth a watch.

A shot of Ferron blasting to victory in Gap.

Read our stage 6 report here

Ferron celebrates on the podium following his victory.

It's only his second pro win after taking a stage of the Tour du Rwanda last year.

We're currently waiting to see whether Juan Sebastián Molano will be thrown off the race for his actions towards Hugo Page. UCI commissaires are reviewing the footage.

Meanwhile, Wout van Aert continues in the race lead today. He's back on the podium in the yellow jersey.

Van Aert also continues in the green points jersey, while Ethan Hayter retains the white jersey.

Meanwhile, Pierre Rolland has only extended his polka dot KOM jersey lead.

Juan Sebastián Molano has been disqualified from the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Molano disqualified from Critérium du Dauphiné for hitting Page

Colombian sprinter hit Frenchman in final 10km and again after finish in Gap

In unrelated news, Geoffrey Bouchard won the most aggressive rider for today's stage.

We'll have more news and reaction from stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné coming through the evening so look out for more stories to come.

News incoming from the race includes further reaction from Page and Molano as well as a preview of the closing weekend, which will see the GC decided as the riders take on two mountain stages.

Here are some videos of the Molano-Page incidents...

Page fuming with 'crazy' Molano after Dauphiné altercation

'It's not the first time he's done that' says green jersey wearer

That's all for our live coverage of stage 6, in any case. Watch out for more news coming in.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for live coverage of the penultimate stage, which will see the riders tackle the HC climbs of the Galibier and Croix de Fer before a second-category summit finish at Vaujany.