Janez Brajkovic (Astana) sits after a crash before getting up and trying to get back into the race(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) had time to celebrate winning the stage(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) beat all the top sprinters in stage 6(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) triumphs in stage 6(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quick Step) signals for help after a crash(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Janez Brajkovic (Astana Pro Team) seems stunned after a crash(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma - Quick Step) gets back underway(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Bauke Mollema and Robert Gesink (Belkin)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Janez Brajkovic (Astana) waits for help after a crash(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) was suffering from illness and abandoned the Tour de France on stage 6.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Romain Sicard (Euskatel-Euskadi) rides to sign on.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) began stage 6 in the yellow jersey.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) is biding his time ahead of the mountains.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
John Gadret (Ag2r-La Mondiale).(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Philippe Gilbert (BMC) is still chasing a first win as world champion.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Philippe Gilbert (BMC) before the start.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) at the 2013 Tour de France.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Bernard Hinault remains a visible presence at the Tour de France.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Swiss champion Michael Schär (BMC).(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Brothers in arms. Danny and Boy Van Poppel of Vacansoleil-DCM.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Simon Gerrans in yellow with Orica-GreenEdge manager Shayne Bannon.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Green jersey Peter Sagan (Cannondale)(Image credit: AFP)
Yellow jersey Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEdge)(Image credit: AFP)
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quick Step) gets back underway after a crash.(Image credit: AFP)
Chris Froome (Sky) rides next to Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge)(Image credit: AFP)
Janez Brajkovic (Astana) sits on the pavement after crash(Image credit: AFP)
Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) sprints to win stage 6(Image credit: AFP)
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) crashed in the finale but still finished 4th.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) enjoys life in the yellow jersey.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Simon Gerrans and Orica-GreenEdge manager Shane Bannon are pleased with their team's Tour showing to date.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) reports for duty.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
André Greipel took his first win of the 2013 Tour de France on stage 6 in Montpellier on day that saw Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) become the first African to wear the yellow jersey after his teammate Simon Gerrans was caught on the wrong side of a split in the bunch in the final kilometre.
Greipel got the perfect lead-out from his Lotto-Belisol team to beat Peter Sagan (Cannondale) by a clear bike length in the sprint finish, while his compatriot Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) finished in third with yesterday’s winner Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) having to settle for fourth. The win means that Greipel is now 29 points behind Sagan in the points classification, and the Slovak struck a sullen figure on the podium, disappointed by missing out on another victory.
Lotto-Belisol left it late to take hold of the front of the peloton, waiting until many teams had done their turn. “It was really nervous,” Greipel explained. “I told my team to wait as long as possible. We came to the front with about 2km to go and everyone could see that we had some horsepower. I’m really proud of the team today.”
Many had expected Cavendish to take the glory in Montpellier and the Manxman has history here as the victor in 2011, on the last occasion the Tour visited the city. Cavendish’s task was complicated by a crash with 33km, however, and he was forced to expend valuable energy and take some risks to get back up to the peloton.
In the overall standings, Simon Gerrans handed his lead over to Orica-GreenEdge teammate Daryl Impey, as the South African becomes the first African to wear the Tour’s yellow jersey in the same city where Robbie Hunter became the first African to win a stage back in 2007. Gerrans led out fellow Australian Matt Goss for the sprint, and then conceded five seconds to Impey when the bunch split in the finale. The duo is now split by Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, who lies three seconds down in second.
“It’s an unbelievable experience,” Impey said after standing on the podium. “If you’d told be that I was going to be wearing this, I would have said you were lying. It is a special moment for me and for African cycling.
“When Simon [Gerrans] got the jersey on stage three, I was happy to do the work for him, but he saw how much it meant to me and how much it would change my life. To see him do the lead-out today shows how much of a champion he is. He could have sat up, but he lead out Gossy [Matt Goss] and I was lucky to be his last lead-out man. I’m now the first for something.”
How it happened
There were two non-starters on the sixth day of the Tour de France. Jurgen van den Broeck’s (Lotto-Belisol) GC hopes were dashed in the finish line crash yesterday when the Belgian injured his knee and was unable to continue. Maxime Bouet (AG2R-La Mondiale), who was also caught up in the crash, abandoned with a fractured wrist.
The riders got under way in fine conditions, with little of the forecast wind immediately apparent. Luis Angel Maté (Cofidis) set himself up for a long day in the saddle when went from the gun, but he found himself with no company. Cofidis have been pretty quiet in this year’s race and Maté is the first rider from the French team to make it into a break. Cofidis are without a win in the Tour since 2008, when Sylvain Chavanel and Samuel Dumoulin took one each.
It wasn’t long before the wind started to pick up and Maté struggled against the gusts. The Cofidis rider had a maximum lead of 5:30 before he sat up and was caught after only 44 kilometres off the front.
With Maté caught there were no riders brave enough or, perhaps, foolhardy enough to try an attack, as the high pace in the peloton in anticipation of crosswinds in the seonc half of the stage put paid to any breakaway attempts. The peloton sat tight as they descended towards the intermediate sprint and the only classified climb of the day. Greipel took full points on this occasion with Cavendish trailing behind him, wh