Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 6 of the 2024 Tour de France. Tadej Pogačar holds the yellow jersey, but most headlines are for Mark Cavendish this morning after he broke the record he shared with Eddy Merckx and won his 35th Tour stage in Saint-Vulbas yesterday. Stephen Farrand was on the scene for us and sends this account.
When Cavendish walked back his retirement decision last summer, the prospect of a record-breaking 35th stage win seemed the obvious draw, even if lead-out man Michael Mørkøv suggested to Cyclingnews earlier this year that surpassing Eddy Merckx's mark was more of an excuse to keep racing than a burning goal in itself. Certainly, Cavendish has no intention of turning the rest of this Tour into a lap of honour now that feat has been achieved. Today's finale in Dijon offers another opportunity. "First and foremost, I'll try and enjoy it and secondly we'll try and be successful again because that's fundamentally our job," Cavendish said. "I love this race, I always have loved this race. I love this race when I ride, I love this race when I watch it, and I'll always give it 100%." Dani Ostanek has more here.
Coach Vasilis Anastopoulos was a key figure in Cavendish's surprising renaissance at QuickStep in 2021 and he has been essential to the Manxman's success again here after joining Astana-Qazaqstan's staff during the off-season. He introduced spells of altitude training to Cavendish's preparation this year, and the sprinter also spent sustained spells at Anastopoulos' home in Greece in the build-up to the Tour. Anastopoulos was confident in Cavendish's Tour prospects after poring over his training files from the week after the Tour de Suisse. "The data I had told me was capable of doing that,” he said. “He came back to Greece immediately after the Tour de Suisse, and we did sprint work for the whole week because of all the climbs he had done before.” Read the full story here.
Today's run from Mâcon to Dijon is a flat one, with just a single category 4 climb - the early Col du Bois Clair - on the agenda. Another bunch sprint would appear to be inevitable. The peloton rolls out at 13.35 CET, with the race scheduled to hit kilometre zero at 13.50.
(Image credit: ASO)
General classification after stage 5
1 Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 23:15:24
2 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep 0:00:45
3 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Visma - Lease a Bike 0:00:50
4 Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:10
5 Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull - Bora- Hansgrohe 0:01:14
6 Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:16
7 Mikel Landa (Spa) Soudal-QuickStep 0:01:32
8 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates
9 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl - Trek 0:03:20
10 Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:03:21
Eddy Merckx has paid his own tribute to Mark Cavendish for claiming sole ownership of the record for Tour stage wins. “Congratulations to Mark Cavendish on this historic achievement! Such a nice guy to break my record,” Merckx said in a post on Instagram. James Moultrie has more here.
The roll-out is just 25 minutes away, and there will have been a lot of discussion on the team buses in Mâcon about this stage's potential for echelons. Those in the know suggest the opening part of the stage and the last 45km are most exposed to crosswinds. Vigilance will be key.
Biniam Girmay lines up in the green jersey, having moved to the top of the classification yesterday. (Image credit: Getty Images)
The peloton has rolled away from the start in Mâcon and is navigating the neutralised zone.
It's 22°C at the start in Mâcon, where the sun has poked through the clouds. The wind is little more than a breeze for now, at 16kph, and so any echelons, if they come, will surely be for the final hour, when the wind is forecast to pick up. Yesterday, like on stage 3 to Turin, there was a very low-key start to proceedings - although the early category 4 climb and the intermediate sprint in Cormatin after 31km might make for a more intense opening today.
-163km
The flag drops and stage 6 of the Tour de France is formally under way. There is no immediate attack, and the early excitement is provided by an aerial shot of a field-sized homage to local hero Antoine Griezmann, who will, of course, be in action for France at Euro 2024 tomorrow night against Portugal.
-160km
The pace is brisk, mind, in these opening kilometres. And the aerial shot also shows that rain is falling a little bit ahead of the race. The peloton will hit the foot of the short category 4 Col du Bois Clair in 5km.
The peloton is rolling though the light rain shower, still travelling at a decent rate of knots. Unlike the tentative opening to the previous sprint stages, there's a tension in the air here, thanks largely to the early climb and the early intermediate sprint.
Tadej Pogacar, Biniami Girmay and Mark Cavendish at the start in Macon (Image credit: Getty Images)
-157km
Jonas Vingegaard is among the riders tucked in near the head of the peloton beneath this spitting rain. The pace has settled down a little bit, but there will surely be a move from the king of the mountains Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) on the Bois Clair.
-155km
The bunch is still intact as hits the base of the category 4 Col bu Blois Clair (1.6km at 6%), with rain still falling gently over the Tour.
A polka-dotted Abrahamsen clips off the front of the bunch with 700m of the climb remaining in search of the solitary mountains point at the summit, though he's being hunted by Axel Zingle (Cofidis) .
-153km
Zingle lets Abrahamsen take the point at the summit. This duo has a lead of 25 seconds over the peloton at the top.
Zingle presses on over the other side. Abrahamsen might have been expected to sit up after the climb, but the Norwegian opts to come through and give Zingle a few turns. The two escapees have half a minute in hand on the bunch.
Abrahamsen certainly isn't hanging around. After losing the green jersey to Biniam Girmay yesterday, the Norwegian seems to be keen to pick up maximum points at the intermediate sprint after 30km. He presses on the pace with Zingle, and the gap is stretching out.
-149km
Break:
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Axel Zingle (Cofidis)
Peloton at 0:42
Zingle was involved in a notable incident in yesterday's finale - or perhaps more accurately, he helped to limit the impact of an incident. When Mads Pedersen crashed in the finishing straight, Zingle had the presence of mind and reflexes to bunnyhop the fallen Dane rather than ride into him, and that act might well have prevented bringing down more riders. Simone Giuliani has more here.
-144km
Zingle and Abrahamsen have 1:15 in hand on the bunch but they don't seem minded to persist in their effort. The pair are chatting amiably now rather than riding through and off like they were initially. The peloton, however, has spread across the road, so they might stay out there a little longer.
The intermediate sprint in Cormatin is just over 10km away, and there will be an injection of pace from the bunch as it draws closer. Meanwhile, the rain has abated, the sun has re-emerged and the road beneath their wheels is dry.
Abrahamsen and Zingle continue to shoot the breeze out in front, and the peloton is drawing inexorably closer. 45 seconds the gap.
-138km
Zingle and Abrahamsen are still lingering out in front, 40 seconds clear of the peloton. The sprinters' teams are moving into position ahead of the intermediate sprint, but the speed is relatively steady for now.
-135km
Abrahamsen and Zingle's sortie comes to an end 3km shy of the intermediate sprint. They're swept up by the bunch, where the speed is ratcheting steadily upwards.
-132km
Victor Campenaerts leads out the sprint for Arnaud De Lie, and the Belgian is so strong he briefly rides off the front alone. He sits up before the sprint, where Jasper Philipsen takes the verdict ahead of Biniam Girmay, with Mads Pedersen third across the line.
Girmay's points classification lead is up to ten points over Pedersen thanks to his second place in that intermediate sprint.
Intermediate sprint - result
1 Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 20 pts
2 Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 17
3 Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 15
4 Arnaud Demare (Arkea-B&B Hotels) 13
5 Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) 11
6 Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dsnty) 10
7 Sam Bennet (Decathlon-AG2R) 9
8 Mike Teunissen (Intermarché-Wanty) 8
9 Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty) 7
10 Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R) 6
11 Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 5
12 Jai Hindley(Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 4
13 Oliver Naesen (Decathlon-AG2R) 3
14 Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 2
15 Oscar Onley (DSM) 1
-125km
The intensity in the peloton has abated since that intermediate sprint, and for now at least, nobody appears to be tempted to throw themselves onto the offensive. It is striking that the GC riders are all moving up, flanked by their teams. The wind isn't likely to be strong enough to split the field here, but caution is the byword.
A Welsh flag fluttering on the roadside confirms the crosswind at this point. Delegations from Visma, UAE and Ineos are all massed towards the front, though they appear to be positioned for safety rather than with the express intention of trying to force an echelon.
-119km
There's plenty of tension on this stretch of their course, but no crosswind excitement just yet. The host broadcaster has been offering some snatches from race radio, and the teams are all issuing familiar instructions about the need to be together in numbers towards the front.
Today marks the 25th anniversary of Lance Armstrong's first day in the yellow jersey on the 1999 Tour de France, the first of seven straight wins that would later be stricken from the record books when he was finally sanctioned in 2012. Armstrong and manager Johan Bruyneel were given lifetime bans, but they haven't gone away - nor, indeed, have many of Armstrong's 1999 teammates, some of whom remain prominent figures in cycling today. Patrick Fletcher has pieced the story of what everybody on the 1999 US Postal team is doing now, and you can read his feature here.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
-112km
The peloton is on wet roads once again as the pace passes through Buxy. The bunch is still massed together, with the bulk of the GC teams still gathered towards the head of the field.
-106km
To paraphrase Eavan Boland, things are getting ready to happen - but not yet. The peloton is still grouped together and travelling at a relatively steady pace, but the lingering threat of echelons is weighing heavily upon this race.
-101km
The tension in the peloton is exacerbated still further by a sequence of road furniture on the approach to Germolles. So far, everybody is through safely and the roads are drying out again as the sun pokes its way through the clouds once more.
-98km
The bunch hits a very exposed section of road, but there is no indication that any team is minded to try to split the field this far out from the finish. It's not clear if the crosswind is quite strong enough to make the effort worthwhile too.
-95.5km
And, just like that, Lotto Dstny take up the reins and inject some pace in a bid to split the field on behalf of Arnaud De Lie...
Two problems. They launched immediately before the race swung into a tree-lined section and, in truth, everybody was ready for a move like that. The status quo remains, with a nervous peloton still tightly bunched.
-91km
The speed is ratcheting upwards and so is the tension, but the peloton remains intact. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Visma-Lease a Bike are still occupying prime real estate near the head of the bunch, mindful of the risks on this stretch of road.
-88km
UAE Team Emirates are also posted at the head of affairs for yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar. At this point, the tension is being created by the succession of villages and traffic islands on the route, but it's worth noting that the race swings from crosswind into tailwind in about 10km or so, and that could be a crucial pinchpoint in this race...
-85km
Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte hit the front of the race with intent for Visma-Lease a Bike, and the tension ratchets up another notch or six in the peloton.
-82km
Ben Turner brings a delegation from Ineos towards the front in response to the forcing of Laporte, Van Aert and Tiesj Benoot for Visma-Lease a Bike, who look to be trying to force the issue in the crosswinds before the race swings onto a section of cross-tailwind. The peloton is lined out behind them...
-80km
A very ill-time meachanical issue for Mark Cavendish, who is forced to a halt just as the peloton is fully lined out and just as some splits are beginning to form...
-79km
And the split has happened... Visma-Lease a Bike started it, but now Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar have joined in at the front. They must know what's happening behind and they're eager to push on. Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel are safely in this front group of 50 or so riders, and I believe Primoz Roglic is in there too.
Ineo are also riding on the front, which clearly means Carlos Rodriguez is in this front group, which has 20 seconds on the rest of the peloton and 1:18 on Cavendish.
-76km
Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic, Carlos Rodriguez and Egan Bernal are all safely in the front group, together with Arnaud De Lie, Biniam Girmay and Fernando Gaviria. There are about 60 riders in this front group - but Tadej Pogacar appears to be the only UAE rider in it...
-73km
UAE Team Emirates are scrambling to lead the chase in the second group, 20 seconds down on the front group, where Pogacar is completely isolated... A mechanical for the Slovenian at this point would be ruinous.
At the back of the race, meanwhile, Cavendish is mouthing off at the television motorbike, seemingly unhappy at the attention being paid to his attempt to chase back on.
-70km
The television coverage presents some worried radio chatter from UAE as they realise Pogacar is alone in this very small front group. But the second group has just managed to get back on, so the yellow jersey will have some teammates for company again. They got away with one there....
But while the bomb has been diffused, the tension remains. There are still almost 70km on exposed roads to go. It would be a surprise if there aren't further splits on the road to Dijon. UAE surely can't make the same mistake again.
-69km
Cavendish is in the cars behind the main peloton, 33 seconds down on the head of the bunch. The race hits another crosswind section with 65km to go, so Cavendish could really do with getting back on by then.
Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R) has suffered a mechanical problem, and Cavendish sweeps past the Austrian as he barrels back towards the bunch.
Primoz Roglic hasn't had the sharpest opening to this Tour, but his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad has been excellently placed here and they might sense this is an opportunity to claw back some of the time spilled so far.
Cavendish makes it back to the bunch, but before he rejoins the fray, he stops to have a word with the commissaires before tucking in behind their car.
-66km
Visma, Red Bull, Movistar and Bahrain occupy the front rows of the bunch, where the tension is palpable...
-64km
Cavendish is safely back on and the peloton has regrouped, but you would have to imagine this is but a temporary truce given the conditions. The wind is only 19kph or so at the moment and the tree cover is also serving to limit the impact.
-61km
Pogacar has a phalanx of teammates with him now after they were surprisingly caught out by the earlier split. The yellow jersey himself, mind, was perfectly placed throughout. There are remarkably few gaps in his armoury and, on the evidence of the recent Giro d'Italia, he will fancy his chances of laying down another marker in tomorrow's key time trial.
A gentle admonishment was offered to the UAE Team Emirates riders after the race came back together. "Guys be careful, Tadej cannot remain alone in a situation like this," Andrej Hauptman says in a grab from race radio provided by the host broadcaster.
-58km
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has also suffered a mechanical issue, but the Dane is quickly back up and running and chasing on through the cars behind the bunch.
A lull in intensity sees another bike change for Mark Cavendish, who is presumably switching back to his original machine. He has Yevgeniy Fedorov and a television motorbike for company as he chases back on. You can imagine which one he's happier to see.
Visma-Lease a Bike DS Grischa Niermann offers some praise for his team over the radio during this moment of relative calm. "We're by far the best team in the hectic," he says. It's never nice to brag, but on the evidence so far, he's probably right.
-54km
Alexey Lutsenko also dropped back to pace Cavendish, who is safely back in the peloton, which is whistling along a tailwind section for the next 10km or so.
Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep), currently 7th overall, suffers a puncture. Tom Steels emerges from the team car to push the Basque on his way again, and it looks as though he will rejoin the fray without undue distress.
-50km
Delegations from Visma, Red Bull, UAE, Ineos, Movistar Soudal-QuickStep and Lidl are all lined up at the head of the bunch, mindful of the prospect of more splits when the course swings into another crosswind sector with 44km to go.
-46km
The hold pattern remains in place for now, but we could see more fireworks when the race flits into crosswind shortly. It's striking that Pogacar has been constantly stationed so close to the front.
-44km
The pace ratchets up suddenly to 61kph, with Visma, Ineos and Red Bull driving the peloton into the upcoming left-hand turn...
There's a crash at the rear of the peloton just before that turn, just as the road narrowed. Jonas Abrahamsen and Fred Wright are among the riders to go down. Alberto Bettiol was also caught up in the incident, but everybody seems to be back on their bikes and chasing back on.
-43km
That crash did force a split, but it looks set to come back together. Sam Bennett and Mads Pedersen were among the fast men caught out, but they are almost in contact with the bunch again.
Jonas Abrahamsen, a faller in that crash, has also latched back on, and the gruppo is more or less compatto. The exposed roads, however, leave open the possibility of further splits between here and Dijon.
-40km
The speed drops to 38kph or so, and the peloton is packed tightly together once again.
-37km
All the tension over echelons and splits ensured that the only break we've seen all day was the brief sortie from Abrahamsen and Zingle early in the day. At this juncture, a bunch sprint looks ever more inevitable - but it remains to be seen how big the front group will be. It would a surprise if Visma or others don't try to shake the tree again before Dijon and try to shake some GC men or sprinters lose.
-36km
Astana-Qazaqstan are also present in numbers towards the head of the bunch on behalf of Cavendish. World champion Mathieu van der Poel is chasing back on, meanwhile, presumably after a mechanical issue.
-32km
Visma-Lease a Bike are still occupying the right-hand side of the road, where Jonas Vingegaard is well postioned. Primoz Roglic and his Red Bull guard are on the opposite side.
-31km
UAE suddenly drive the pace into a right-hand turn. The bunch lines out briefly before the pace settles down again. This will be a tense, tense run-in to Dijon...
-29km
The holding pattern remains in place. There is lots of tension, lots of competing for position, but it's not a given that the race will split on this exposed run-in.
-27km
Visma and Red Bull remain locked in position as the bookends on either flank of the front of the peloton. UAE are watchful after they were all - bar Pogacar, of course - caught napping by the earlier split.
-25km
Visma, Ineos, Movistar, UAE, Astana and Red Bull are the teams currently occupying the front row of the peloton ahead of the next sharp change in direction...
-23km
The sprinters' teams are beginning to move up ahead of this finale, with delegations from Alpecin, Decathlon and Lidl-Trek all visible, though Visma, Movistar, Ineos, UAE, Astana and Red Bull remain in the front row for now.
-20km
Into the final 20km for the peloton, which remains tightly bunched. The GC men have been locked in their positions near the head of the field for at least the last half an hour, if not longer.
There is, inevitably, quite a litany of traffic islands and roundabouts on the run-in to Dijon, and it might be those accoutrements, rather than the wind, that provoke a split during this frantic finale.
-18km
Mads Pedersen was a faller in the finishing straight yesterday and he took the start in bandages this morning, but he was prominent in the intermediate sprint and he'll be in the mix again in Dijon this afternoon.
Positioning has been nine-tenths of the law on the road to Dijon. (Image credit: Getty Images)
-16km
Jonas Vingegaard has seemed to occupy this precise position all afternoon. (Image credit: Getty Images)
-15km
There has been more tension than drama on this stage to date, and that trend continues into the finale, with the GC teams and sprint teams all lined up and staking out their positions at the head of the peloton. FOMO is the order of the day.
-13km
The bunch trundles along at 45kph. The increasing shelter from trees and buildings means the crosswind risk is abating, but the traffic island risk is only beginning to rise. The safety zone today is with 4km to go rather than the usual 3km mark.
-11km
We were perilously close to a mass crash in the peloton. A touch of wheels sees an Astana rider take a wobble, but he manages to keep it upright, and without bringing anybody down to boot.
-10km
Into the final 10km, where the bunch separates and reforms around a roundabout. They will have another, crucial roundabout inside the final kilometre.
-9km
There is a disctinct injection of urgency at the head of the bunch, where Astana have taken up the reins on the right-hand side of the road.
-8km
A Lotto Dstny delegation moves up too on behalf of Arnaud De Lie. Lidl-Trek are also present in numbers for Mads Pedersen. Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates have dropped back quite a bit...
-8km
Biniam Girmay is another man who needs to move up, and he will need help from his Intermarche-Wanty team to do so.
-7km
A crash just outside the 7km to go mark, involging Marijn van den Berg of EF Education-EasyPost. His hopes of stage victory are dashed. A DSM rider went down too. Pogacar was not a million miles from that incident, but he gets through safely.
-6km
Astana and Alpecin-Deceuninck are the teams leading the peloton. Are we set for another duel between Cavendish and Philipsen?
Visma-Lease a Bike are also prominent in numbers for Jonas Vingegaard, and they will stay here until at least the 4km to go mark.
-5km
Pogacar was a little further back than he should have been, but he looks to be miving up gradually on the approach to the final 5km. Visma push the pace all over again...
Pogacar looks comfortable as he gets back into position near the front. Girmay, who had been a long way back a couple of kilometres ago is now tucked into fifth place in the peloton.
-4km
The first landmark is reached, as the peloton comes intact through the 4km to go marker. The day isn't quite over the GC men but a lot of the stress has been taken from it.
Now the sprinters' teams are in sole command. Decathlon, Lidl-Trek, Astana and Uno-X are all to the fore.
-3km
Jonas Abrahamsen leads the peloton into the final 3km for Alexander Kristoff and Uno-X. Astana are also present in numbers for Mark Cavendish.
Phil Bauhaus also has plenty of Bahrain jerseys around him. Kristoff and Mads Pedersen are also posted towards the front.
-2km
Uno-X have four riders on the front of the peloton as they lead into the final 2km.
-1.5km
Kristoff now has just two men in front of him. Have they moved too soon?
-1km
Arkea-B&B move up for Demare, but it's still Uno-X who lead into the final kilometre.
A mammoth effort from Uno-X who lead into the final 500 metres, but here comes Mathieu van der Poel...
Van der Poel opens the sprint with a massive lead-out. He swings off with Phulipsen, Girmay, De Lie and Groenewegen in contention...
Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula) wins stage 6 of the Tour de France.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was second ahead of Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty), with Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) fourth ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny).
Van der Poel led out the sprint, but perhaps Philipsen should have kicked sooner as caught De Lie and others were travelling faster than him by the time the world champion finally swung off. Groenewegen timed his effort well to sprint down the right-hand side of the road. Philipsen closed once he finally hit top speed, but he couldn't get back on terms with the Dutchman.
Result
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jayco-Alula 3:31:55
2 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
3 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty
4 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Movistar
5 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
6 Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto Dstny
7 Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike
8 Arnaud Démare (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels
9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
10 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Israel Premier Tech
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Dylan Groenewegen on his win: "I’m really happy. The feeling is so amazing, especially in the red, white and blue jersey. Before I said it would be a beautiful picture but it was so close I couldn’t celebrate on the finish line. On the end, we grabbed it and the team worked so hard in the last days. Yesterday I was a bit disappointed about myself because the team did a really good job but today we nailed it again. In the last kilometres, we stayed calm. I don’t actually know what happened but I was first.
"It slowed down just a little bit. I think it was Uno-X and Alpecin. I was fighting for position. I think it was Philipsen on the right. We were sprinting next to each other and I love these sprints, next to each other, and I beat him just on the finish line. Yesterday I was really disappointed, also the first day, but that was sprinting – sometimes the gap closes. But now we have a victory, a victory in the first week means a lot for me and the team.
"The sprint field is really strong and the lead-outs too, but hopefully we can do it again."
Tadej Pogacar finished safely in the main peloton to retain the yellow jersey ahead of tomorrow's time trial.
General classification after stage 6
1 Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 26:47:19
2 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep 0:00:45
3 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Visma - Lease a Bike 0:00:50
4 Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:10
5 Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull - Bora- Hansgrohe 0:01:14
6 Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:16
7 Mikel Landa (Spa) Soudal-QuickStep 0:01:32
8 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates
9 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl - Trek 0:03:20
10 Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:03:21
Wout van Aert was 7th in that sprint, but he was well in contention until he was squeezed out on the right-hand barrier by Philipsen. There simply wasn't room there and Van Aert had to stall.
Astana were well positioned for much of the run-in, but Cavendish made no impact in the sprint, placing 20th.
Tadej Pogačar warms down behind the podium aboard his time trial bike, as he did every day on the Giro d'Italia. Tomorrow brings the next moment of truth at this Tour, the 25.3km test from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin. On the basis of his Giro displays, Pogačar will see it as a chance to gain on Vingegaard. On the basis of his rainbow jersey, Remco Evenepoel will fancy his chances of stage victory and perhaps something more. Vingegaard will surely be in damage limitation mode, despite his stratospheric time trial on last year's Tour. And Primoz Roglic will be looking to re-ignite his Tour challenge after a subdued opening.
Read James Moultrie's account of today's stage here, together with the full results and pictures from the windy road to Dijon.
There are reports reaching us that Jasper Philipsen has been declassified for blocking Wout van Aert in the sprint, which would putn Biniam Girmay in second place on the stage.
“I was closed in again by Jasper Philipsen. That’s a bad habit of his,” Van Aert said at the Visma-Lease a Bike bus. “It wasn’t super dangerous, I could still get to the brakes. But I was level with him and he really went to the barrier. He felt me coming, and that’s not professional to close the door like that.
“Am I angry? I am mainly happy that I stayed upright. I would be angry if there were no sanctions. He does not need to be thrown out of the race for me, but a declassification is appropriate."
Jasper Philipsen has been relegated for his deviation in the sprint. Biniam Girmay is promoted to second place on the stage, which will bolster his green jersey lead still further.
Revised results
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jayco-Alula 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 Premier Tech
10 Piet Allegaet (Bel) Cofidis
Alpecin-Deceuninck manager Christoph Roodhooft has spoken on Philipsen’s relegation to 107th place: “We got a call from the UCI and heard the penalty. We also watched the sprint. It's very clear that the barrier is not straight ahead. And when Wout van Aert comes, he also holds back a bit. It all came together a bit. I don't think it's a manoeuvre that justifies it [disqualification] 100%. But there's something to be said for both sides.
“The green jersey is no longer in our own hands. Before the declassification we were close again, but now we are far back in the rankings.”
