After complete domination by Jumbo-Visma in the first five stages of the 2023 Tour of Britain, their winning streak finally came to an end as Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) out-sprinted Ethan Vernon (Great Britain) to win stage 6 in Harlow.
Tord Gudmestad (Uno-X) was third just ahead of Kooij.
"I'm happy to win here," Van Poppel said. "It was tough to beat the Jumbo guys so it's nice to beat one of the best team with the best sprinters. Normally Sam [Bennett] was the leader but he felt not great so I took my chances. I think it was really close. I think my jump was so important. I knew I can do it quite well but timing and everything I think allowed me to win.
"Two years ago I changed to a lead-out man and I'm more relaxed. I take my opportunities when Sam isn't feeling good or when I can go over a hill and he cannot. I'm better than ever so then I take my chance."
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) continues as race leader now with a three-second advantage over Vernon and teammate Kooij.
Attacks came from kilometre 0 on the 146.2km stage from Southend-on-Sea to Harlow again from the TBT-Unibet team. Abarm Stockman clipped off the front but waited for teammate Joren Bloem and Kamil Malecki (Q36.5) to join before setting off in earnest.
The trio gained a maximum of 2:30 on the peloton before surges from Uno-X and Team Flanders-Baloise slashed their lead to just seconds.
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Alex Coleman (Flanders-Baloise) and Uno-X's Martin Urianstad managed to bridge across the 10-second gap before more attacks came from behind. Stockman won the intermediate sprint before Jumbo-Visma shut it all down.
The situation sparked a second attempt at establishing a breakaway and, after a time, solo rider William Tidball (Saint Piran) got a gap with 89km to go.
A few kilometres later, Stockman and teammate Hartthijs De Vries came across to Tidball along with a Saint Piran teammate Jack Rootkin-Gray and Danny van der Tuuk (Kern Pharma).
Jumbo-Visma let this one get just over a minute's lead but with 45km to go, Van der Tuuk then Tidball were beset by mechanicals, leaving three to hold off the chase. Then Rootkin-Gray threw in the towel and went back to the peloton, leaving the two TBT-Unibet riders to get the maximum TV time.
The pair were back in the peloton with 14.2km to go and, with the peloton bunched up waiting to gear up for the sprint, a touch of wheels in the peloton caused Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) to crash - more bad luck for the Colombian who was last seen clutching his collarbone.
An attack from Dimitri Peyskens (Bingoal WB) inside 5km to go looked to surprise the Jumbo-Visma train as the Belgian gained 15 seconds.
However, Ineos came forward and closed the lone escapee down with 3km remaining setting up a bunch sprint. A huge crash split the peloton just before the flamme rouge disrupting the run-in. Tord Gudmestad (Uno-X) hit out first in the uphill sprint but faded, and first Vernon and then Van Poppel came past to win the stage.
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
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