Photo Credit:EPA
Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen secured a dramatic victory in stage six of the Tour de France, edging out competitors in a photo finish. The flat 163.5km route from Macon to Dijon was anticipated to conclude in a bunch sprint, following Mark Cavendish's record-
breaking win a day earlier.
However, the British rider, aged 39, was unable to contend in Thursday's sprint, finishing outside the top spots. This came after his 35th stage win on the Tour, which had moved him ahead of Eddy Merckx for the outright record.
Groenewegen, 31, of Team Jayco–AlUla, executed a late surge to the finish line, narrowly beating Jasper Philipsen by a mere wheel trim. This victory marked Groenewegen's sixth career stage win and his first since joining his Australian team in 2022.
Post-race, Alpecin-Deceuninck's Philipsen was relegated to 107th place for veering off his line and obstructing Wout van Aert in the final 150 meters. The general classification standings remained unchanged, with Tadej Pogacar maintaining his lead, 45 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel, and defending championJonas Vingegaard trailing by an additional five seconds in third place.
Astana Qazaqstan's sporting director Mark Renshaw had noted after Cavendish's historic win on Wednesday that stage six was viewed as the best chance for the Manx Missile to clinch the record in what is expected to be his final Tour. Having achieved this
milestone in stage five, Cavendish now has the opportunity to extend his record further before retiring.
With just one climb on the route, the stage promised a relatively straightforward journey through Burgundy's vineyards. Cavendish displayed some frustration after the first of two mechanical stoppages but managed to rejoin the peloton well before the final sprint into Dijon.
Positioned well initially, Cavendish's team, Astana, began to fall back with less than 2km remaining. As the race entered the final 800 meters, Cavendish drifted out of contention. Mathieu van der Poel led out his teammate Philipsen, who surged ahead before Groenewegen and stage three winner Biniam Girmay launched their final attempts.
Although Philipsen appeared to have held them off, the photo finish revealed that Groenewegen had timed his lunge to perfection, securing the win by the narrowest of margins. Philipsen was later penalized for impeding Van Aert during the sprint.
The Tour continues on Friday with an individual time trial covering 25.3km from Nuits- Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin.
