John Degenkolb sprinted to fourth on stage 6 of Le Tour, after a crash that took down yellow jersey Tony Martin disorganized the sprint preparation and allowed Zdenek Stybar to get away and take the stage win.

The sixth stage in Le Tour de France went from Abbeville to Le Havre and covered 191.5km. With the forecasted wind direction from the northwest there was a risk of echelons upfront, but the wind turned out to be too weak to create splits along the coastline.

On the rolling roads three riders went for the early break and created a gap of almost 12 minutes at the maximum, as the bunch controlled the break steadily. At the intermediate sprint for the green jersey, John Degenkolb was the fastest of the bunch to take fourth behind the three leaders.

Towards the finale the pace went up and the last escapee was caught with 3km to go. In the final sprint on the uphill finish in Le Havre, yellow jersey Tony Martin (Etixx – Quick Step) crashed and also Warren Barguil went down. A small group of 20 riders were able to continue, consisting of mainly sprinters. With a smart move Zdenek Stybar (Etixx – Quick Step) attacked and was gone for the win. Behind the Czech, John Degenkolb took fourth.

Because the crash happened within the final 3km, Tony Martin is still in the overall lead, his injury status is unkown. Aside from some small wounds Warren Barguil is OK, fortunately.

After the stage, John Degenkolb said:

“We were doing a good job today with a strong effort to the front in the final kilometer as we positioned next to Ettix – Quick Step to start the sprint. Then the crash happened and the sprint was disorganized. I was unable to follow Stybar at the moment he attacked.

“We’ve had our chances this Tour but so far without a victory. It’s not what we’ve hoped for, but that is part of racing and we have to accept that. We will continue chasing our goal of a stage win.”

A disappointed Warren Barguil added:

“I was in position to help John on the uphill finish as I was on Stybar’s wheel before the crash. Really too bad I crashed and wasn’t there for him. Luckily I am ok and we have to move on.”

Coach Rudi Kemna reflected:

“Until the finale, the stage was less hectic than the previous days as there was more control in the bunch. The finale was quite hectic again with the fast descents and the technical sections with roundabouts.

“For us it went well until the crash of Warren happened. Almost only sprinters were left to go for the victory. The control was gone and nobody sacrificed himself to get Stybar back.”