The sixth stage of the Tour de France was a calm day of racing in comparison to the action-packed, crashed-filled stages of the first week. Although the day took a turn for the chaotic in the finale, Cannondale-Garmin managed to avoid the crash in the last kilometer that marred the sprint finish.

“Relatively, as far as the race has gone up until this point, today was a good day for us,” said sport director Charley Wegelius. “Andrew [Talanksy] avoided the crash at the end, and it was good weather all day. It was a welcome relief.”

Three riders went up the road, stretching out their advantage to 12 minutes. Although the 191.5km stage from Abbeville to La Havre followed the coast, a lack of wind negated the impact of exposure. For the first time since Utrecht, a collective sigh of relief was almost audible as the peloton could relax, slightly, for the first time this week.

“After a tough day yesterday everybody really bounced back today,” Talansky noted. “We were at the front of the race where we needed to be, which kept me and Dan at well-positioned and out of trouble.”

Fifty kilometers from the finish, the advantage to the escape group had begun to tumble in response to the work done by Giant-Alpecin and Lotto Soudal. The peloton overtook the final breakaway rider at the three kilometer mark and the sprint trains readied for the uphill kick to the line.

“Ramunas [Navardauskas] was our guy for the sprint,” said Wegelius. “This sort of finish suits him. Unfortunately, he was blocked by the crash at the end. Fortunately, he didn’t go down.”

“I saw the crash but was able to avoid it, “ added Talanksy. “I sprinted for the lin to make sure they weren’t giving time gaps.”

The seventh stage of the Tour de France is a flat route.. With few opportunities remaining for the sprinters in the 102nd Tour, it’s reasonable to expect a field sprint following the 181.5 kilometer day.

“Hopefully tomorrow is a recovery for Nathan [Haas] and Dylan [van Baarle] who have ridden hard under tough conditions the past couple of days,” said Wegelius. “We’ll look to Ramunas if it comes to a sprint.”