The sprinters yet again stole the show at the 2024 Tour de France as Dylan Groenewegen won his sixth career Tour de France stage while Jasper Philipsen, who crossed the line second, was relegated for deviating from his line in a classic sprint finish on Thursday.
The chaotic dash to the Stage 6 finish line was so close that neither Groenewegen (Jayco Alula) nor second-place finisher Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) appeared to know who had secured the win in the moments after the race. Although race officials initially counted Philipsen’s second-place finish, they later discounted it after reviewing Philipsen's position during the race's final meters.
In the finishing straightaway, Philipsen deviated from his line, boxing in Wout van Aert on the barrier. Van Aert looked to be in contention for the victory but finished sixth after having to use his brakes to prevent a crash.
Groenewegen, the recent Dutch national road race champion, is now the third winner of the three different sprint stages so far.
“I’m so proud of how we did today and hopefully we can do it again,” Groenewegen said shortly after his victory.
With just one climb near the beginning of the 101.6-mile route from Mâcon to Dijon through the Burgundy wine region of France, Stage 6 was among the flattest days of the 2024 Tour de France, which set up the riders perfectly for the ensuing sprint finish.
Intermarché-Wanty’s Biniam Girmay, who leads the contest for the green jersey (points classification), managed a runner-up finish after making history as the first Eritrean and Black rider to win a Tour de France stage on Monday.
“At the start of the Tour the green jersey was not an objective, now it’s 100%,” Girmay said.
Meanwhile, British sprinter Mark Cavendish finished in 20th place after his record-breaking 35th career Tour de France stage win Wednesday.
Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates continues to lead the general classification standings and will wear the yellow jersey again tomorrow. The top 10 general classification contenders remain unchanged after Stage 6, but the first individual time trial stage Friday offers an opportunity to shake up the leaderboard.
Here's a full look at the 2024 Tour de France standings after six days of racing.
Position | Rider | Times | Gap |
1 | Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco Alula) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
2 | Biniam Girmay (Intermarché - Wanty) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
3 | Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
4 | Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
5 | Arnaud De Lie (Lotto–Dstny) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
6 | Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
7 | Arnaud Demare (Arkéa–B&B Hotels) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
8 | Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
9 | Pascal Ackermann (Israel - Premier Tech) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
10 | Piet Allegaert (Cofidis) | 03h 31' 55'' | - |
TOUR DE FRANCE: Recap, results and standings after Stage 5
Position | Rider | Times | Gap |
1 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | 26h 47' 19'' | - |
2 | Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) | 26h 48' 04'' | + 00h 00' 45'' |
3 | Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) | 26h 48' 09'' | + 00h 00' 50'' |
4 | Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) | 26h 48' 29'' | + 00h 01' 10'' |
5 | Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) | 26h 48' 33'' | + 00h 01' 14'' |
6 | Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) | 26h 48' 35'' | + 00h 01' 16'' |
7 | Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) | 26h 48' 51'' | + 00h 01' 32'' |
8 | Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) | 26h 48' 51'' | + 00h 01' 32'' |
9 | Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) | 26h 50' 39'' | + 00h 03' 20'' |
10 | Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) | 26h 50' 40'' | + 00h 03' 21'' |
Date: Friday, July 5, 2024
Location: Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin (France)
Distance: 15.7 miles (25.3 kilometers)
Type: Individual time trial
Streaming: Peacock, FuboTV
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