Jayco AlUla’s Dylan Groenewegen won stage six of the Tour de France from Mecon to Dijon after Mark Cavendish was denied in the final kilometer of the sprint at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
The Dutch sprinter, who wore custom-made sunglasses with aerodynamic noise foils (or “beaks”), beat Alpecin Deceuninck’s Jasper Philipsen and stage three winner Intermarch Wanty’s Biniam Girmay in the race team.
On a relatively calm stage, In the sunshine and showers, Cavendish was forced to catch up after changing wheels again midway through the race. At this time, there were still 90 kilometers to go before the finish line. A sudden crosswind struck and the main group of cars split instantly.
As Cavendish fought to regain the back of the pack, leader Tadej Pogacar found himself isolated in the front group while his Emirates Team colleagues were chased behind, but the Slovenian panicked proved short-lived.
Somewhat surprisingly, on the undulating roads through the vineyards of the Côte d’Or, Cavendish was also isolated and had to chase back the main group alone. But as the riders entered the final 10 kilometers of the race, he was back in front with the Kazakh Astana team.
His team once again embraced the right side of the road as they were on the verge of a record-breaking victory at St. Verbas in the climax of stage five. Seven kilometers from the finish, a car accident occurred in the center of the convoy, knocking out several EF EasyPost riders and slightly delaying the momentum of the main car.
Cavendish’s side kept the 39-year-old in front heading into Dijon but after all that effort they lost control of the tempo. The British sprinter could only watch as his rivals pressed on in their bid for stage victory.
