Jonas Vingegaard and his team, Jumbo-Visma, secured the Tour de France yellow jersey with a forceful ride. However, they couldn’t prevent Tadej Pogačar from winning the stage and gaining time on the defending champ.
About 20 riders broke away early when Wout van Aert made an initial attack. Bora Hansgrohe, supporting the team’s yellow jersey leader Jai Hindley, led the peloton in the early stage to keep the gap under control. However, Jumbo-Visma took the lead near the top of the first of three climbs, the Col d’Aspin. They reduced the break’s lead, riding fiercely,
Neilson Powless launched from the break at the climb’s top, securing his lead in the KOM competition. Bora-Hansgrohe regained control at the Tourmalet base, but Jumbo-Visma were back at the front again halfway up. Simultaneously, van Aert also pushed the pace in the break. About 4km from the top of the Col du Tourmalet, Vingegaard’s team sped up. Only Pogačar and Hindley could keep up, but Hindley was soon dropped and it looked certain the yellow jersey would change hands at the end of the stage.
The GC leaders caught up with van Aert on the descent, joining the remnants of the break. Halfway up the final climb, Vingegaard and Pogačar joined van Aert and pushed on. Only Pogačar could follow Vingegaard’s attack on the steepest section but Pogačar counter-attacked and couldn’t be caught. The Slovenian was able to gain 28 seconds on Vingegaard at the end of the day once the time bonuses had been applied.
Vingegaard now leads by just 25 seconds, Pogačar having significantly cut his previous deficit from yesterday’s stage but not quite got back on par yet.
2023 Tour de France Stage 6 result
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