Breakaway battle at Tour as Carlos hangs tough

INEOS Grenadiers pushed hard to make the first decisive breakaway of the Tour de France on stage six.

The team battled well in a bid to place riders up the road during a rapid start to the 201.5-kilometre test to Vire-Normandie. Tobias Foss, Thymen Arensman and Axel Laurance were among the riders who followed and instigated moves during a brutal breakaway formation phase.

With eight riders eventually forging clear, the team rallied around Carlos Rodriguez in the peloton, who finished just off the back of a reduced peloton featuring a number of other GC contenders. The Spaniard now sits 17th overall.

Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost) proved the strongest on the day, forging clear to win solo by an impressive two minute and 44-second margin. The peloton, tailed by Rodriguez, came home 5:32 back, and included the yellow jersey of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) who relinquished the lead on the day. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) was also part of the breakaway, finishing eighth on the stage, to return to the maillot jaune by a single second.

The action continues on Friday with an exciting uphill finale on the famous Mur de Bretagne.