Dutch cyclist Dylan Groenewegen secured a victory in a thrilling photo finish to claim stage six of the Tour de France.
The 163.5km route from Macon to Dijon, primarily flat, was anticipated to conclude in a bunch sprint. This followed Mark Cavendish’s record-breaking win a day earlier. However, the 39-year-old British rider did not contend in Thursday’s sprint, unable to add to his 35th stage win achieved on Wednesday, which moved him ahead of Eddy Merckx for the outright record.
Groenewegen, riding for Team Jayco–AlUla, surged late to cross the finish line ahead of Jasper Philipsen by a narrow margin. This win marked Groenewegen’s sixth career stage victory and his first since joining the Australian team in 2022.
Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Philipsen was subsequently relegated to 107th place for shifting his line and obstructing Wout van Aert during the final 150 meters.
The general classification standings remained unchanged, with Tadej Pogacar leading, 45 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel, and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard trailing by an additional five seconds in third place.
Astana Qazaqstan’s sporting director Mark Renshaw had mentioned after Cavendish’s win on Wednesday that the team believed Thursday’s stage would be Cavendish’s best chance to secure the record, considering this is expected to be his final Tour. With the record now clinched on stage five, Cavendish has the opportunity to extend his record before retiring.
The stage, featuring just one climb, was expected to be a straightforward ride through Burgundy’s vineyards, and largely met those expectations. Cavendish showed some frustration after the first of two mechanical stoppages but rejoined the peloton long before the pace picked up approaching Dijon.
Cavendish was well-positioned before the Uno-X Mobility team took the lead. However, Astana began to fall back with less than 2km remaining. As the race entered the final 800 meters, Cavendish had drifted out of contention.
Mathieu van der Poel led out his teammate Philipsen, who then took the lead before Groenewegen and stage three winner Biniam Girmay closed in on the Belgian. Philipsen appeared to maintain his lead, but the photo finish revealed that Groenewegen had timed his push perfectly, winning by the width of his wheel trim. Philipsen was later penalized for causing Van Aert to slow down as they raced along the barriers.
The race continues on Friday with a 25.3km individual time trial from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin.
