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Mark Cavendish wins stage 6 Sprint to gain Tour Hat-Trick

Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) managed to hold off Marcel Kittel (Etixx – Quick-Step) and a closing Dan McLay (Fortuneo – Vital Concept) in the final sprint on today's fairly flat 6th stage to Montauban in the Midi-Pyrenees. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) finished safely in the main peloton to retain the yellow jersey.

The stage win takes Mark Cavendish's total Tour De France stage wins to 29, surpassing Bernard Hinault's record of 28 stage wins. Only Eddy Merckx has more, 35 stage wins. It also brings his total to 3 stage win's this Tour. He also took back the Green points Jersey from Peter Sagan (Tinkoff). Those who started to write Mark Cavendish off, must be eating their words tonight!

Mark Cavendish has so far won stage 1, stage 3 and now stage 6.

Yukiya Arashiro and Jan Barta formed the day’s two-man breakaway, though they were reeled in without having ever looked likely to upset the fast finishers. With around 20km's to go the pace upped as the sprinter's teams hit the front.

Mark Cavendish commented "It was carnage! I just tried to get on Kittel's wheel and decided to go a bit early as it was downhill. I got into a bigger gear. I went hard and realised that actualy I could have been in an even bigger gear as I was spinning out. I managed to hold Kittel off!"

Though it was an outstanding sprint from Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), who seems to have returned to his dominant best, we’re awarding today’s Rider of the Race prize to the little-known Briton Daniel McLay (Fortuneo-Vital Concept).

McLay, who grew up in the United Kingdom after moving from New Zealand, maintained his run of sprint finish top 10's with a hugely successful third place. The 24-year-old beat the likes of Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) to take third place on the day, and he’s showing a maturity beyond his years to mix it with the big boys. His team, Fortuneo-Vital Concept, lack the manpower to provide a big lead-out train for their man, making McLay’s consistency in this opening week all the more remarkable. Suffice to say, he’ll be attracting the attention of some of cycling’s biggest teams.

It's going to be a more difficult day for the Sprinters tomorrow, as stage 7 enters the high Pyrenees.

Stage 7 on Friday 8th July is across the Midi Pyrenees region to reach the Pyrenees at Lac de Payolle. This is the next key stage as it includes the climb of the category 1 Col d'Aspin at 1,490m and a downhill finish that could suit a breakaway specialist. GC contenders will remain vigalant at all times. It's also very hot at the moment, so tomorrow's stage could see some casualties on the hot, steep gradients.

Greg Van Avermaet finished safely and retained the lead and his advantage of 5.11 over Julian Alaphilippe. He faces his first big test as race leader in stage 7 which is the first one in the Pyrenees. The first 100km are almost completely flat and then a small category 4 climb serves as a warm-up. Then a short flat section leads to the famous Col d’Aspin which averages 6.5% over 12km. The top is located just 7km from the finish and then it’s a short descent and 1.5km of light uphill in the finale.

Don't miss it on Gran Fondo Guide's LIVE STREAM - 8AM Eastern Standard Time (New York EST), Time, 5AM Pacific Standard Time (San Francisco PST) and 1PM Greenwich Meantime (London GMT), 2 PM CET Central European Time

Stage 6, Top 10

1. Mark CAVENDISH, DIMENSION DATA, in 4:43:48
2. Marcel KITTEL, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
3. Daniel MCLAY, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT, at :00
4. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
5. Christophe LAPORTE, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :00
6. Peter SAGAN, TINKOFF, at :00
7. Dylan GROENEWEGEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
8. Edward THEUNS, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
9. Bryan COQUARD, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :00
10. Shane ARCHBOLD, BORA-HANSGROHE, at :00

Top-10 Overall GC

1. Greg VAN AVERMAET, BMC RACING TEAM, in 30:18:39
2. Julian ALAPHILIPPE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 5:11
3. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 5:13
4. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, TEAM KATUSHA, at 5:15
5. Christopher FROOME, TEAM SKY, at 5:17
6. Warren BARGUIL, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at 5:17
7. Nairo Alexander QUINTANA ROJAS, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 5:17
8. Pierre ROLLAND, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 5:17
9. Fabio ARU, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 5:17
10. Daniel MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 5:17