Alexey Lutsenko Solos to Stage 6 Victory on the Summit of Mont Aigoual

Lutsenko (Astana) attacked his breakaway companions on the slopes of the category 1 Col de la Lucette and maintained his advantage on the climb up Mont Aigoual

Alexey Lutsenko attacked his breakway companions Nicolas Roche (Sunweb), Neilson Powless (EF), Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) with 17 kms to go on the Col de Lussette and never looked back.

Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) tried to reel him in, but could only get within a minute of Astana's lone leader.

It was a stage where we expected to see fireworks from the GC contenders which didn't transpire.

Jumbo-Visma increased pace with 40 kms to go to close the breakaway's gap of over 4 minutes, so deny Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) getting the Yellow Jersey.

Michelson-Scott and Ineos Grenadiers shared the pace setting after that, but no real response to Lutsenko's 3 minute advantage.

Alexey Lutsenko crossed the finish line jubilently ahead of Herrada who was a minute down ahead of Van Avermaet and Powless, the only other two riders to survive from the breakway.

Julian Alaphilippe put in a surprise attack in the final 200 metres to take a 1sec advantage from the peloton. This comes after receiving a 20 sec time penalty on stage 5 for taking a bottle under 20 km from the stage finish.

Alexey Lutsenkosaid afterwards, “It was a stage we targeted, and I’m delighted it came to fruition and the hard work paid off today,” said Lutsenko, who credited the advice of his fellow countryman and team manager Alexandre Vinokourov.

“Today on the bus we spoke about this stage, we knew it was one we could target. I’d lost enough time to be allowed into the breakaway, then we got to the climb and I climbed at my rhythm. Alexandre Vinokourov had told me about the 2km section which would be the hardest part, and I gave my maximum there. When I heard Herrada was at 25 seconds, I was a little worried, but I knew if I gave my all without going into the red that I could win.”

Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) added a little padding to his points classification lead over Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) at the intermeidate sprint.

Adam Yates retains the Yellow Jersey.

Stage 7 Millau to Lavaur is a 168 km Flat stage before a weekend of climbing in the Pyrenees. Which does not necessarily mean that this will be an easy day, as racing in the Garonne region is never easy. Wind and gruelling hilly roads could ruin this stage for the sprinters and favour a breakaway.

VIDEO: 2020 Tour de France Stage 6 Highlights

2020 Tour de France Stage 6 Top 10

1 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 4:32:34
2 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:00:55
3 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team 0:02:15
4 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling 0:02:17
5 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:02:52
6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:53
7 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
8 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
9 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers
10 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott

2020 Tour de France GC after Stage 6

1 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 27:03:57
2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:03
3 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:07
4 Martin Guillaume (Fra) Cofidis 0:00:09
5 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:13
6 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
7 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
9 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
10 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team 

Sprinters Points Classification after Stage 6

1 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 129
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 117
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 93
4 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 75
5 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team 71
6 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 70
7 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep 64
8 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 62
9 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling 61
10 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 56

KOM Polka Dot Jersey Pooints after Stage 6

1 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 23
2 Michael Gogl (Aut) NTT Pro Cycling 12
3 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb 11
4 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 10
5 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 10
6 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 9
7 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 8
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team 7
9 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 6
10 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 6