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Eneco Tour Stage 6: Pibernik claims stage as breakaway holds off peloton

Luka Pibernik claimed the sxith stage of the Eneco Tour in dramatic fashion as he lead home a breakaway which managed to hold off the peloton by a matter of metres.

Slovenian rider Pibernik (Lampre-Merida) was the quickest in the sprint to beat Britain's Mark McNdally of Wanty-Group Gobert over the line.

Bert Van Lerberghe (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) and Chad Haga (Giant-Alpecin) were the other riders in the breakaway who made it home safely ahead of the chasing pack.

That pack was led home just five seconds later by Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) , while overall race leader Rohan Dennis finished safely in the main bunch to retain a 27-second lead over arch-rival Peter Sagan going into Sunday's finale.

That final stage is a tough day's ride which could offer Sagan hope, but second-placed Taylor Phinney and third-placed Tony Martin are not expected to challenge Dennis.

"I didn’t expect this at the start this morning but once in the break, I just rode as fast as I could to the finish line," Pibernik said. "I’ve not had a lot of time to think about it all but its been an incredible day." 

"We saw that we could make it to the finish line, so I tried to save as much energy as possible."

"I think Gougeard was the strongest guy in the breakaway and so I decided to go on his wheel. Then in the last 200 metres, I tried and I made it."

Stage 7 is 194.6 kilometres, the closing stage in the Eneco Tour leads from Bornem to the Wall of Geraardsbergen. All in all, stage 7 features 21 climbs and the arrival is, just like last year, halfway up the infamous Wall of Geraardsbergen..

Eneco Tour Stage 6 Results

1. Luka Pibernik (Slovenia / Lampre) 4:28:45"
2. Mark McNally (Britain / Wanty) "
3. Bert Van Lerberghe (Belgium / Topsport Vlaanderen) "
4. Alexis Gougeard (France / AG2R) "
5. Chad Haga (U.S. / Giant) "
6. Giacomo Nizzolo (Italy / Trek) +5"
7. Nacer Bouhanni (France / Cofidis) "
8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Dimension Data) "
9. Arnaud Demare (France / FDJ) "
10. Jonas Van Genechten (Belgium / IAM Cycling) "

General Classification After Stage 6

1. Rohan Dennis (Australia / BMC Racing) 18:09:37"
2. Taylor Phinney (U.S. / BMC Racing) +16"
3. Tony Martin (Germany / Etixx - Quick-Step) +24"
4. Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Tinkoff) +27"
5. Niki Terpstra (Netherlands / Etixx - Quick-Step) "
6. Jos van Emden (Netherlands / LottoNL) +28"
7. Manuel Quinziato (Italy / BMC Racing) +29"
8. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium / BMC Racing) +33"
9. Bob Jungels (Luxembourg / Etixx - Quick-Step) +36"
10. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / LottoNL) +38"

VIDEO: Eneco Tour Stage 6 Final Kilometres

Eneco Tour Stage 6: Pibernik claims stage as breakaway holds off peloton