PA Media/dpa
London
Dylan Groenewegen won stage six of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar kept his grip on the yellow jersey through crosswinds on the road to
Dijon.
Groenewegen edged out Jasper Philipsen on the line in a photo finish with stage three winner Biniam Girmay in third, but Sir Mark Cavendish - a day after his record-breaking 35th career Tour stage win - could not get up to the sharp end after being caught out of position on the approach to the finish.
It means the opening three sprints of this year’s Tour have gone to three different men as Groenewegen took the sixth Tour stage win of his career.
The Dutch national champion’s bizarre ‘Batman’ nose piece on his sunglasses has been a talking point in the opening week of the Tour, but whether or not it offered any real aerodynamic advantage, Groenewegen found the clear air he needed on the left side of the road after bursting off the wheel of Arnaud De Lie.
“I’m really happy,” Groenewegen said. “The feeling is so amazing and to do it in the red, white and blue jersey, I said it would be a beautiful picture but it was that close I couldn’t celebrated on the line.
“But the team worked so hard. Yesterday I was a bit disappointed with myself because the team did a really good job. Today we nailed it again.”
As the peloton approached one of the danger points and the pace was on, a mechanical problem forced Cavendish into a bike change, and he needed 15 kilometres to get back on track as he argued with commissaires over drafting in the convoy.
