Thor Strikes Once Again
The short ascent at the end of stage six was destined to provide a different sort of stage finish. There were still sprinters present but they mixed it up with some climbing specialists.
In the end it was the 2005 points classification champion Thor Hushovd who had the speed to beat last year’s green jersey winner Oscar Freire. It is the first victory in the Tour de France for the Cervelo team but the Norwegian’s sixth stage success in the race.
Stage 6 Top Ten finishers:
| No | Rider | Teams | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thor Hushovd | CERVELO TEST TEAM | 4h 21′ 33″ | - |
| 2 | Oscar Freire | RABOBANK | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 3 | Jose Joaquin Rojas | CAISSE D’EPARGNE | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 4 | Gerald Ciolek | TEAM MILRAM | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 5 | Franco Pellizotti | LIQUIGAS | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 6 | Filippo Pozzato | TEAM KATUSHA | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 7 | Alessandro Ballan | LAMPRE - N.G.C | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 8 | Rinaldo Nocentini | AG2R-LA MONDIALE | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 9 | Cadel Evans | SILENCE - LOTTO | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 10 | Fabian Cancellara | TEAM SAXO BANK | 4h 21′ 33″ | + 00′ 00″ |
Overall Classification after Stage 6:
Yellow Jersey:
| No | Rider | Teams | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara | TEAM SAXO BANK | 19h 29′ 22″ | - |
| 2 | Lance Armstrong | ASTANA | 19h 29′ 22″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 3 | Alberto Contador | ASTANA | 19h 29′ 41″ | + 00′ 19″ |
Green Jersey (Sprint):
| No | Rider | Teams | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Cavendish | TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC | 106 |
| 2 | Thor Hushovd | CERVELO TEST TEAM | 105 |
| 3 | Gerald Ciolek | TEAM MILRAM | 66 |
Polka Dot Jersey (King of Mountain):
| No | Rider | Teams | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stéphane Auge | COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE | 14 |
| 2 | Jussi Veikkanen | FRANCAISE DES JEUX | 9 |
| 3 | David Millar | GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM | 8 |
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