This article was originally published on Cyclingnews.com.
André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) stormed back to win stage six of the Tour de France from Arras to Reims. The Lotto rider, who had struggled during the opening stages, made no mistakes after a late puncture ruled Marcel Kittel out of the stage.
Greipel took control of the sprint with 150 metres to go and hit the front after a chaotic run in and a late attack from Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma Quickstep) was reeled in. Despite late dashes from Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Greipel won by over a bike length, with Peter Sagan down in fifth.
Race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) made it through the day unscathed, however there was a late threat when the peloton split into several echelons inside the final 10 kilometres. Pierre Rolland was among those who lost out but the majority of the main overall contenders made the cut.
Results
1 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol 4:11:39
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
3 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
4 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team
5 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale
6 Romain Feillu (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement
7 Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano
8 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar
9 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
10 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling
General classification after stage 6
Result
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 24:38:25
2 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:02
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale 0:00:44
4 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:50
5 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing 0:01:17
6 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:01:45
7 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol
8 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky 0:01:54
9 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin Sharp 0:02:05
10 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:11
