Tour de France Stage 6 - Horses, mountaineers and a Manxman

After van Avermaet's heroics in the Massif Central in stage 5, stage 6 was set for a much flatter day, the last flat stage for almost a week in fact, so one the sprinters had their eyes firmly on. Brace yourselves...
Our single trick would have to wait, because it was time for Carlton Kirby to drop some sick knowledge bombs, as the kids say nowadays.
In case you were wondering, the 'defensive reasons' are that the attacker's sword arm is away from the wall when they're spiralling downhill, all the better for killing people. On that jolly note, a sit-rep on where we stood at this point in the stage. Jan Barta (BOA) and Yukiya Arashiro (LAM) were the breakaway 'group', and were already being reeled in as our tweeting started, just in time to spot a couple playing checkers on top of a perilously thin piece of mountain.
The peloton was taking their time in catching them so as not to encourage a counter attack late on, but a certain Frenchman was losing patience with that.
Yep, Tommy Voeckler was at it again. Although 'at it' might be pushing it, as he didn't break clear of the peloton like the dreadful stage 4, rather sitting at the front and gradually easing the pace up. Direct Energie, you see, had plans.
They'd decided that their best chance of a stage win was to keep the pace high, which presumably was something their man Bryan Coquard was happy with, as the peloton kept a good gallop after catching the two breakaway riders.
Possibly the highlight of the Tour so far. The horse was eventually gapped, and Carlton Kirby waved it goodbye from the finish line.
As the sprint trains got ever closer to the finish, the road got bendy, and that was enough to cause Etixx-QuickStep some issues.
More on that another time. The team in blue (well, one of them) were still scattered as the peloton approached the flamme rouge. Wait, did someone say...?
We're here all month. Somehow, Etixx-QuickStep sorted their lives out and managed to get a few guys in front of Kittel before the final sprint, which was a heads-up we'd longed for.
/All eyes were on them, but who would win?
Yes, another win for the Manx Missile, his 29th in the Tour, which took him into the much talked about second outright in overall stage wins, ahead of Bernard Hinault. And a nod to McLay, who took a career best 3rd, continuing his strong start to his first Tour. More to come from him in the future. I, meanwhile, had my eyes on other legends on wheels.
That's this blog here, so thanks for that. Until next time, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. Buttons on the right, or click any of the tweets embedded above.

Stage results:
1. Mark Cavendish (DDD) 4:43:48
2. Marcel Kittel (EQS) + :00
3. Dan McLay (FVC) + :00

General Classification:
1. Greg van Avermaet (BMC) 30:18:38
2. Julian Alaphilippe (EQS) + 5:11
3. Alejandro Valverde (MOV) + 5:13
4. Joaquin Rodriguez (KAT) + 5:14
5. Chris Froome (SKY) + 5:17

Points Classification:
1. Mark Cavendish (DDD) 204
2. Marcel Kittel (EQS) 182
3. Peter Sagan (TNK) 175

King of the Mountains:
1. Thomas de Gendt (LTS) 13
2. Greg van Avermaet (BMC) 11
3. Jasper Stuyven (TFS) 5

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