Tour's Stage 6 Is A Good Day For Norway

While this was not a mountain stage, it did turn out to be the hardest stage of the Tour so far this year. The course running from Dinan to Lisieux was not only the longest race and very hilly from stage to finish (with an uphill finish), but the rains came to make it even harder. It looked for a while if the conditions might make it possible for a breakaway, but the peloton finally chased down the final breakaway rider a few kilometers from the finish. This set up a finish for the strongest of the sprinters.

In the end, it turned out to be a great day for the riders from Norway. Edvald Boasson Hagen, the Norwegian rider who cycles for Sky Procycling, finished the stage in first place and got his first-ever stage win in the Tour. Australian Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad) finished second, and Norway's Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) finished in third place. The top three finish allows Hushovd to keep the leader's yellow jersey for another day.

The day's real loser was American Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack). he took a nasty fall about 4 kilometers from the finish line, and although he wasn't hurt, he did lose more than a minute in time to the race leaders. This dropped him from 14th place (and 18" from the lead) to 31st place (and 1' 23" from the lead). He's going to have to do really well in the mountains to work his way back up the ladder.

Tomorrow's stage 7 is another pretty long race, but it's a little flatter than stage 6. The race starts in Le Mans, and finishes 218 kilometers later in Chateauroux. Barring a successful breakaway (and more bad weather) it should be a good day for the sprinters (and could once again shake up the green jersey standings).

Here are the current standings after stage 6:

YELLOW JERSEY (INDIVIDUAL LEADER)
1. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Garmin-Cervelo)
2. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)..........01"
3. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........04"
4. David Millar, Great Britain (Garmin-Cervelo)..........08"
5. Andreas Kloden, Germany (Radio Shack)..........10"
6. Bradley Wiggins, Great Britain (Sky Procycling)..........10"
7. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Sky Procycling)..........12"
8. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norway (Sky Procycling)..........12"
9. Jakob Fuglsang, Denmark (Leopard-Trek)............12"
10. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........12"
13. Christopher Horner, USA (Radio Shack)..........18"
31. Levi Leipheimer, USA (Radio Shack)..........1' 23"
34. Alberto Contador, Spain (Saxo Bank)..........1' 42"


GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Philippe Gilbert, Belgium (Omega-Lotto)..........144 pts
2. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain (Movistar)..........143 pts
3. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Garmin-Cervelo)..........112 pts
4. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)..........98 pts
5. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (HTC-Highroad)..........94 pts
6. Tyler Farrar, USA (Garmin-Cervelo)..........76 pts


POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Johnny Hoogerland, Netherlands (Vacansoleil)..........4 pts
2. Anthony Roux, France (FDJ)..........3 pts
3. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)..........2 pts
4. Philippe Gilbert, Belgium (Omega-Lotto)..........1 pt
5. Mickael Delage, France (FDJ)..........1 pt
6. Anthony Delaplace, France (Saur-Sojasun)..........1 pt
7. Lieuwe Westra, Netherlands (Vacansoleil)..........1 pt
8. Alberto Contador, Spain (Saxo Bank)..........1 pt


TEAM STANDINGS
1. Garmin-Cervelo (USA)
2. Sky Procycling (Great Britain)..........02"
3. Leopard-Trek (Luxembourg)..........04"
4. Radio Shack (USA)..........10"
5. HTC-Highroad (USA)..........13"
6. Quick Step (Germany)..........1' 21"