Cara y cruz para el equipo Etixx en el accidentado final de la sexta etapa del Tour 2015
The Etixx team had a mixed result in the eventful final of the sixth stage of the 2015 Tour. Czech rider Zdenek Stybar beat the sprinters to the finish line in Le Havre, partly due to chaos caused by a crash involving his teammate and overall leader Tony Martin. Martin swerved and caused several riders, including Vincenzo Nibali, to fall. Martin crossed the finish line towed by his teammates Kwiatkowski and Vermote with clear signs of a broken collarbone. He maintains the yellow jersey for another day, but his future looks grim. Peter Sagan once again took second place, his third podium finish in this Tour and eighth since his last victory in the Grande Boucle in 2013.
The feared crosswinds that were expected due to the proximity to the coast never appeared. On the contrary, the stage proceeded so calmly that it arrived half an hour later than the anticipated intermediate schedule. The only disruptions came from a minor crash by Alejandro Valverde, who slipped on gravel when rejoining the race after a bathroom break, and another crash by Damiano Caruso, who hit a barrier in the median.
The peloton arrived at the home straight without further incidents. There, a 7% incline in the last 800 meters predicted that Sagan might break his streak of second-place finishes. However, Tony Martin's crash disrupted the expected order of the finish. Three-time cyclocross world champion and winner of a stage in the 2013 Vuelta, Stybar took advantage of the opportunity and celebrated his victory while his teammates and Martin suffered behind him. The paradoxes of cycling.
The stage began with the withdrawal of Michael Albasini, prolonging the dramatic situation of another team, Orica-GreenEdge, which now only has six riders in the Tour. One of them, Michael Matthews, has two fractured ribs. The Australian squad will arrive greatly diminished for the team time trial on Sunday, a discipline it has dominated in other editions. In fact, Orica-GreenEdge holds the historical speed record with an average of 57.841 km/h in the time trial in Nice in 2013. This time, they will have to settle for survival.
Right from the start, Luis Ángel Maté tried to join the breakaway, but it didn't work out. However, his Cofidis teammate Kenneth Van Bilsen, Pérrig Quemeneur, and Daniel Teklehaimanot succeeded and built a lead of 12 minutes. The presence of the Eritrean rider in the day's breakaway reflects the participation of the African team MTN-Qhubeka for the first time in the Tour. To celebrate, Teklehaimanot was the first to pass the three fourth-category climbs and claimed the polka dot jersey from Purito Rodríguez. The last survivor, Van Bilsen, was caught 3 km from the finish line after 188 kilometers of adventure, shortly before another crash caused chaos in the peloton. Alberto Contador narrowly avoided it.