Le Havre, France // There is never a dull moment on the Tour de France and Thursday’s sixth stage was no exception as race leader Tony Martin crashed, sending 2014 winner Vincenzo Nibali and other riders tumbling to the tarmac.
After a few days of crashes and nervous racing, the peloton took it relatively easy on the Normandy coastline until the last kilometre when Garman Martin lost his balance and, almost like dominos, other leading contenders followed suit.
Among the casualties were Nibali, Colombian Nairo Quintana and American Tejay van Garderen as Martin’s Etixx-Quick Step team mate Zdenek Stybar of the Czech Republic sprinted to victory in the 191.5-km leg from Abbeville to Le Havre.
Nibali had bruises on his knee while Quintana had blood on his hand.
Slovakian Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) was second and France’s Bryan Coquard (Europcar) took third place.
Regulations state that on a flat stage a rider held up in an incident in the final 3-km is credited with the same time as the winner, meaning Martin retained the overall lead.
The German, however, is a major doubt for Friday’s seventh stage as he appeared to be suffering from a shoulder injury as he was pushed by two team mates to the finish line.
“I was unlucky. I don’t even remember how I went down. I touched the rear wheel of the rider in front of me (Coquard) but it’s the Tour, luck and bad luck are always close,” Martin told reporters.
Swiss Fabian Cancellara, who held the overall leader’s yellow jersey earlier in the event, had to pull out of the race because of a back injury after crashing on Monday.
Martin leads 2013 champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) of Britain by 12 seconds and Van Garderen (BMC Racing) by 25.
Froome narrowly escaped the carnage on Thursday, managing to keep his balance while Nibali leaned on him as he fell.
Spain’s Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) is eighth, 48 seconds behind, while Nibali (Astana) is 13th and 1:50 adrift. Quintana lies 17th, 2:08 off the pace.
“I don’t know why this happened like this 500 metres from the line. I’m ok, my shoulder and my leg touched the ground,” said Nibali.
Points Classification Tour de France after Stage 6 on Thursday
1. Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto) 161
2. Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Tinkoff - Saxo) 158
3. John Degenkolb (Germany / Giant) 120
4. Mark Cavendish (Britain / Etixx - Quick-Step) 94
5. Bryan Coquard (France / Europcar) 86
6. Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic / Etixx - Quick-Step) 63
7. Tony Martin (Germany / Etixx - Quick-Step) 60
8. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium / BMC Racing) 58
9. Perrig Quemeneur (France / Europcar) 46
10. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Team MTN) 45
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