Dutch champion Dylan Groenewegen delivered a superb and emotional win for Team Jayco AlUla on stage six of the 2024 Tour de France, ahead of the world’s best sprinters in Dijon.
It is the sixth-career stage victory for the 31-year-old, and his first in the colours of Dutch national champion after taking the title last month.
There were some tense moments as the stage came down to a photo finish between Groenewegen and Jasper Philipsen. After a nerve-wracking wait the Dutch powerhouse was declared the winner.
Stage six of the Tour de France was almost pan-flat, and the bunch rode a relatively easy pace for most of the day. However, with a breeze in the air, there was some tension among the riders that was realised when the peloton broke apart in crosswinds.
The race eventually came back together, and Team Jayco AlUla worked to bring Groenewegen into a prime position ahead of the expected sprint finish.
Groenewegen didn’t have the chance to unleash his mighty sprint yet in the Tour de France, but with some clean air in front of him he was able to light up the afterburners. The Dutchman accelerated hard towards the line, scoring the team’s 19th victory of the season.
“It was really close in the end. Before, I said it would be a nice victory in the red, white, and blue jersey (of Dutch national champion), but in the end it was so close that I couldn’t celebrate on the finish line. Groenewegen said after the stage. “I know the legs were really good, I know I have a really strong team, but there are other strong sprinters. Yesterday, Mark Cavendish was really strong and today Jasper Philipsen was really hard to beat, but in the end, we got the victory, which is really important for us.”
“This is win number 19 but I think we’d trade the other 18 wins for this one,” added Sporting Director Matt White. “The boys did stay patient. It was a very messy sprint but the main thing is that he got there fresh and he got open air because he’s got a lot of speed. He’s changed his training this year, pulled back on the volume a little bit and really focused on what his biggest quality is and that is speed. He showed a clean set of heels.
It’s hard to win here, it’s never easy to win. A lot of your year is judged on these three weeks and to get a win in the can so early is great. There are more sprint opportunities to come and opportunities for other riders.”
No Change in G.C. Battle
After narrowly dodging a crash on Wednesday, Tadej Pogačar had another scare today when Jonas Vingegaard’s teammates managed to split the peloton with 82 km to go. The leader found himself as the sole UAE Team Emirates representative in the 50-strong lead group, but it all came to naught when the second group managed to reconnect about 10 km down the road. It was another close shave for the Slovenian, who will start the first time trial in the yellow jersey tomorrow.
2024 Tour de France Stage 6 Brief Results:
- Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla) @ 3h31’55”
- Biniam Girmay (Intermarche – Wanty) s.t.
- Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 6:
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +45”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +50”
- Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +1’10”
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1’14”
- Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +1’16”
- Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step) +1’32”
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +1’32”
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