Tom Boonen: Back In Charge!

The 199.5km sixth stage of the 2007 Tour de France – from Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-end-Bresse – began at 12.50pm. There were 183 riders at the sign on (Lequatre of the Cofidis team abandoned because of injuries sustained in a crash during stage five). The sun was shining on the race and the temperature at the start was a mild 22 degrees Celsius; the forecast was for 26 degrees at the finish in the Ain department. There were just two category-four climbs: at Grandmont (55km) and Braneion (138km). The three intermediate sprints were in: Bligny-sur-Ouche (at 51.5km), Cormatin (127km) and Pont-de-Vaux (161.5km). _ _ Cofidis Go On The Attack Again _ Bradley Wiggins (COF) attacked at the 2km mark and the peloton allowed him plenty of leeway; by 10km his advantage was 5’40”! At the 12km mark, Grivko (MRM) took off in pursuit of the Brit; he was 7’00” behind but no one tried to bridge the gap. The chase ended at 18.5km. At the 24km mark, the bunch was 7’40” behind – this was enough to give Cofidis the virtual lead of the Tour for the second time in two days. At the 38km mark, the peloton was 11’20” behind. The average speed for the first hour was 37.6km/h. _ The sprint specialists contested the sprint for points at the 51.5km mark: McEwen, Hunter and Boonen raced ahead of the peloton 15’25” behind Wiggins with Boonen adding 4pts to his tally. The only other bout of action from the peloton was when three Cofidis riders tapped out the tempo on the approach to the first climb. Chavanel added another 2pts to his tally in the mountains classification. The maximum gain for Wiggins was 17’30” at the 57km mark. The average speed for the 2nd hour was 36.0km/h. _ _ Pursuing The Pursuit Specialist _ With 140km to go the pace of the peloton picked up with Arvesen (CSC) and Vasseur (QSI) the men responsible for sharing the work of the pursuit. At the feedzone (110km to go) a Lampre rider also came to the front of the peloton. The deficit to Wiggins was 11’45”. Degano (BAR) crashed in the feedzone and was forced to abandon. The injured Astana riders – Vinokourov and Kloden – and their colleagues spent most of the day at the rear of the peloton. The average speed for the 3rd hour was 35.6km/h. With 80km to go, Wiggins lost his virtual lead of the Tour: 5km from the 2nd sprint his advantage was down to 5’00”. Quickstep completely committed to leading Boonen out to the sprint at the 127km mark and the leader promptly obliged his colleagues by beating Zabel to the line to regain the lead of the points classification. The peloton was 3’10” behind Wiggins in Cormatin. _ _ Slow Roasted Wiggins _ After the sprint, Wiggins increased his pace and pushed his advantage back up to over five minutes. At the top of the 2nd climb he was 5’15” ahead of the peloton that was led by riders from T-Mobile and AG2R for a brief time. Then Charteau (C.A) came to the front and joined forces with the CSC team. The average speed for the 4th hour was 36.0km/h. Unimpressed with a broken spoke with 48km to go, Wiggins calmly stepped off his bike, removed his rear wheel and tossed it to the side of the road. With 33km to go, his lead was 2’30”. The chase was shared by the usual suspects: Milram, T-Mobile, Credit Agricole, Quickstep and Predictor… with 28km to go, the lead was 1’10”. The Brit was left by the peloton to cook in the sun. "It's the Tour de France," said Wiggins after the stage, "this is not the race that you just sit up and wait for the peloton." He was caught 7km from the line. _ _ Boonen - "Faster Than The Others" _ Gerolsteiner, Rabobank, Milram and Quickstep dominated the head of the peloton after Wiggins was caught. After the 'flamme rouge' Flecha his the accelerator and delivered the peloton to within 500m from the line. Then two Gerolsteiner riders started the sprint, Hunter (BAR) followed, going down the left of the road. Boonen went right and, although baulked by a Gerolsteiner rider, managed to get into the lead. "On the last corner, with 1km to go, my derailleur went into the wheel of another rider [Cavendish]," said Boonen, "and I thought, 'Oh, there goes another chance.' But my chain stayed on and I started sprinting again." Boonen beat Freire by a bike length claim his first stage win since 2005 and he's in charge of the points classification. _ Fabian Cancellara finished 67th and will wear the yellow jersey in stage seven.