Bahrain Merida’s Teuns wins Stage six, Ciccone takes race lead

Defending Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas defied his doubters as Belgian Dylan Teuns won stage six and his breakaway partner Giulio Ciccone snatched the yellow jersey by just a few seconds on an iconic mountain stage. Teuns won the ultra-tough mountain stage to Planche des Belles Filles when he and Ciccone crossed the summit finish line as the sole survivors of a mass breakaway.

“It was so steep, but I love these kind of finishes, I’m pretty good at this kind of finish,” said Teuns, a Belgian who rides for Bahrain Merida. Ciccone was less calm about his feat. “It’s just unbelievable,” said the Italian after taking the overall lead from Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe by just six seconds.

Alaphilippe put in a heroic defence of his lead, but missed out due to the bonus seconds over the final two summits saw the young Italian edge ahead of him. “It feels strange, to have the yellow jersey on my back feels so strange.” said Ciccone. “I wanted to win the stage for the team but I never believed it would be possible to take the lead,” said the 24-year-old who rides for the same Trek-Segafredo team as Richie Porte.

Just behind this victorious pair the struggle between the contenders to win the Tour de France itself played out when defending champion Geraint Thomas suggested that the doubters who had called him a one-hit wonder after his 2018 win with Sky might be wrong.