Tadej Pogacar storms into yellow jersey with Tour de France stage six triumph

The defending champion, Tadej Pogacar, won stage six of the Tour de France from Binche to Longwy, sprinting across the line to win at a canter from Michael Matthews and David Gaudu with Ineos’s Tom Pidcock placing fourth.

The tough uphill finish suited the double Tour winner Pogacar, leader of the UAE Emirates team, who took his first stage win in this year’s race, on the eve of Friday’s first summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles. The Slovenian had already tried his hand on the short and sharp climb of the Cote de Pulventeux, with only 5km to race, but his rivals quickly closed down the move.

However, when the lead group crested the top of the final climb, the Cote des Religieuses, there was no stopping the 23-year-old and his explosive acceleration secured his first success in the 2022 Tour. But there was confusion over the tactics of the rival Jumbo-Visma team after the overall race leader at the start of the day, Wout van Aert, attacked in the first half of the stage in what seemed an impressive if over-ambitious move that ultimately cost him the leader’s yellow jersey.

There have been few bolder displays of attacking riding in the first week of the Tour than Van Aert’s. Three second places ended with a stage win in Calais, while he was a force of nature on Wednesday’s stage to Arenberg. On the rolling roads from Binche to Longwy there was another virtuoso display, with the 27-year-old Belgian leading a three man breakaway for much of the stage.

Van Aert’s move began as the peloton crossed back into France with just under 150km to race. From there on, he drove his two breakaway companions, Trek-Segafredo’s Quinn Simmons and Jakob Fuglsang of Israel Premier Tech, to their limits. Fuglsang, beset by a