The Hindu : Sport / Cycling : Thor Hushovd wins rain-hit sixth stage

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Thor Hushovd wins rain-hit sixth stage

BARCELONA: Norway’s Thor Hushovd defied the rain and the treacherous conditions to win the sixth stage of the Tour de France in a mass sprint finish on Thursday.

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland kept the Yellow Jersey, with just a split-second lead over seven-time champion Lance Armstrong after the race entered Spain with a 181.5-kilometer (112.8-mile) trek from Gerona to Barcelona.

Hushovd, of the Cervelo team, collected his seventh Tour stage win by edging out two Spaniards — three-time World champion Oscar Freire in second, and Jose Joaquin Rojas in third.

“I’m just too, too happy,” said Hushovd, who won the best sprinter’s jersey at the 2005 Tour. They clocked 4 hours, 21 minutes, 33 seconds for the stage, the same time as 40 other riders including Armstrong and Cancellara in the main pack of favourites.

Breakaway riders including Britain’s David Millar repeatedly attacked, only to be reeled in by the finish. He was caught with little more than one km (0.6 mile) left to go.

The pack set off at a swift pace of about 47 km (29 miles) an hour for the first 25 km. Breakaway attempts by riders such as Americans David Zabriskie and George Hincapie were quickly reeled in by the peloton.

Millar was in either alone in the lead or in the breakaway group for about three-quarters of the stage, and at one point had enough of a gap on Cancellara to be the overall leader in mid-stage.

Crashes

Two crashes marred the last 10 km (6 miles) — one involving Japanese rider Yukiya Arashiro, another involving former World champion Tom Boonen of Belgium, one of Hushovd’s main rivals.

The three-week race enters a new phase on Friday with the first big mountains in the seventh stage. The 224-km (139.2-mile) ride from Barcelona to Arcalis, Andorra, features five ascents including the Category 1 Serra Seca pass, and an uphill finish on one of cycling’s toughest climbs.

Contador eager

Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour champion and perhaps the top pre-race favourite, has said he’s eager to get to the mountains — and he could make his move then.

Cancellara has been the only man to wear the Yellow Jersey this year.

Armstrong is only milliseconds behind, while Contador is third, 19 seconds back. — AP

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