Belgian Dylan Teuns won the sixth stage of the Tour de France, a 160.5-km ride from Mulhouse on Thursday.
The Bahrain-Merida rider beat Italian Giulio Ciccone, who claimed the overall leader’s yellow jersey at the top of La Planche des Belles Filles after a 7km ascent at an average gradient of 8.7%.
Belgian Xandro Meurisse took third place.
Defending champion Geraint Thomas was the strongest of the overall contenders as he took fourth place, two seconds ahead of fifth-placed Thibaut Pinot of France.
Teuns and Ciccone were rewarded for a daring breakaway early in Thursday’s Stage 6 that they pursued all the way to the end.
Teuns shook off Ciccone on the final 24% incline at the top of the ski station. But Ciccone still managed to wrest the yellow jersey off Julian Alaphilippe, the French rider who battled behind to keep hold of the race lead, only to come up a few seconds short.
