Roglic brings down the hammer in France and takes over leader's jersey from Evenepoel, who lacks acceleration

Licking their wounds was the theme at the start in Hauterives. At the outset of the sixth stage of the French preparation race for the Tour de France, the focus was mainly on those affected by the massive crash on Thursday, which saw about seventy percent of the peloton intimately acquainted with the slick roads.

After that stage, the severity of some injuries became apparent, which continued right up until the start of the sixth stage. For the Visma | Lease a Bike duo Dylan van Baarle and Steven Kruijswijk, it was already clear on Thursday that they faced severe injuries, specifically a broken collarbone and hip, respectively. This duo had to count themselves out of the Tour de France.

However, they were certainly not the only ones with injuries. Bahrain Victorious saw Rainer Kepplinger (concussion), Jasha Sütterlin (hip fracture), and Kamil Gradek (broken hand) drop out, while just before the stage it was also clear that Milan Menten (Lotto-Dstny), Laurens Huys (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty), Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Mariault (Cofidis), Adne Holter, and Odd Christian Eiking (Uno-X) were dealing with the consequences of the massive crash. In addition, Lukas Nerurkar and Harry Sweeny (EF) were out due to illness.

The leading general classification riders were also taking up stock of the damage. Yellow jersey Evenepoel and green jersey Roglic reported feeling good, but Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek, suffering from rib pain) and Juan Ayuso (UAE-Team Emirates, injured on both sides) were less fortunate. The Spaniard decided after a late test to withdraw from further participation, thus bringing the total to fifteen (!) withdrawals.

During the stage, some additional riders withdrew: Alex Kirsch (Lidl-Trek) and Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny) abandoned the battered and bruised peloton, which was relieved that the day's breakaway got away early. Magnus Cort (Uno-X), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Thibault Guernalec (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Arjen Livyns (Lotto Dstny), Mason Hollyman (Israel-Premier Tech), and Alessandro Fancellu (Q36.5) were given a free pass.

In no time, the lead was over five minutes, which was indeed risky: Grégoire was 23rd at the start of the day, nearly three minutes behind leader Evenepoel. Soudal Quick-Step then took the lead, but they too felt the effects of Thursday's crash, especially Ilan Van Wilder who spent a long time at the back of the peloton.

With 53 kilometers to the finish, the breakaway began the Col du Granier, the day's first challenge, with a 5.25-minute lead. Approaching the summit, this gap was reduced to four minutes, but during the descent, Guernalec and Hollyman at the front sped out of a curve. Both men plunged into the grass but were able to continue.

After recovering from that fright, a second moment of chaos ensued as the breakaway was misdirected and had to turn back. This misdirection reduced their lead by about a minute, a harsh blow for the front riders. Lidl-Trek, with Mads Pedersen, helped shave off some more time.

As the final climb began, team leader Hart was one of the first to stop, visibly devastated by the aftermath of his crash the day before. Soon after, Sepp Kuss also dropped back surprisingly early, which was noteworthy since he was one of the few riders who hadn't fallen. INEOS Grenadiers set the pace in the peloton, but Grégoire also put up a strong fight. He entered the last five kilometers with a fifty-second advantage.

With five kilometers to the summit, Laurens De Plus attacked for INEOS Grenadiers, prompting a response from Aleksandr Vlasov. They were the first to catch Grégoire, who was struggling with a nosebleed. Evenepoel then put his lieutenant Mikel Landa to work at the front. With a new acceleration, this time from Giulio Ciccone, Evenepoel was subsequently dropped.

Remaining were De Plus, Vlasov, Rodríguez, Ciccone, Roglic, as well as Matteo Jorgenson and even Derek Gee. Roglic quickly bridged up to Vlasov, who devoted himself entirely to supporting his leader. Only Ciccone could keep up with the BORA-hansgrohe duo, while Evenepoel limited his losses at his own pace. Nonetheless, Roglic achieved a double victory. Ciccone, Vlasov, Jorgenson, and Gee completed the top five, with Evenepoel finishing eighth, 42 seconds behind.