A fairly long stage at 200km and it could be rather eventful too. 3 Cat 2 climbs in combination with 3 Cat 3 climbs presents the first opportunity for someone to establish a decent KOM lead. We then have a similar finish to yesterday with a short climb up to Saint-Flour which should favour the Puncheurs.
A 4 man breakaway manages to get away quite early on. Tratnik (+ 3'54) Bardet (+ 3'54) Valter (+ 3'54) Williams (+ 8'05)
Bardet just wins the first Cat 3 KOM sprint timing his run perfectly. 155km still ahead of them but the gap is 4'47.
Williams just wins the next KOM sprint over the first Cat 2 of the day. Bardet timed his run too late but takes 2nd which moves him into the KOM lead.
Valter wins the next one while Bardet is 2nd again. It's a 6 point lead for the Frenchman at the moment.
Williams then takes the Cat 2 shortly after. Bardet still in the KOM lead but only 4 points ahead of Williams and Valter. 84km to go and the gap for the front quartet is 3'03.
Bardet wins the final Cat 3 climb of the day and extends his lead to 8 points. There is still another Cat 2 in 32km time.
50km remaining for the 122 man Peloton. Only Bardet and Williams remain ahead by 1'47.
Bardet wins the final KOM and will wear the Polka Dots going into tomorrow with a 10 point lead. With 37km to go, he is now on his own.
Bardet remains just in front heading through the intermediate sprint with 19km to go. Houle is 2nd ahead of Ackermann while Demare conserved some energy as he is 4th.
Bardet is caught with 17km to the line and no sprints or KOMs left in the day.
6km to go and we're led by Smith. A real mix of Puncheurs and Climbers at the front of the Peloton. Demare not with a lot of support but comfortably placed at the moment.
There has been a split in the Peloton with 4km to go which has left us with a front group of 44 riders. It will be interesting to see if these gaps still exist at the finish!
2.5km and no change at the front except Houle has moved forward but is still a couple of bike lengths behind Demare.
1.5km and it is steep at 8.5%. Roglic accelerates and Demare follows in amongst the other Climbers and GC riders.
800m and Roglic still leading. It does look like the finishing straight flattens out so this will surely provide an opportunity to someone!
600m and, unsurprisingly, it's Demare who is pulling away as it flattens out.
It's 2 in 2 for Arnaud Demare! He wins with a gap as well which will mean the Yellow Jersey going into Stage 7.
Roglic holds on for a strong 2nd place.
Pinot is 3rd ahead of Bongiorno and Barguil. Pluchkin is 6th ahead of Lecuisinier. Houle mixing it up with the GC riders in 8th while Kritskiy is 9th. This group is + 10" to Demare but the same time as Roglic.
A gap back to Godoy who leads through the next small group on the road. + 26" for him down to 24th. Many other gaps behind them though.
Demare moves into Yellow which he would have wanted to do earlier but it's better late than never for the Frenchman.
Demare extends his lead in the Points to 18 over Houle. These 2 are really running away with it early on. Bardet in the KOM lead after his efforts today. Inkelaar now leads the U25s. Project: Africa maintain their lead in the Teams.
le Tour de France - Stage 6 Report 
