Stage 6

The road

At the start

López in red, a day for the break

Ángel Madrazo was dropped four times on the Javalambre and came back each time to win it; behind him López took red off Roche and the classification finally has a shape — Roglič at fourteen seconds, Quintana at twenty-three, Valverde at twenty-eight. Today sits between two summit finishes with breakaway written all over it: 198 kilometres over four climbs to a first-ever hilltop finish at Ares del Maestrat.

How it was won

1. 198 km to go

   Carnage for EF

   A big mid-stage crash tears apart EF Education First — Rigoberto Urán abandons with a broken collarbone, Hugh Carthy is out, and three-day leader Nicolas Roche is forced from the race. Astana ease, and the break's lead balloons.

2. 24 km to go

   Teuns seizes red

   On the final climb to Ares del Maestrat, Armirail attacks and Dylan Teuns counters with Herrada glued to his wheel — while David De La Cruz, eleven seconds up on GC, fatally hesitates and lets the red jersey slip to the Belgian.

3. 31 km to go

   Pogačar's cheeky dig

   A kilometre from the line the young Tadej Pogačar throws in a brave solo attack out of the favourites' group, snatching a couple of seconds on his GC rivals.

4. 4At the line

   Herrada's first Grand Tour win

   Jesús Herrada jumps clear of Teuns inside the final kilometre for his debut Grand Tour victory, as Teuns pulls on the maillot rojo.

The result