Heavy rain and winds made the longest stage of the Tour de France a cold, wet march between Brittany and Normandy. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) sprinted to victory following a tough, technical run-in to the line. Matt Goss (HTC-Highroad) pipped yellow jersey Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) for second. The mass sprint once again left the top-ten on general classification untouched as most of the favorites finished with the front group.

Despite the unspoken agreements, the peloton took some time to settle into a good groove on stage six. Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) launched the first attack six kilometers into the stage and was immediately joined by Anthony Roux (FDJ). Several riders attempted to bridge across with varying degrees of success. Forty kilometers into the 226 kilometer day, the bunch approved of a mix of five riders that included Westra and Roux along with Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD), Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) and Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM). The five would build a maximum lead of more than 12 minutes.

Three categorized climbs and the intermediate sprint provided some excitement. Hoogerland crested the third category Côte de St. Michel de Montjoie ahead of his breakmates to take two points in the climbing competition, and he secured a single point on the second climb in Bourg d’Ouilly. The three points became enough to earn him the polka dot jersey.

Roux outsprinted Duque for maximum points in the intermediate sprint while the field battled it out for sixth place and points towards the green jersey competition. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) won the intermediate sprint in the field ahead of Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) and Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto)

Following the intermediate sprint, the break’s advantage, which had already begun to slowly creep down, began to tumble further. Fabian Cancellara and Jens Voigt spent time on the front to ensure the pace stayed high and the Schleck brothers remained protected.

The five-rider break became a two-man break forty kilometers from the finish. Finally, only Malori remained off the front alone. HTC-Highroad swept up the gutsy young Italian three kilometers before the line as they began to organize their leadout for the final sprint.

The short, steep run-up in the final kilometers served as the perfect launching pad for a late race attack. Jelle Vandendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) accelerated, likely to set up teammate Gilbert, and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) bridged up. The brave move would not last, and the field pulled back the duo before the finish in Lisieux. Boasson Hagen delivered Sky’s first Tour de France victory.

Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) was unable to avoid trouble today as he slipped on a wet white line of paint with five kilometers remaining, He never regained contact with the bunch and ended up losing over a minute on the stage. Leipheimer was the only rider focused on the overall who suffered a time loss today.

Fränk Schleck holds onto third in the general classification, four seconds behind Hushovd, while Jakob Fuglsang and Andy Schleck swapped places slightly further down where the two continue to hold onto ninth and tenth respectively, 12 seconds down.