Greg Van Avermaat (CCC Team) admitted that the strongest rider won on stage 6 of the Tour de France when Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) jumped out on the toughest slope of the Col de la Russette and escaped the remnants of an early breakaway.

Up to that point, Van Avermaert had been in contention, but the Olympic champion was forced to surrender when the Astana rider escaped with Nielson Powles (EF Pro Cycling). Lutsenko took his first Tour win, while Van Avermaet was passed by Jesús Herrada on the final climb to finish third.

The 191-km stage to Mont Aigoual was set up for a breakaway, and with the relatively slow pace of stage 5, there was no shortage of riders looking to jump into the breakaway on Thursday. Nicolas Roche had to work very hard to clear the first kilometer of the race. The Irish rider joined one or two other riders before a group of eight formed.

Roche joined Powles, Edvald Boasson Hagen (NTT), Daniel Oss (Bora-Hansgrohe), Remi Cavagna (Dečuninck-Quick Step), Van Avermaat, Herrada, and Lutsenko to form the most spectacular breakaway group in this Tour. The group formed one of the most spectacular breakaway groups in the Tour this year. With Van Avermaet only a little over 3 minutes away from Adam Yates' yellow jersey, and many of the teams having lost the breakaway, the lead group fought a thorough battle for the first hour, but eventually built up a 6-minute lead.

"I think it was a good day to try something," Van Avermaet said at the finish.

"We were still approaching the GC, so we did it with an uphill start. It was super hard and there was a super hard break. I just gave it a chance and gave it everything I had. I couldn't find my rhythm there and it was hard to catch up to him."

Van Avermaert confided that he had run the last two climbs during his recent vacation and knew that the course was better suited for a break rather than a GC contender awaiting a doubleheader in the Pyrenees this weekend.

"I've been here on vacation before, so I knew what the climb was like, and I knew if I could get through the steep part, it might be a good climb for me. In the end, it was nice to get out in front there.

"At the start with the guys in the break, nothing was free. It was the strongest braking I've ever had. In a finish like this you never stop and you can always keep going. I am very proud of the GC riders because on a climb like this, they can never make a big gap. When I saw Lutsenko, Herrada, and Roche, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I did my best."

Van Avermaert is now fourth and third in the Tour, and while some riders may be happy with this return, the 35-year-old is likely to have many other opportunities in his sights before the race arrives in Paris, asking where else the CCC rider has gone on vacation. Might be worthwhile.

"I'm happy because the stronger riders won and I didn't make any mistakes. I have no problems."

"I knew if I survived the climb in the first category I had a chance to win, and that was my card... When I was six minutes behind, I was expecting it.