The winning moment for Van Gils in the break. His second victory at WorldTour-level and the confirmation of a huge comeback. A true Red Bull masterclass from the breakaway.

Del Toro and Seixas cross the line around 3:15 after new leader Tuckwell. Clearly the two strongest riders on the day, the GC is going the way of cycling’s future, but it’s another young man they will have to overhaul in the next two days if they want yellow, after Tuckwell’s big day out in thebreak.

The race isn’t over yet and focus now turns to Del Toro and Seixas, who are still together heading towards the finish. Even on just this first big mountain test of three, the gaps should be important.

Stage 6 finish

Maxim Van Gils wins stage 6 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes! It’s the completion of a major comeback for the Belgian, who missed so much of this season due to a brutal crash back in February.

And in a stunning day for Red Bull, third-place Luke Tuckwell is set to take over the race lead, at just 21 years old.

Johanessen launches first and hits the front. Van Gils starts to come around and the Belgian is going to do it!

Van Gils zips back up the jersey in the front preparing for a final sprint. He should be the quickest on paper, but who knows after such a long day of climbing in the break.

Del Toro has only now decided to give Seixas a turn after some visible signs of frustrations for the young Frenchman who flicked his elbow several times before getting any help.

1km to go

We’ve very much got two races going on at the same time her as Torres drops from the leading four in the breakaway. Tuckwell, Johannesen and Van Gils, they are the strongest on this final climb and it’s advantage Red Bull!

Jorgenson drops! The US rider is unable to follow as Seixas maintains the pressure.

Del Toro is up to the challenge for now from the 19-year-old but there’s still a ways to go to the top.

2km to go

Here’s three of those battling out the stage win. Add in Tuckwell who is destined for the yellow jersey and that’s how the picture at the front of the race looks.

In the peloton, Lidl-Trek haven’t been able to match Seixas but Ayuso and Skjelmose are working together to try and limit their losses.

In the front it’s completely broken up too, with only four riders looking like their in the fight for the stage: Van Gils, Tuckwell, Johannesen and Torres.

Seixas has made his move on this last climb and the damage is instant. Only two riders are able to follow him for the moment, Isaac del Toro and Matteo Jorgenson.

Paul Seixas attacks!

Yellow jersey dropped

Alex Baudin has been dropped early on this final climb. He won the first stage and has worn the jersey ever since, and his time in the lead will certainly come to an end today.

Decathlon are still putting on the pace in the peloton, but Seixas is running out of teammates.

5km to go

In the break, it’s the other big names who are coming to the fore, as Van Gils and Johannessen surge across to Steinhauser’s wheel.

Paret-Peintre and Rodriguez have been caught by the peloton after that failed late move on stage 6.

Attack in the break

Former Giro stage winner Steinhauser has attacked from the leading group, hitting out for glory in search of the stage on the final climb. Red Bull are chasing him.

Current situation on the road heading onto the final climb with 5.9km to go:

Remnants of the 60-rider breakaway set to battle out the stage win: Johannesen, Torres, Simmons, Tuckwell, Van Gils, Steinhauser, Rodriguez, Velasco, Castrillo, Garcia Pierna, Voisard, Jasch, Craps, Jegat, Vercher, Parra, Covi, Maisonobe, Braz Afronso, Martin and Gogl

+4:09 – group that attacked from peloton: Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep), Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos)

+4:24: Main group of GC favourites and yellow jersey: Baudin, Seixas, Del Toro, Ayuso, Jorgenson, Skjelmose, Onley, Vauquelin etc.

Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep) has attacked out of the main peloton, ruining the flow of the chase. He was quickly joined by Ineos’ Carlos Rodriguez, prompting Decathlon to get back on the front. Reinderink and Vansevenant have dropped from the break to give Paret-Peintre a turn.

10km to go

Some pretty stunning roads are being tackled, but there’s no time to look in either group as the pace is being kept high by XDS Astana in front, and Lidl-Trek behind.

Armirail was the second-best-placed rider in GC in the break after Tuckwell but he is dropping now. The size of the group is becoming a problem, though, as Red Bull didn’t continue their effort, prompting other to attack.

Red Bull are unhappy from the pace set by Uno-X and they have sent Maxim Van Gils to come and up the pressure in front. Lots of riders dropping from the big group now.

Lidl-Trek are coming to the front of the peloton with Lennard Kämna. It’s him against Uno-X and Red Bull in the front for now, with 4:56 still separating the two groups.

15km to go

More riders are dropping as the break is whittling down to only the best climbers.

Still 7.3km to go until the top of this first climb. Lots more room for attacks in both the lead group and the peloton.

Netcompany Ineos have now started pulling in the bunch. Even with the stage and the yellow jersey going up the road, teams will still have plans to execute on this climbing finish.

It’s now almost five minutes, and depending on how well he climbs, Luke Tuckwell could be in for the biggest day of his career. A year ago he was announcing himself at the GiroNextGen where he finished second overall, but now he’s doing it on the biggest stage.

20km to go

Several riders who worked to get their climbers to the final duo of climbs are dropping now.

The gap is still increasing as the break powers on at 45kph.

A lot of credit has to be given for Uno-X, Tudor Red Bull today. They worked very hard, exhausting all of their domestiques in the valley to establish what is now a 4:37 lead for the break.

The gap is going in the wrong direction for the chasing peloton. It’s got out of hand out to 4:20 now. Decathlon are helping again, but it’s likely too late for the stage.

The final two climbs on today’s stage come straight after each other. First will come the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine (11.5km at 5.1%), before a descent, then the final climb to the line atop the Côte de Crest-Voland (5.9km at 7.7%).

35km to go

Decathlon now aren’t contributing to the chase, and it’s all down to EF as Baudin races in yellow on home roads. Perhaps they will regret not doing this earlier when the French team pulled on their own for more than 100km on the front…

With the most to gain on GC and maybe the best chance at the stage win, Red Bull and Uno-X have been very active right from when the peloton first split into these final 40km of racing, working for Tuckwell and Johannessen respectively.

54 riders still remain in front.

Lotto are currently pacing very hard in the breakaway as the pace is still absolutely rapid on stage 6.

EF have two more riders helping to pace in the peloton as Walker and Mackeller are back from the breakaway, leaving only Steinhauser still in front.

50km to go

Finally, some help has come for Decathlon. EF have put Ben Healy’s powerful engine to work on the front with the yellow jersey quickly getting away from Baudin now.

The break are absolutely motoring along now, with the peloton looking comparatively pedestrian. The gap is out to four minutes!

60km to go

With every team in the race except for Decathlon represented in the day’s breakaway, the group in front is winning the arm wrestle for the moment, extending its lead out to 3:22 on the valley road.

Only just returning to racing after crashing out of the Giro d’Italia, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) has crashed here on stage 6 after hitting a piece of street furniture.

70km to go

I won’t remind you of all 57 remaining riders in the break, but here are some of the top climbers to look out for if they do make it to the finale with a lead still intact – which looks likely:
Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility)
Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost))
Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies)
Yannis Voisard (Tudor)
Pablo Castrillo (Movistar)
Christian Rodriguez (XDS Astana)
Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United)
One of the top rouleurs in the bunch could also be on a flying day and surprise the purer climbers, though, the likes of Armirail and Simmons perhaps on their best day.

Almost at the bottom of the descent off the Granier, the next 55km of so will be on flatter valley roads that lead to the pair of category 1 climbs which will decide the day.

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Away from men’s racing, there’s big news on the continuing challenges for Chloe Dygert:

‘Something still wasn’t right’ – Comeback falters for Chloé Dygert after months of rehab

80km to go

There’s been a crash in the chasing peloton for Dillon Corkery (Picnic PostNL), and another abandon for Senna Remijn (Alpecin-Premier Tech).

Braz Afonso crested the Granier in first again, picking up five more KOM points. Glivar, Conci ad Skujins mopped up the remaining minor points.

Still no other teams are helping Decathlon CMA CGM in the chase. Gap to the breakaway is now at 2:55 after the second climb.

Look out for further medical updates from Ineos on Tarling’s condition. Based on images it looked like a nasty fall off screen. He was left clutching his left arm and with big road rash in his shoulder.

Vermeersch, Charmig, Urianstad, and Thalmann have continued working for their leaders on the Granier climb. They have put in a lot of work for their teammates already on the valley road. Trentin, who did similarly for Tudor, has been dropped.

90km to go

Decomble and Raisberg have dropped back from the break, leaving just 57 in front after Tarling abandoned.

Tarling has abandoned the race as a result of that crash, rotten luck so close to the upcoming Tour de France. Kevin Geniets has also left the race mid-stage.

Decathlon are leading the chase back in the peloton, but Lidl-Trek are also sat towards the front of the peloton. They will be eager for Ayuso and Skjelmose to be up there on a finish which should suit them both.

A short descent will lead the riders onto the next climb of the day, and it’s a tough one: the Col du Granier (8km at 5.6%).

Unsurprisingly, Clément Braz Afonso extended his lead by the maximum two points available in the King of the Mountains classification over that first climb.

Crash

Josh Tarling (Netcompany Ineos) has crashed on the climb.

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100km to go

The peloton’s deficit is now at 2:25.

The break is now onto the first of four climbs on today’s stage: the cat-3 ascent of Côte de Châtelard (4.3 km at 5.7%).

Intermediate sprint

Raisberg of course won the IS, strengthening his hold on the green jersey. He gained 10 more points as Garcia Pierna took 6 and Urianstad 4. He now has 62 points and a 24-point lead over Henri-François Renard-Haquin.

110km to go

The leading group is closing in on the intermediate sprint in Les Échelles. Raisberg will be interested in extending his lead in the green jersey points classification.

With the race settling down and the groups established, Pacher and Dhondt have made it back to the leading split. Tarling also punctured and made it back in.

Seixas clearly still wants to go for the stage with his team controlling, but if this big group cooperates well, they could build an insurmountable lead heading into the final few climbs. He may have started this week as the favourite, but it’s been far from simple so far.

120km to go

The breakaway’s lead is out past the two-minute mark.

Two riders have punctured out of the leading group now, with Pacher and Dhondt both dropping back.

130km to go

It’s been rapid so far: average speed above 50kph for the first hour, and still around 30km to go until the first climb of the day

With Decathlon being left to pull on their own in the group behind, the gap to the cooperating break has increased to 1:55.

There are some real GC threats in this group of Baudin’s lead, so it wouldn’t be strange to see EF come to the front to help pace soon.

Luke Tuckwell started the days just 1:03 down, Bruno Armirail 1:20, and Guillaume Martin 1:51.

140km to go

The big front group is working well together, maintaining their lead of 1:45 over the Decathlon-led chasing peloton.

And the second half: Yannis Voisard, Robin Donzé, Lennart Jasch, Roland Thalmann, Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Nikias Arndt, Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Lars Cras, Matthew Fox, Mathieu Kockelmann, Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Jordan Jegat, Thibaut Guernalec, Matteo Vercher (Total Energies), Jose Felix Parra, Sergi Darder, Alex Diaz (Caja Rural), Nadav Raisberg (NSN), Alessandro Covi, Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla), Bryan Coquard, Sam Maisonobe, Louis Rouland (Cofidis), Clement Braz Afonso, Maxime Decomble, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ United), Gal Glivar, Michael Gogl, Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Robbe Dhondt (Picnic PostNL).

Here’s the first half of those riders: Benoît Cosnefroy, Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Edoardo Affini, Bruno Armirail, Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), Quinn Simmons, Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek), Dorian Godon, Josh Tarling (Nectompany Ineos), Callum Thornley, Luke Tuckwell, Maxim Van Gils, Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Tobias Halland Johannessen, Martin Bugge Urianstad, Anthon Charmig, Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X Mobility), Alastair Mackellar, Georg Steinhauser, Max Walker (EF Education-EasyPost), Ethan Hayter, Pepijn Reinderink, Martin Svrcek, Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-QuickStep), Nicola Conci, Chirstian Rodriguez, Simone Velasco (XDS Astana), Pablo Castrillo, and Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar).

Confirmation that there actually are 60 riders in the leading group on stage 6.

Uno-X Mobility are pulling in the front of the race, with four of their guys making it into the almost 60-rider strong split. Decathlon continue to chase behind.

160km to go

It’s still not completely clear just how many riders are in the front split, but almost all of the big teams are represented by at least one rider.

Here’s a look at some of the early action, with Callum Thornley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) pulling on the front.

Seixas, Del Toro, Jorgenson, Skjelmose, Ayuso, and Vauquelin are all in the second group on the road, still 1:35 down on the break.

170km to go

The peloton has split in two early on stage 6. Most of the big GC names are in the second group, with Seixas’ Decathlon team working on the front to try and bring back a one-minute deficit.

Even without much uphill terrain to get away on, there are several early attacks and splits in the peloton.

For a deeper dive into how the general classification looks heading into this vital trio of closing stages, read our Deputy Editor Patrick Fletcher’s very through GC analysis:

Ineos with leadership issues, Seixas and Del Toro with ground to make up – GC analysis ahead of mountain triple-header in Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

A reminder of how the GC currently looks at the start of stage 6. EF’s Alex Baudin still leads the race after his breakaway win on day one, with Netcompany Ineos’ co-leaders Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin, and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) in strking distance.

The likes of Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) came into the race as the main favourites, but they have work to do over these next three mountain days.

Lidl-Trek are also sat nicely in fifth and sixth with Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose.

There’s no climbs at the start as there has been the past two days, so the break will be trying to form on flatter terrain.

Stage 4 runner-up Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) has also abandoned the race.

182.3km to go

Racing is fully underway on stage 6 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes!

If you’re feeling as though you recognise today’s start location, Saint-Vulbas, you aren’t mistaken as it was the site of one of cycling’s most important victories, though I am biased as a Brit.

It’s where Mark Cavendish finally broke the record he held alongside Eddy Merckx for the most Tour de France stage wins, claiming his 35th back on stage 5 of the 2024 edition to stand alone.

Unofficial start

Riders are gone from the unofficial start in Saint Vulbas. The racing is expected to kick off fully after 10 minutes of neutral riding to kilometre 0.

Van Aert isn’t the only non-starter on Friday morning. Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) has pulled out after his return to racing, now focusing on Tour de France preparation, Matevž Govekar (Bahrain-Victorious) and Hannes Wilksch (Tudor) – both fell ill overnight, and Pau Martí Soriano (NSN) has also bad to abandon due to illness.

His home nation Mexico kicked off the World Cup with a bang at home last night, beating South Africa at the iconic Azteca Stadium, but can national champion Isaac del Toro make his mark on the first of three big mountain stages?

In spite of his brutal, high-speed crash a couple of days ago, British Sam Watson has soldiered on to be at the start for these final three mountain stages.

Just over 20 minutes until the start with the sun shining down on the riders during sign-on.

Here’s a look at where the riders will be racing today, heading east to the summit finish at Crest-Voland, a 5.9km climb which averages 7.7% gradients.

There has been some news even before the stage’s start, with yesterday’s stage winner Wout van Aert pulling out due to lingering issues from a pre-race crash:

Wout van Aert pulls out of Tour of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes before stage 6 due to pre-race training crash injuries

Today is set to be a big day for the GC riders, with a duo of category 1 climbs in the last 20km bringing them to the line on Friday.

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône Alpes for stage 6, a 182.3km mountain day from Saint-Vulbas to Crest-Voland.