Chateauroux (AFP)

Bis for Mark Cavendish: two days after his first success, the Briton won the 6th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday in Châteauroux, his 32nd victory which places him two wins from Eddy Merckx's record.

At 36, Cavendish has (almost) closed the loop.

It was in Châteauroux that the number one sprinter in history, credited with a resounding return in the jersey of the Deceuninck team after several years in withdrawal, inaugurated his record in the Tour in 2008.

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This time, his opponents were named the Belgian Jasper Philipsen (2nd), hampered by a change in the trajectory of the Briton, the French Nacer Bouhanni (3rd) and Arnaud Démare (4th), who found himself deprived of his launcher ( Guarnieri), ashore every 3 kilometers.

In this sprint, the wearer of the yellow jersey, the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin), became a teammate for his sprinters, Jasper Philipsen and the Belgian Tim Merlier.

"I did what I could but I think they lost my wheel. We were able to get back into place but that was not enough", regretted + VDP +.

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"Cavendish is just the fastest at the moment, that's the problem," said the Dutchman after this private sprint from Australian Caleb Ewan, winner of five stages in the two previous editions and forced to retire on fall last Monday.

- Waiting for Bouhanni -

In the endless final straight line (1600 m), Cavendish, winner for the 7th time of the year, even made the choice not to follow his "pitcher", the Dane Michael Morkov, with whom he did not run much this year. season.

He relied on his instinct to tumble behind Merlier and win clearly, without incurring any sanction from the stewards despite his change in trajectory.

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Obviously asked about the record of 34 victories for Merckx, which could be accessible to him in this Tour - five other massive sprints are possible until Paris -, the native of the Isle of Man replied: "I do not want to think about it . I want to win one (step) by one. If I can win more, I will. "

Flashed to 73.5 km / h in the sprint, the highest speed of the day (70.5 km / h for Cavendish), Bouhanni confirmed his return to the fore.

Third then second in the first two sprints, the Vosges has added a new place of honor, without hiding his frustration.

"With the wind at his back, whoever launched first had the advantage. I came back but too late. I hope to win one," responded the Frenchman, who is still chasing his first success in the Tour.

- The insistence of the Olympic champion -

This transitional stage between Touraine and Berry, under the July sun, was fortunately animated by the Olympic champion of Rio, the Belgian Greg van Avermaet, who started the day on a very high basis.

Van Avermaet, joined by other strong riders (Asgreen, Politt, De Gendt, Kragh Andersen and Skujins in particular), forced the teams of Démare and Bouhanni to a lively pursuit over some 25 kilometers.

The only one of the group to insist, Van Avermaet was joined by the German Roger Kluge.

The duo got only a small margin, around a minute and a half, but held on until the last 2,500 meters in this stage which represented the last opportunity for the sprinters before the Alps, especially in the absence of the wind conducive to the edges.

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Friday, the 7th stage, the longest of the event with 249.1 kilometers between Vierzon (Cher) and Le Creusot (Saône-et-Loire), presents a full-bodied final, classic Ardennes style, in the last 90 kilometers, at the day before to attack the first passes.

"It's going to be a very long day," said van der Poel, who is 8 seconds ahead of outgoing winner, Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.

"I expect a tough stage. Pogacar doesn't necessarily want the yellow jersey right now. But there will be attempts, maybe riders in the general classification."

© 2021 AFP