Tour de Suisse Stage 6: Cavendish Top 10 in Chaotic Finale

Etixx - Quick-Step worked hard on the front inside the final 10 kilometers in support of a bunch sprint arrival for Mark Cavendish on Thursday. However, a crash involving Julien Vermote and Zdenek Stybar on the front, due to wet & slick roads on a left-hand corner, took away two of the crucial chasers and the start of the leadout train for the Manx Missile in 193.1km Tour de Suisse Stage 6.

A four-rider breakaway maintained a 38" advantage with 8.3km to go, but even with the crash of Stybar and Vermote on the front for Etixx - Quick-Step, the peloton's high pace was more than enough to catch the group outside 1km remaining.

Due to several corners going into the finishing straight, and a high pace, gaps formed in a completely lined out peloton. Cavendish was within the top 8 positions of the field. A gap formed between the rider in front of Cavendish and the next weel of the peloton heading into a final turn before the sprint, leaving Cavendish too far back to close the gap and contest the stage.

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) won the stage, with Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Sodal) 2nd and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 3rd. Cavendish finished 6th.

Stybar and Vermote both finished the race. Vermote has abrasions on the right side of his body, while Stybar also has a few small abrasions.

Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to 164.6km Stage 7 on Friday. The 7th Stage features four Category 3 climbs, and while the finale is absent of any categorized climbs, there is still a slight uphill kick at the finish.