Cycling-Kazakhstan's Lutsenko wins Tour de France stage six

Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko claimed his maiden victory on the Tour de France when he won the sixth stage, a 191-km trek from Le Teil on Thursday.

The Astana rider prevailed from an eight-man breakaway at the top of the Mont Aigoual. Spain's Jesus Herrada took second place, 55 seconds behind with Belgian Greg van Avermaet finishing third, 2:15 off the pace.

Briton Adam Yates retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after staying tucked in the main peloton, which crossed the line with a deficit of 2:53. "We talked about it in the team bus this morning and we agreed that it was a stage that suited me," said Lutsenko, who broke clear in the punishing ascent to the Col de la Lusette, a 11.7km climb at an average gradient of 7.3%.

Friday's seventh stage is a 168-km ride from Millau to Lavaur.