Nacer Bouhanni put a tumultuous start to claim victory

The French duo had been given time penalties before the start of Thursday's stage for taking feeds during the final 20km of the previous day's ride -- something that is not permitted for safety reasons unless otherwise agreed by the race officials.

Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni put a tumultuous start to the day behind him to claim a dramatic victory in a reduced bunch sprint on stage six of the Vuelta an Espana as countryman Rudy Molard retained the overall race leader's red jersey.

The French duo had been given time penalties before the start of Thursday's stage for taking feeds during the final 20km of the previous day's ride -- something that is not permitted for safety reasons unless otherwise agreed by the race officials.

Cofidis sprinter Bouhanni was docked 30 seconds for what his team said was a feeding offense. He put the disappointment behind him, however, to hold off strong challenges from Danny van Poppel and Elia Viviani in the closing meters of the 155.7km stage to San Javier.

Likewise, Molard of Groupama-FDJ saw his lead in the general classification over Michal Kwiatkowski cut to 41 seconds following a 20-second punishment.

Both riders, along with the majority of the favorites, finished in the front group meaning there was no change in the overall standings, with Emanuel Buchmann 48 seconds down in third, Simon Yates 51 adrift in fourth and Alejandro Valverde 53 seconds back in fifth.

It was bad news for Molard's teammate and general classification hope Thibaut Pinot, who got separated from the peloton in the wind-affected final 20km and finished 1:44 down on the main group.

Trek-Segafredo's Fabio Felline and Sunweb's Mike Teunissen crashed after hitting bollards placed in the middle of the road after a tight, unsighted corner with 25km to ride.

There were further unsavory scenes when a number of riders collided with barriers that had blown across the road just after the finish line.

Friday's stage is likely to be less dramatic, with an up and down course taking in two third category climbs over 185.7km between Puerto Lumbreras and Pozo Alcon.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)