page_title: 2012 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10
section_title: Stage 6
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10 / Stage 6
caption_attribution_description: English: Profil of the 6th stage of the Tour de France 2012
context_page_description: The 2012 Tour de France began on 30 June, and stage 10 occurred on 11 July. The 2012 edition began with a prologue – a short individual time trial stage – where each member of the starting peloton of 198 riders competed against the clock – in Liège, Belgium with two more stages held in the country before moving back into France. The race resumed in Orchies for the start of the third stage; also during the first half of the race, the peloton visited Switzerland for the finish to the eighth stage in Porrentruy, and contested another individual time trial stage – having returned to France – the following day.
  Fabian Cancellara held the lead of the race throughout its opening Belgian leg; having won the race-commencing prologue, Cancellara defended it on the following two stages before the race returned to France. Cancellara maintained his overall lead for the rest of the race's first week, before eventually losing time on the first true mountain stage of the race – stage seven – as he was dropped on the closing climb to La Planche des Belles Filles. As a result, Bradley Wiggins assumed the maillot jaune, becoming the first British rider to wear the jersey since 2000.
context_section_description: 6 July 2012 — Épernay to Metz, 205 km (127.4 mi)
  This was the last flat stage before the race entered the mountains; during the 205 km (127.4 mi) parcours, there was one fourth-category climb of the Côte de Buxières, around 10 km (6.2 mi) after the intermediate sprint point, coming at 135.5 km (84.2 mi) in the commune of Saint-Mihiel. The race finished near the Centre Pompidou where another bunch sprint was expected. Once again, it was a four-rider breakaway that was allowed to be instigated in the early kilometres. David Zabriskie (Garmin–Sharp) was the first rider to go off the front, and he was later bolstered by Team Europcar's Davide Malacarne, Cofidis rider Romain Zingle and Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank's Karsten Kroon, who joined him after around 10 km (6.2 mi) of racing. They later established a maximum lead of around six-and-a-half minutes early in the stage.
  Around 35 km (21.7 mi) into the stage, there was a minor crash involving the winner of the previous two stages, André Greipel (Lotto–Belisol), and overall contenders Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) amongst others. Greipel suffered a dislocated shoulder in the crash, although all riders would later rejoin the main field; Greipel did not contest the intermediate sprint for points, where Kroon led over the line in the breakaway, while behind, it was Orica–GreenEDGE's Matthew Goss that took the most available points from the main field – eleven for fifth – ahead of Team Sky's Mark Cavendish and points leader Peter Sagan of Liquigas–Cannondale. Zabriskie crossed the summit of the Côte de Buxières first to claim the point on offer for the mountains classification, while in the peloton, there was another minor crash; Greipel was involved again, as were his teammate Jelle Vanendert and Rabobank's Bauke Mollema. Again, the peloton splintered due to the crashes, but due to a reduction in pace, those delayed were able to rejoin the main field.
  With 25 km (15.5 mi) of the day's stage remaining, a much larger crash delayed the majority of the field. According to Lampre–ISD's Danilo Hondo, the crash was caused by his teammate Davide Viganò while adjusting his jersey and fell into a ditch, causing other riders to stack up behind. Amongst the riders that were delayed by the crash were Fränk Schleck (RadioShack–Nissan), Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank), Gesink, Mollema, Valverde, Vanendert, Lampre–ISD's Michele Scarponi, Team Europcar's Pierre Rolland and the entire Garmin–Sharp team with the exception of Zabriskie. Cavendish was also delayed, but although he was able to avoid the crash, he picked up a puncture in the process. Four riders abandoned the race on the route due to injuries suffered; Garmin–Sharp's Tom Danielson – who had already been racing with a separated shoulder – suffered trauma to his other shoulder, hip and arm, and was sent to hospital; he was joined there by Viganò (damaged shoulder), Euskaltel–Euskadi's Mikel Astarloza (dislocated elbow), and Vacansoleil–DCM's Wout Poels, who tried to ride on for 10 km (6.2 mi) but eventually had to abandon; he was later diagnosed with a ruptured spleen and kidney, as well as three broken ribs and bruised lungs. After completing the stage, Team Katusha's Óscar Freire (broken rib and punctured lung), Imanol Erviti of the Movistar Team ("loss of muscle mass"), and Maarten Wynants of Rabobank (broken ribs and punctured lung) had to withdraw as well.
  After the crash, the race had split into many distinct groups; the breakaway still held a minute's lead over a reduced peloton of around sixty riders, with those delayed in several more groups a few minutes and more behind. With nearly all of their riders able to get through the chaos, Orica–GreenEDGE took up pace-making on the front of the peloton, in the hopes of getting Goss the stage victory. The breakaway held a 15-second lead with 10 km (6.2 mi) to go, but it took until the final 2.5 km (1.6 mi) to catch them, with Zabriskie holding off to 1.3 km (0.8 mi) remaining. This set up the sprint, with Goss going first, while Sagan was nearly boxed in by V
caption: Stage six profile
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