Tour of Britain Stage 6: Rabobank's Lars Boom extends lead as he wins in Wells

Rabobank's Lars Boom has extended his overall lead in the Tour of Britain after winning Stage 6 in Wells today. A crash early on in the 146 kilometre stage from Taunton saw Motorpoint's Ian Bibby suffer a broken collarbone, and also involved Team Sky's Geraint Thomas. The Welshman, who started the day second overall and had hopes of taking the overall win, was missing from the lead group at the finish.

With two more days of racing still to come, and Sunday's final day featuring an individual time trial followed, on the same circuit from Westminster to the Tower of London, Boom is looking pretty secure at the top of the overall standings, but insists that his team will have to work hard, as they did today, to keep him in the leader's jersey.

“My team mates are very strong and are going to work tomorrow, maybe with some of the sprinters' teams," he said. "I am confident for the time trial – that is one of my favourite disciplines, so I am confident. But anything can happen, so I will try my best tomorrow. We will be alright I think.”

After the stage, Team Sky's Ben Swift, who won two years ago in Somerset while riding for Katusha in his last appearance in the Tour of Britain, wrote on his blog: "Stage 6 was to be the last hard day of the race, with two tough climbs coming towards the end of the stage. The stage was quite a short stage at only 146km but it was a super fast and aggressive race.

"The day didn't start to well for us, with Geraint coming down hard at the first bonus sprint," he continued. "Once the race was back together and people got patched up, the race was back on.

"I got myself in a break and we had to ride fast as the peloton didn't want to give us any room. However, I came unstuck on the first climb and was pretty tired for the rest of the stage.

Tour of Britain Stage 6 Result 
1  Lars Boom               (Ned, Rabobank)                 03:19:02
2  Alexandre Pichot        (Fra, Team Europcar)               st
3  Leopold Koenig          (Ger, Team NetApp)                 st
4  Jan Barta               (Cze, Team NetApp)                 st
5  Steve Cummings          (GB, Sky ProCycling                st
6  Linus Gerdemann         (Ger, Leopard Trek)                st
7  Jack Bauer              (NZ, Endura Racing)                st
8  Julian Dean             (NZ, Garmin - Cervelo)             st
9  Bartosz Huzarski        (Pol, Team NetApp)                 st
10 Iker Camano             (Spa, Endura Racing)               st

Overall General Classification, after Stage Six 
1  Lars Boom               (Ned, Rabobank)                20:13:18
2  Leopold Koenig          (Ger, Team NetApp)               @ 0:28
3  Daniel Lloyd            (GB, Garmin - Cervelo)           @ 0:29
4  Linus Gerdemann         (Ger, Leopard Trek)              @ 0:31
5  Steve Cummings          (GB, Sky ProCycling)             @ 0:32
6  Jelle Wallays           (Bel, Topsport Vlaanderen)         st
7  Jan Barta               (Cze, Team NetApp)                 st
8  Jonathan Tiernan Locke  (GB, Rapha Condor Sharp)           st
9  Iker Camano             (Spa, Endura Racing)             @ 0:50
10 Joost Posthuma          (Ned, Leopard Trek)              @ 0:52

The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Classification, after Stage Six 
1  Lars Boom               (Ned, Rabobank)                  52pts
2  Geraint Thomas          (GB, Sky ProCycling)             41pts
3  Mark Cavendish          (GB, HTC Highroad)               40pts
4  Mark Renshaw            (Aus, HTC Highroad)              29pts
 
Skoda King of the Mountains Classification, after Stage Six 
1  Jonathan Tiernan Locke  (GB, Rapha Condor Sharp)         71pts
2  Russell Hampton         (GB, Sigma Sport Specialized)    48pts
3  Steve Cummings          (GB, Sky ProCycling)             30pts
4  Linus Gerdemann         (Ger, Leopard Trek)              28pts
5  Thomas De Gendt         (Bel, Vacansoleil - DCM)         25pts

Yodel Sprints Classification, after Stage Six 
1  Pieter Ghyllebert       (Bel, AN Post - Sean Kelly       36pts
2  Russell Hampton         (GB, Sigma Sport - Specialized)  13pts
3  Lars Boom               (Ned, Rabobank)                  11pts
4  Mark McNally            (GB, AN Post - Sean Kelly)       10pts
5  Andrew Fenn             (GB, AN Post - Sean Kelly)       10pts

UNISON Best Young Rider 
1  Jelle Wallays           (Bel, Topsport Vlaanderen)    20:13:50
 Stage Six Combativity Award: Jamie Sparling (Can, Team Raleigh)