André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) stormed back to win stage six of the Tour de France from Arras to Reims. The Lotto rider, who had struggled during the opening stages, made no mistakes after Marcel Kittel was dropped in the finale.

Greipel took control of the sprint with 150 metres to go and hit the front after a chaotic run-in, and after a late attack from Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma Quickstep) was reeled in. Despite late dashes from Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Greipel won by over a bike length, with Peter Sagan down in fifth.

Race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) made it through the day unscathed however there was a late threat when the peloton split into several echelons inside the final 10 kilometres. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) was among those who lost out but the majority of the main overall contenders made the cut.