Tour De France: Wiggins' Brave Attack Falters at the Last

Bradley Wiggins launched a memorable solo breakaway in today's sixth stage, leading for 190.5 of the 199.5km before he was eventually overhauled by the peloton. In the aftermath, Belgium's Tom Boonen won a dramatic sprint, his first victory in this year's race.

Wiggins, riding for Cofidis, broke clear of the pack after just two kilometres and had built up a huge lead of 17 minutes and 20 seconds 53km later, the attack a fitting tribute to the memory of Tom Simpson on the 40th anniversary of the legendary Briton's death. However, the peloton chipped away at the gap from that point onwards, reducing it to one minute with 15km remaining.

The mass of riders finally swarmed around Wiggins with seven kilometres to go before attention switched to who would win another frantic sprint finish, the sixth in as many days. Oscar Freire and Erik Zabel battled it out with Boonen for the victory, but it was the Quick Step sprinter who crossed the line first.

Fabian Cancellara, who was firmly ensconced in the middle of the peloton as the bunch crossed the line, retains the yellow jersey, but he could struggle to hold onto it tomorrow as the race enters its first mountain stage towards Le Grand Bornand. He has a lead of 33 seconds over second-placed Andreas Kloden of Germany, who spent the day riding at the back of the peloton after a crash yesterday. David Millar is fourth, 41 seconds behind the Swiss.