The sixth stage at the Tour de France became a day of glory for Kazakhstani cycling: the reigning champion of Kazakhstan Aleksey Lutsenko won an excellent solo victory at the top of the Mont Eguale climb at the 6th stage of the French super race.

Lutsenko launched a decisive attack from the break of the day some 17 km before the finish line on one of the steep sections of the final ascent. The champion of Kazakhstan managed to throw off all the rivals from the wheel and go to the solo lead. After gaining more than 50 seconds of advantage over the closest pursuer, Lutsenko finished in splendid isolation at the top of Mont Eguale, having won the biggest victory of his career.

— One of the goals that I set for myself at the Tour de France was to fight for victory on the stage. This Tour was one of my biggest goals this season. I have dreamed of this success for a long time, and now my dream has come true! In fact, I was tuning into this stage, and in the previous days after I finished my part of work for Miguel Angel, I lagged behind the group, deliberately gaining time in the overall standings, hoping that the main favorites would not hunt me in decisive moment. Today, before the start, we discussed our tactics for this day, and together with the sports directors and our general manager Alexander Vinokurov, we decided that I needed to try to break away, since today there are real chances that he will reach the finish line. I felt pretty good all day and my legs worked great. It took some time for our group to leave, but in the end we succeeded. The day was long and hot, but Alexander Vinokurov, who was in the vehicle that followed me, led me well in the race. On the last climb, I tried to stay calm and stick to my own rhythm. In the most difficult part, I launched an attack. I am very happy to win this victory, this is a great achievement both for me and for our team! It is an incredible feeling to win in the jersey of the national champion of Kazakhstan! I thank my team for this opportunity, and special thanks to all our sponsors, and our main partner Samruk-Kazyna, which has been supporting us for so many years! – told by Alexey Lutsenko.

The sixth stage of the Tour de France started at Le Teil. Soon after the start, a group of 8 riders managed to drive ahead. Alexey Lutsenko was in this group, working hard in the first position in order to gain as much advantage as possible. After several kilometers of intense struggle with the peloton, the lead managed to break away from the main group, increasing its advantage to 6 minutes.

At the final part of the distance, the peloton managed to get closer to a distance of about two and a half minutes, but the attack of Alexei Lutsenko did not give the peloton an opportunity to build on the success. The champion of Kazakhstan retained his leadership and, as a result, won at this stage.

— This is a big day for our team, as well as for Kazakhstani cycling. We have been waiting for this day for many years, and now we have seen the victory of the champion of Kazakhstan in the Kazakh team at the stage of the biggest race in the world "Tour de France"! We are all very happy and proud that we were able to present this success to our country. In addition, we are very pleased that by tuning into this stage, having prepared a good plan for the day, in the end, we were able to implement it and achieve success! The team did a great job and Alexey Lutsenko had a phenomenal day! He was strong, focused and didn't make a single mistake. It was our day and I congratulate all the fans of our team on this wonderful victory. But, the Tour de France continues. We are still in the first week of the race and there is still a long way to go to Paris. We will continue to fight to achieve even better results on this "Big Loop" — said Dmitry Fofonov, sports manager of "Astana Pro Team".

The peloton, which included all the main favorites of the race, including the captain of "Astana Pro Team" Miguel Angel Lopez, finished 2 minutes 53 seconds after Lutsenko.

Briton Adam Yates retained the lead and yellow jersey, Miguel Angel Lopez - 10th, just 13 seconds behind.

The 7th stage of the super race will take place tomorrow: 168 km from Millau to Lavor.

Source: astanaproteam.kz