Wout van Aert claimed his third Tour of Britain stage victory to cut the gap on leader Ethan Hayter to four seconds.
The Belgian won a sprint finish coming into Gateshead on Friday to make it a hat-trick of stage wins, heading into the final two days of racing in Scotland.
The top three riders all posted the same time – 4:35:06 – on the gruelling 198km route from Carlisle across the Pennines into the north-east of England.
Van Aert pipped Hayter at the line after the INEOS Grenadiers rider had led him out in the home straight. Julian Alaphilippe took third on stage six, which keeps him third in the overall standings heading into Saturday’s racing between Hawick and Edinburgh.
🏆 @WoutvanAert wins stage six of the @AJBell Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 outside the Angel of the North in Gateshead!#TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/EVr1sFNCwH
— AJ Bell Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) September 10, 2021
Hayter, however, clings on to the race lead and was happy enough with a second-place finish.
He told ITV4: “It was obviously a pretty hard day, all day. It was hilly and there was a strong break-away; we all had to be involved in making sure the right group went.
“It really kicked off with about 15km to go. There was a short climb and van Aert opened it up and the race was in pieces.
“Carlos (Rodriguez Cano, his Grenadiers team-mate) actually did a really good job to set a tempo and put people off attacking. It came down to a sprint in the end and he (van Aert) was stronger today.
“To be honest I was quite happy with second. I was on the limit at one stage and to be in a sprint with van Aert was pretty cool. Second is not too bad.”
Van Aert took the opening stage victory on Monday and won an uphill sprint-finish against Alaphilippe in Wales on Wednesday to take race lead.
However Hayter has consistently been challenging him all week and maintains the top spot he took after winning in Warrington on Thursday.
Great Britain’s Jacob Scott continued his dominance of the King of the Mountains jersey, holding it for the sixth day in succession.
Teams will now travel north of the border for the final two days of the event in Scotland, with a 194km ride from the borders to the Scottish capital.
Sunday sees the finish come to Aberdeen, with the climax of the race on the Esplanade. The day will start in Stonehaven and take in the Cairn o’Mount, Finzean, Aboyne, Ballater and Westhill before heading for the city centre.