THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SUPER-BESSE, France — Kim Kirchen became the first Luxembourg rider in 50 years to take the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, and Riccardo Ricco of Italy sprinted to a mountaintop victory Thursday in the sixth stage.
Kirchen claimed the overall lead after Stefan Schumacher fell in the final metres. The German had worn the yellow jersey for two days since winning Tuesday’s time trial.
Ricco was one second ahead of two top riders — Alejandro Valverde of Spain and Cadel Evans of Australia — after the 195.5-kilometre ride through the peaks of the Massif Central from Aigurande to the ski resort of Super-Besse.
"Winning a stage so early is excellent for our confidence," said Ricco, the leader of the Saunier Duval team, adding the win was bigger than his previous stage victory in the Giro d’Italia.
"Both competitions are great, but the Tour is the most difficult competition in the world."
Schumacher, who had worn the yellow jersey for two days since winning Tuesday’s time trial, rode into the wheel of Kirchen during the jostling for positions at the line and fell.
Kirchen managed to remain on his bike and finished fifth. Schumacher came in 25th, 32 seconds behind Ricco.
"I touched Kirchen’s wheel and fell. It wasn’t deliberate, of course," Schumacher said. "It’s a pity. I was feeling strong today, my team hard worked hard."
Kirchen said he did not see Schumacher before the crash.
"Everybody moved to the right side. The guy in front of me braked so I braked, too," he said.
Kirchen is the first Luxembourg rider since Charly Gaul in 1958 to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour. Gaul went on to win the race.
He has a six-second lead over Evans, and 16 seconds over Schumacher. Christian Vandevelde of the United States is fourth, 44 seconds behind Kirchen.
"I’ve been a bit surprised by my condition," Kirchen said. "Now I want to take the race day by day. I want to see what happens in the Pyrenees and if it goes well in the Pyrenees we’ll see in the Alps, and in Paris."
It was a second major boost for U.S.-based Team Columbia, which Kirchen leads. Sprinter Mark Cavendish won Wednesday’s stage for the team.
The team competed as T-Mobile last year and had to deal with imminent the loss of its sponsor and the doping case of Patrik Sinkewitz, which was announced during the Tour.
It only got a new name sponsor shortly before this year’s race.
"Everybody is working hard. There are a lot of new riders. I think everyone on the team is 100 per cent (committed) and now we want to see what we can achieve," Kirchen said..
Sylvain Chavanel of France joined two compatriots in a breakaway that lasted most of the day and allowed Chavanel to take the polka-dot jersey for the best climber. All three were caught before the start of the final climb.