Matt Goss painfully close to maiden Tour de France stage win

MATT Goss expressed mixed emotions after missing out on a maiden Tour de France stage win.

Cadel Evans

MATT Goss expressed mixed emotions after missing out on a maiden Tour de France stage win.

Goss was happy overall with his ride in the 226.5km stage but a bit disappointed in his sprint to the line which saw him fail to catch Edvald Boassen Hagen of Team Sky.

The laconic Tasmanian fell agonisingly centimetres in the Tour’s sixth and longest stage from Dinan to Lisieux overnight.

“I just got caught for a brief second on the inside in trying to position myself to have a real dip at the finish,” Goss said.

“But in doing so it meant I had to freewheel, and that I think cost me a fraction of a second and the (stage) win.

“This is my first Tour, I can't be too unhappy,  there are more stages like this to come, I'll try and go one better before the end.”

As for Cadel Evans, the BMC Racing's team leader, who remains still very much in contention for the overall, conceded the King of the Mountains jersey to Johnny Hoogerland of Vacansoleil-DCM in Lisieux overnight.

Hoogerland was one of five riders who went on the attack five kilometres into the stage only to be swallowed up at the business end of the stage.

But Evans was more concerned about staying safe and upright on a day that the weather God threatened to dump a little of everything on the peloton.

Evans, Goss and the rest of the survivors of the first week had to ride through rain, hail and a bitterly cold wind that blew across Normandy off the English Channel, before the sun eventually peaked through on what was the longest day of this year's race.

“It was a terribly long day with the wind and the rain,” Evans said.

“This is my seventh Tour and it's the most wet weather I have had in one day. And to have it happen on the longest day made it even harder.”

The Italian Adriano Malori, the last rider in a five-man breakaway that had a lead of as much as 11 minutes was caught three kilometers from the finish.

That opened the door for the teams with sprinters to a bunch sprint won by Boasson Hagen (Sky Pro Cycling).

Evans finished safely in the main bunch, crossing the line in 12th place to stay second overall, one second behind Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo).

“The team is working well for me,” Evans said.

“It has been doing  doing a good job of keeping me positioned near the front and out of danger.

“On some of the longer stages as we saw today, has managed to catch some of the teams out,” he said.

As to his prospects for the overall, he added: “certainnly the classification is really looking good at the moment.

“Everyone on the team is healthy and really riding well.

“We can look forward to the mountains, but still have a few more days to get through safely before we get there.”