Tour de France 2016: Stage 6 Winner, Highlights, Updated Standings and Schedule

Dimension Data's Mark Cavendish continued his fine form in the 2016 Tour de France on Thursday, beating Etixx-Quick-Step's Marcel Kittel in a bunch sprint to win his third stage of this year's race. 

Per CyclingTips.com's Neal Rogers, the win moves him past legendary Grand Tour racer Bernard Hinault on the Tour's all-time stage list, behind only Eddy Merckx:

BMC Racing Team's Greg Van Avermaet remains the overall leader. Here's a look at the stage results, via Sky Sports Cycling:

The current general classification:

For the full Tour de France schedule, visit CyclingNews.com.

Recap

After Wednesday's explosive stage in the Massif Central, the sprinters got another shot at a stage win on Thursday. As shared by Etixx-Quick-Step's official Twitter account, the profile for the ride to Montauban was fairly straightforward:

The early break consisted of just two riders, as Bora-Argon 18's Jan Barta and Lampre-Merida's Yukiya Arashiro teamed up. In the peloton, BMC and the sprint teams kept a close eye on the two, but the chase started off at a leisurely pace.

Barta took first place in the intermediate sprint, and Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie took top marks in the peloton. As shared by Letourdata, the power sprinter beat his opponents with an impressive late burst:

Some bad weather conditions plagued the peloton during the first week of racing, but on Thursday, a minor heat wave hit the peloton, providing an entirely different kind of challenge.

The high temperatures led to a slower pace, and once again, the riders fell well behind the expected schedule. With little riding to focus on, Eurosport UK instead zeroed in on what happened on the side of the road:

Barta and Arashiro battled hard to keep their advantage alive, but entering the final 40 kilometers, their lead hovered around the one-minute mark. Direct Energie took the lead in the peloton, and Thomas Voeckler in particular pushed the tempo through the roof.

The break was caught with just over 20 kilometers to race, which was earlier than the peloton would have liked, and this opened the door for some late attacks. 

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

Katusha and Etixx-Quick Step left it late to move to the front of the group, while Tinkoff's Peter Sagan lost position in the final kilometers and had to make up a lot of ground. 

Kittel took the lead with a fantastic jump from way back, but Cavendish patiently waited for his chance and overtook the German with space to spare. Fortuneo-Vital Concept's Daniel McLay came close to overtaking the Manx Missile but ran out of track.

The Daily Telegraph's Tom Cary was impressed with the 24-year-old, who turned professional only last year:

Per the Tour's official Twitter account, Cavendish admitted the winding roads near the finish line made for a scary approach:

Friday's stage will take the riders over the Col d'Aspin, a scenic climb with a reasonable gradient that is hardly ever used as the centerpiece of a stage. The finish line lies some seven kilometers from the summit, so top descenders such as Astana's Vincenzo Nibali should have a golden opportunity for a stage win.

The climb should weed out the weaker climbers, but unless a rider has phenomenal legs, we shouldn't see any major breaks that have a decisive influence on the general classification. That will happen on Friday, when the legendary Tourmalet is on the schedule.