Carlos Rodriguez and Kévin Vauquelin brought Netcompany INEOS home on a tough stage six of Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes as Maxim van Gils (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) won the stage from the breakaway.
The duo lost time to their near rivals in a tumultuous mountain stage which was marred by crashes involving Oscar Onley and Josh Tarling, with the latter forced to abandon the race.
Van Gils won the stage from a large breakaway which the peloton was unable to reel in, with teammate Luke Tuckwell taking the race lead. The GC group behind splintered on the final climb with Rodriguez (now 20th overall) and Vauquelin (now 15th) crossing the line as part of chase groups.
Earlier, Dorian Godon and Tarling had escaped the bunch as part of a 60-strong group would go on to take the stage victory. The Netcompany INEOS duo helped the break extend its lead, until Tarling suffered a crash on the ascent of the Côte de Châtelard which would end his race.
Godon remained in the break until coming back to help his teammates position our GC riders ahead of the final pair of category one climbs. Good work on the flat to lead into the penultimate ascent by Sam Watson helped the team to the fore, with Laurens De Plus then hitting the front to set a strong tempo with Lidl-Trek to help bridge the gap of nearly five minutes to the break.
Rodriguez was then attentive to counter an attack from Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quickstep) on Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine which allowed Onley and Vauquelin to remain in the dwindling bunch.
However, Onley crashed on the descent heading to the final climb, but was able to continue after being assessed by the race doctor, riding at his own pace to the finish.
The GC group then splintered as the road went up again to Crest-Voland, with Vauquelin and Rodriguez battling to limit losses ahead of further mountain tests this weekend.