Edvald Bossen Hagen, a Norweigan riding for Team Sky, won Thursday’s in mass sprint. The overall race standings remained unchanged after Wednesday’s tumultous stage five, a crash-filled ride that forced two cyclists from the race and saw a total of ten collisions. Thursday’s stage, at 226 kilometers the longest of the 2011 Tour, was uneventful by comparison. The peloton rode carefully for the two hours, then let a five-man break, including Italy’s Adriano Malori, escape and establish what would eventually become an 11-minute lead. Malori launched an attack but was chased down by the main field with under three kilometers remaining. Overall race leader Thor Hushovd was third behind Bossen Hagen in the sprint and kept the yellow jersey. Though rain soaked by the finish, the field’d only casualty was American Levi Leipheimer, and lost more than a minute in GC.
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