Stage five winner Robbie McEwen starts the day in confident mood as the riders go from Troyes to Nancy

Overall leader Lance Armstrong pedals hard at the start of the 199km stage as he looks to extend his advantage

Five riders breakaway from the rest of the pack and build up a lead of over seven minutes at one point

France's Christophe Mengin leads after breaking away on the final climb of the day with around 10km to go

Mengin crashes in the final kilometre and brings a number of other riders down with him

Lorenzo Bernucci takes advantage of the crash and takes the stage in dramatic fashion wins the sixth stage

Armstrong retains the lead after stage six but Alexandre Vinokourov is closing in on the American