Chris Froome (Team Sky) successfully defended his lead on stage six of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Froome, who holds a 52-seconds advantage over team-mate Richie Porte in the general classification, finished safely in the bunch.
Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) won the stage, outsprinting José Herrada Lopez (Movistar), Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana) and Egor Silin (Astana) from the breakaway.
Froome, who has already won the Tour of Oman and Tour de Romandie in 2013, will continue his quest to add the Critérium du Dauphiné title to his palmares on Saturday, when the peloton will roll out of Le Pont-de-Claix for a 187.5km mountain stage to Superdévoluy which includes an ascent of Alpe d’Huez.
The race, won by Froome’s Sky team-mate, Bradley Wiggins, in 2011 and 2012, will then conclude with another mountain stage on Sunday, finishing with the category one climb to the ski resort of Risoul at 1,844m.
