Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) took his first victory of the year as he outsprinted breakaway companion Lieuwe Westra (Astana) to take the sixth stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné.

The duo jumped clear of the day’s break along with Pim Ligthart with 20km remaining before dropping the Lotto-Belisol rider on the final climb of the day.

Meanwhile, a generally relaxed day in the peloton was interrupted by a nasty looking crash for Chris Froome (Team Sky). The race leader came down with only 7km to go, but with Sky on the head of the peloton, Froome was easily able to regain contact with the main group and rolled in alongside all of his main rivals.

A fast start to the stage meant it took over half an hour of racing for the day’s break to form. The 16-rider group which eventually pulled clear consisted of Jan Bakelants and Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Cesare Benedetti (NetApp-Endura), Matej Bodnar (Cannondale), Valerio Conti (Lampre-Merida), Thomas Damuseau (Giant-Shimano), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Jens Keukeleire (Orica-Greenedge), Pim Ligthart (Lotto-Belisol), Jean-Christophe Péraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Sergio Paulinho (Tinkoff-Saxo), Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling), Julien Simon (Cofidis), Bram Tankink (Belkin), Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing), and Lieuwe Westra (Astana).

With Bakelants the best-placed man in the overall classification at just over six minutes in arrears, Sky never allowed the break’s advantage to grow much beyond five minutes, but with two tough mountain stages on the cards for the weekend, the British team were reluctant to waste energy in a chase, content to let the break fight it out for the stage win.

Lieuwe Westra broke the harmony in the break on the fourth category Côte de Marcellaz-Albanais, jumping clear with Ligthart in his wheel. Hesitation behind allowed the two men to open a gap, before Bakelants accelerated across to make it three in the front group.

The trio worked well together, extending the lead over their erstwhile breakaway companions to over thirty seconds by the foot of the final categorized climb of the day, the Côte de Ronzy.

With 10km remaining it was again Westra who lifted the pace on the short climb, combining with Bakelants to dispatch Ligthart and maintain a gap over the rest of the chasers.

Approaching the finish in Poissy it was Westra who made the first half-hearted move with 300m to go, before fully committing to the sprint 100m later. With Bakelants coming fast on the right hand side, Westra aimed to close the door on the Belgian against the advertising hoardings, but left enough of a gap for the Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider to come around and take the stage by half a bike length.

Meanwhile a seemingly uncomplicated end to the stage for the peloton was interrupted by the crash of Froome. The race leader came down together with Alessandro Vanotti (Astana) with 7km to go, breaking his rear mech and losing plenty of skin in the process.

However, with Geraint Thomas in close attendance, the leader was easily able to rejoin the peloton, which sat up to wait for the yellow jersey, an act which was praised by Froome after the stage.

“I had a bit of a crash in the final. Obviously, it is quite painful, but I was okay to finish the stage. It looks okay I am just a little bit grazed for tomorrow. There's nothing broken, nothing serious, so nothing a good night's sleep won't fix.

“More than anything I just want to thank the other riders for neutralising the race. That is really big of them – good sportsmanship.”

Saturday’s seventh stage will see the rider’s tackle the 160km route from Ville-La-Gard to the summit finish across the Swiss border at Finhaut-Emossan, where Alberto Contador is certain to attempt to put Froome’s lead under pressure.