CYCLING, TOUR DE FRANCE -- Peter Sagan won Stage 6 of the 2012 Tour de France in Metz. Sagan blasted past Andre Greipel of Lotto Belisol in the final sprint.  Matthew Goss of Orica-GreenEdgetook third place behind the pair.

Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Liquigas-Cannondale sprints for the finish line to win stage six of the 2012 Tour de France from Epernay to Metz on July 6, 2012 in Metz, France. (Source: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images Europe)

Fabian Cancellara held on to his general classification lead and will retain the prized yellow jersey.

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland riding for Radioshack-Nissan in the race leader's yellow jersey rides at the front of the peloton during stage six of the 2012 Tour de France from Epernay to Metz on July 6, 2012 in Marson, France. (Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Europe)

The big news in Stage 6 was a crash that set several top GC contenders back.  Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) lost over 13 minutes.  Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Frank Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan), and Janez Brajkovic (Astana) all lost several minutes as well.

By Tony Mamone
July 6, 2012

Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Liquigas-Cannondale waves on the podium after winning stage six of the 2012 Tour de France from Epernay to Metz on July 6, 2012 in Metz, France. (Source: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images Europe)

Tour de France general classification rankings after Stage 6:

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan 29:22:36  
2 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:07  
3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep    
4 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:10  
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:00:13  
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:17  
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:18  
8 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:19  
9 Andreas Kloden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan    
10 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:22

Sagan completes hat-trick of wins after "scary" pile-up causes Tour chaos

(CNN) -- Slovakian sensation Peter Sagan made it a hat-trick of stage wins on his debut in the Tour de France as he sprinted to victory in Metz Friday.

The 22-year-old Sagan has extended his lead in the battle for the green points jersey after denying German Andre Greipel his third straight stage win.

The peloton leave the start and prepares to start racing at the begining of stage six of the 2012 Tour de France from Epernay to Metz on July 6, 2012 in Eperany, France. (Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Europe)

The peloton passes a cathedral during stage six of the 2012 Tour de France from Epernay to Metz on July 6, 2012 in Chalons, France. (Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Europe)

But the 210-km sixth stage from Eperney was marred by a mass pile-up 26km from the finish which claimed a number of contenders for overall honors.

Race leader Fabian Cancellara, favorite Bradley Wiggins and defending champion Cadel Evans avoided the crash.

The peloton is split by a crash with 25km remaining in stage six of the 2012 Tour de France from Epernay to Metz on July 6, 2012 in Gorze, France. (Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Europe)

But Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda) and RadioShack star Frank Schleck all but saw their hopes ended along with French favorite Thomas Voeckler and Dutchman Robert Gesink.

Britain's Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) was also held up to leave Sagan to battle it out with a reluctant Greipel, who had gone down twice in earlier incidents to leave his confidence shaken.

Australia's Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) finished third.

The peloton make their way through the French countryside on stage six of the 2012 Tour de France from Epernay to Metz on July 6, 2012 in Metz, France. (Source: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images Europe)

That was scary, like a tidal wave of debris smashing towards us, could do nothing but brake and pray David Millar.

The decisive crash came as the peloton chased a four-man breakaway on a straight but tight section of road.

Several riders were injured and behind it was chaos, with many competitors held up and looking for new bikes and wheels.

Hesjedal's teammate, David Millar of Britain, summed it up on his Twitter blog:

"Oh sweet jesus that was scary. Approx 70km/h pile up, like a tidal wave of debris smashing towards us, could do nothing but brake and pray."

A whittled down peloton of eventually caught the frontrunners of David Zabriskie (Garmin), Davide Malacarne (Europcar), Karsten Kroon (Saxo Bank) and Romain Zingle (Cofidis), with Sagan going on to show his undoubted class at the finish.

CNN.com
July 6, 2012