Peter Sagan claimed his second stage win at the Tour de Suisse, taking advantage of confusion and poor positioning by his sprint rivals to cruise away to victory.
It looked in the final 10km that Mark Cavendish was in pole position for the win, but a crash at the front of his Etixx-Quick-Step leadout train set his ambitions back.
A tight 90-degree degree corner inside the last kilometre put paid to the Manxman's fading hopes as Sagan romped away to a convincing victory ahead of Jurgen Roelandts and Alexander Kristoff.
Cavendish's teammates took to the front of the peloton in the final stages, with the Brit tucked behind race leader Thibaut Pinot in the group.
The Etixx train suffered a major setback when Zdenek Stybar slid out in the rain, taking one teammate with him and holding up the peloton in the treacherous conditions.
World champion Michal Kwiatkowski took up the lead but as the stage neared its conclusion Etixx found themselves outnumbered by Tinkoff-Saxo riders Cavendish was forced to scramble for position.
The four-man break was finally reeled in with 1,500m to go, but the bunch split when navigating a roundabout, leaving several sprinters out of contention.
Cavendish remained in the small front group which strung out as it reached the tight final right turn. Rounding the corner towards the front of the reduced bunch Sagan had the speed to power away as the remaining sprint fizzled out.
Geraint Thomas finished 11th, gaining five seconds back on leader Pinot, who retains the yellow jersey.
Tour de Suisse 2015 stage six: Wil-Biel/Bienne (193.1km)
1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo, 4-34-43
2. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, st
3. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, st
4. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC, st
5. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo, st
6. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx-Quick-Step, at 2 seconds
7. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo, st
8. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana, st
9. Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana, st
10. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, st
Other:
11. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, at 2 seconds
Overall classification after stage six
1. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ, 17-42-07
2. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, at 42s
3. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha, at 50 seconds
4. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 55 seconds
5. Miguel Angel Lopez (Esp) Astana, at 1-07
6. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, at 1-22
7. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, at 1-32
8. Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ, at 2-29
9. Sebastian Reichenback (Swi) IAM Cycling, at 2-43
10. Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky, at 2-46
-
-
Want a new gravel bike but can't find stock? Stayer Cycles could have the answer
British custom frame builder teams up with Ingrid components to offer its Groadinger gravel bikes for pre-order
By Luke Friend •
-
'There was a lot of things in the run-up to Tokyo that wasn't ideal': Laura Kenny opens up on team pursuit disappointment at the Olympics
Kenny's two medals at Tokyo were her first as a mother, and she plans on returning to the Olympic scene in Paris
By Chris Marshall-Bell •
-
Peter Sagan expresses regret at incident with Monaco police: 'I wish to take this opportunity to convey my most sincere apologies'
Sagan was fined €5,000 for resisting arrest and injuring a police officer
By Ryan Dabbs •
-
Peter Sagan fined after incident with Monaco police when breaking Covid-19 curfew
The Slovakian star's representative said that he feared he would be "forced to be vaccinated" against Covid
By Tim Bonville-Ginn •
-
Mark Cavendish suffers two broken ribs and collapsed lung in Six Days of Ghent crash
The Briton spent the night in an ICU in hospital following the collision at Kuipke Velodrome
By Ryan Dabbs •
-
Peter Sagan to make Team TotalEnergies debut at 2022 Vuelta a San Juan
He will race the seven-stage Argentinian race from January 30-February 6
By Ryan Dabbs •
-
Peter Sagan confident ahead of TotalEnergies switch: 'We are going to build a team around me'
The Slovakian expressed his enthusiasm to race at the French-based, ProTeam level side
By Ryan Dabbs •
-
Mark Cavendish FaceTimes man who got tattoo of him: 'What have you done?'
Paul James was in the cinema when Mark Cavendish phoned him
By Jonny Long •
-
Which riders have the biggest social media following?
From riders to teams and races, who has the biggest online presence?
By Tim Bonville-Ginn •
-
'I hope he doesn't think I'm some fanatic weirdo': Man fulfils promise to get Mark Cavendish tattoo if he won another race
Paul James has paid homage to the sprinter's comeback with a tattoo of the Tour de France green jersey winner
By Jonny Long •
