"It's better to suffer at the front than at the back" - Quinn Simmons gets close to his first Grand Tour stage win

Best of the rest; Quinn Simmons had to be happy with a second place in the sixth stage of Tour de France as the unleashed Ben Healy was out of everyone's league on Thursday.

"If I had been on his wheel when he attacked, that would have been great," Simmons said afterwards, reflecting on the key moments of the stage. "But he played well; he surprised us a bit. I started from the second group, with an attack that was initially planned for the win. But unfortunately, there was another one ahead of me."

At the very least, Simmons' move reduced the chasing group to just two men - the American champion and Michael Storer. Those two worked together well, but couldn't gain a second on the Irishman who was simply unstoppable today.

"He was super strong," Simmons praised the Irishman. But he was also fairly disappointed to have not won his first Grand Tour stage. "This hilly terrain is tailor-made for me. It was a great opportunity that I missed."

It is certain that the rider of Lidl-Trek will now receive more freedom from his team, even though his tasks in flat stages will still consist of supporting sprinter Jonathan Milan. "It all comes down to team ambition and who we want to ride for in these kinds of stages. I've submitted my offer here, but we're still here with Johnny for the sprints; there are two good opportunities coming up this week."

On this occasion, Simmons also recalled his first Tour when jumped into a breakaway also on day 6 along with Wout Van Aert, who put then 21-year-old American rider through hell. "It seems I like to hurt myself in the sixth stage of the Tour de France: that was also the case in my first Tour, when Wout van Aert demoted me to junior level," he laughed.

Luckily, that didn't stop him nor changed his attacking racing style. "But to be back at the front and able to race more, that's great. My first two Tours were mostly about hanging on: it's better to suffer at the front than at the back."