Mont Aigoual (France), Sep 3 (AP) Kazakh rider Alexey Lutsenko won his first stage in his fifth Tour de France with a solo effort up Mont Aigoual on Thursday.

The Tour's top contenders were still racing far behind the 27-year-old Lutsenko on the mountain when he crossed the line at the top with towering views of southern France. He had scouted out the final steep climb in advance of the stage, and used that knowledge to his advantage.

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"I gave my upmost in the steepest section," he said.

"In my head, I was convinced I was going to make it."

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Among the overall contenders, there were no changes at the top. Briton Adam Yates kept the race leader's yellow jersey, still three seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic from Slovenia.

Another Slovene, Tadej Pogacar, is still third, seven seconds behind Yates.

"All in all a good day," Yates said.

Lutsenko was among a group of eight breakaway riders that surged ahead of the main pack on the 191-kilometer (119-mile) Stage 6. The stage sped southwest from the start town of Le Teil in southern France.

Lutsenko, riding for the Astana team, shook off his breakaway companions on the day's punishing final climb, up to the Lusette pass, scaled for the first time by the 117-year-old Tour.

He started the stage in 37th place overall, nearly six minutes behind Yates. Since Lutsenko was not a threat for the yellow jersey, Yates, his team and other top riders were content to let the breakaway riders race off ahead. (AP)

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