BARCELONA: Norwegian Thor Hushovd of the Cervelo team won the sixth stage of the Tour de France ön Thursday, a 181.5km ride from Gerona to Barcelona in Spain.

Swiss Fabian Cancellara retained the race leader's yellow jersey with a 0.22sec lead on American Lance Armstrong. Spaniard Oscar Freire pulled slightly forward of the rest but, in the dying metres, Rabobank's former three-time world champion was beaten by Hushovd, who had to dig deep to claim his first stage victory of this year's race. It is Hushovd's seventh career victory on the race.

Britain's Mark Cavendish, who has won two sprint stages so far leaving Hushovd in his wake, retained the sprinters' green jersey.