Jumbo-Visma's Wout Van Aert lost the yellow jersey on stage 6 of the Tour de France.

The yellow jersey in the Tour de France is usually taken on the defensive, especially on the longest stages that are flat. But Wout Van Aert is no ordinary rider.

After five days in the vortex of the race, the Belgian rider took the lead of the day's breakaway group on the long road to Longwy on stage 6, after multiple attempts to spread the race over the opening 75km.

"I wasn't going to try this in the morning. I didn't plan to try this in the morning," Van Aat said after the stage. I wanted to be part of a bigger breakaway to defend the yellow and try to win the stage. Also, there seemed to be a lot of interest in the breakaway group, so I believed I could eventually ride with a lot of riders."

"It was really tricky in the beginning with strong crosswinds. Literally no team wanted to chase me, so everyone wanted to get into the break and they all kept chasing me."

After dropping Jakob Fuglsang and Quinn Simmons, Van Aat took the solo lead with 25km remaining in the 220km stage. It was a very spectacular sight.

"At one point I finally managed to widen the gap and now there are three of us. 'If it didn't work out, that's okay. If it didn't work out, I think it's a nice way to honor the jersey on your last day in it."

However, Van Aat's hopes of a second win faded as rival teams began to chase him down en masse in the last 50km, and he was caught with just over 10km to go. The same was true for his time in the yellow jersey.

The terrain became increasingly punchy on the run-in, and Van Aat dropped out of the peloton shortly after rejoining it. Human, after all.

Taddei Pogacar won the stage, finishing about 7:30 after taking the yellow jersey from him.

"He's playing with our balls," said Tom Pidcock of Ineos Grenadiers across the finish line.

"I honestly don't know what to say. He's probably pissing his pants."

"At this point, nothing surprises me with this guy," added Pogacar teammate Brandon McNulty.

VanArt crossed the line on the gruppetto and finally had a moment of calm after five action-packed stages.

He laughed off suggestions that he might consider another attack on stage 7. He said, "Tomorrow is definitely not my day, but it's an important day for Jonas and Primoš. Tomorrow will definitely not be my day, but it will be an important day for Jonas and Primž. So tomorrow I will try to put myself in a good position for the climb.

When asked if fatigue from a day of racing excitement would hinder him from assisting his teammates, he was not worried. He said, "I will try to recover and help them in this stage, but in the final it will be up to them and Steven and Sepp, who are doing well. I'm sure it will be. So it's not a problem."

Wout Van Aert was one of the strongest sprinters in this year's Tour de France and entered as a strong contender for the green jersey.

He didn't have a run of his own on the cobbled fifth stage, but he played a key role in keeping teammate Jonas Vingegaard's time lost to Pogacar to a mere 13 seconds.

On Thursday, right from the start, he made clear his intention to try to tear the peloton apart and bring it into a breakaway. It didn't work at first, but that didn't stop him from trying. His acceleration stood out from all the others.

Eventually, after 75km, Steven Kruijswijk led the way and succeeded in cutting the rubber. With 66km to go, Fuglsang's decision to fall back put him in an even tougher situation.

VanArt pressed along with Simmons to defend his slight advantage, but soon the American rider was out of use. Simmons could not even get a handle on the false flat, and VanArt simply went solo. Van Aat held a little over a minute advantage for about 5km, but as the climb began, the gap was closing fast and he was forced to buckle up. He was caught and dropped.

In the end, Van Aert did not win the breakaway, lost the yellow jersey, and did not get the green jersey points he coveted.

He did, however, win the Combat Award.