The Tour moves on and so does the yellow jersey

The Tour de France moves at a frantic pace, and not only on the road. Today's newspaper is tomorrow's chip wrapper, as the old saying goes. Yesterday morning the papers in France led with the Sagan-Cavendish incident, but today it is already old news. It was the first summit finish of the Tour, and the climbers have taken over the narrative.

The first mountain stage will do that. Everything that has gone before no longer matters. Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish may be two of the faces of the sport, but we all know the Tour belongs to those who can ride in the mountains. The incident that eliminated the pair will live long in the memory, and go down in Tour history, but the race goes on. It always does.

By the time yesterday's stage had come to an end, there was a change in yellow and a reshaping of the general classification.

The Planche des belles filles is a new finish in Tour history, but it seems to prove significant. The first time it finished there in 2012, Chris Froome picked up his first win. Bradley Wiggins moved into yellow that day and would go on to win the Tour. Two years later, Italian champion Vincenzo Nibali won the stage and took yellow. He too went on to win that years Tour. And yesterday it was once again the Italian national champion, Fabio Aru, taking the stage glory. But it was Chris Froome who pulled on the yellow and by now you can see the pattern? Yes, the man in yellow here the first two times, was the man in yellow come Paris. Other than that, it is starting to prove a popular finish for Italian champions.

But don't rule out Aru yet. Don't rule out several riders yet. Less than a minute separates the first nine. Froome may be back in his familiar yellow, but there is a long road ahead. So many questions may remain unanswered, but what we did get was a guide to the form of some and lack thereof of others.

Aru is hot. Dan Martin looked strong, finishing second and snatching back a few seconds. Richie Porte looked decent, though why he had his team on the front all day, giving Sky a break, I don't quite know? Romain Bardet also looked solid on a climb that wouldn't have suited his talents best. Froome's team-mate, Geraint Thomas, coughed up yellow in servitude to Froome. He might have come to the front a little earlier than he might have liked and it cost him extra time when he blew, though he still clung onto second place.

Then there was Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador. Both coughed up time and neither looked comfortable. Both are still within a minute of Froome, but the time loss, while small, was telling. Both will no doubt try to ambush Froome down the road somewhere; it worked in Spain last year.

Aru, Porte, Bardet and Martin will also have to get creative. Summit finishes are few and far between on this Tour and yesterday Froome ticked one off the list. A summit finish closer to Paris and a fourth title. Bardet, beyond Contador and Quintana, might prove the biggest danger at this kind of thing. Attacks from further out, attacks over the top of climbs to try gain time on descents. The only problem being, last year Froome himself proved capable of snatching time from odd places.

The strength of Sky will be vital for Froome, but when there's only a few seconds at stake, anything can happen. As such this Tour is far from over. There is still so much up for grabs. All the drama will still be in the days to come.

The following day, today, was a one for the climbers to hide once more as the racing reverted back to the sprinters. No Cavendish or Sagan, though not that it mattered to Marcel Kittel even when they were both in the race. He once again proved the fastest man in the bunch when he burst through late to win. In doing so he became the first man to win two stages at this years Tour. He also moved to within 27 points of Arnaud Demare in the green jersey competition.

Speaking of Demare, today's sprint highlighted the fine margins of such a discipline. Two days ago, Cavendish went for the shrinking gap and never got through. Today, Demare made almost the same move, but it stayed opened and he squeezed through. For a few short seconds I was sure he was going to hit the barrier and go down. He didn't and he got second and the race goes on. That's sprinting.

And the sprinters should get another shot tomorrow. It's another 'off day' for the GC men before the weekend when the sparks should fly once more. After six stages, the standings of this Tour sit as follows...

1. Chris Froome (Sky) in 23h44'33"

2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) +12"

3. Fabio Aru (Astana) +14"

4. Dan Martin (Quick-Step) +25"

5. Richie Porte (BMC) +39"

6. Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) +43"

7. Romain Bardet (AG2R) +47"

8. Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) +52"

9. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +54"

10. Rafal Majka (Bora) +1'1"