Bouhanni’s emerged victorious following the 155.7 kilometres route to San Janvier in a time of 3hr 58min 53sec.

The Team Cofidis rider's triumph marked his first Grand Tour victory since he took two on the Spanish Grand Tour in 2014.

Dutch rider Danny van Poppel and Italian Elia Viviani were next to cross the finish line.

The stage six results didn’t affect the top five in the general classification standings as Rudy Molard held onto the red jersey for team Groupama-FDJ.

Team Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski remains in second.

He was unable to regain the jersey after finishing 41 seconds down.

Kwiatkowski suggested that team tactics have been implemented in order to conserve energy to win later stages.

"Grand Tour is all about managing your energy," he said on Twitter.

“We made a decision to stay as a one unit and save some power, even if it meant losing the red jersey.

“La Vuelta is a long journey.

“In fact, it has just begun.”

However, Kwiatkowski still wears the green jersey, worn by the leader of the points competition.

German Emmanuel Buchmann completes the top three in the general classification, riding for Bora–Hansgrohe.

In the Boels Ladies Tour, Annemiek van Vleuten retained the lead in the general classification, despite not winning the stage.

Amalie Dideriksen won the third stage in a sprint for the line.

It was her first stage win of the competition as Van Vleuten has dominated the first two.

Lorena Wiebes finished second with Jolien D’Hoore in third.