The 184.4 kilometres stage was pancake flat and relatively uneventful until the race hit the final 15km. 

Three riders - Spanish trio Mikel Azparren of Euskaltel-Euskadi, Pelayo Sanchez of Burgos-BH and Oier Lazkano of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA - formed an initial breakaway, but never gained much more than seven minutes on the peloton and were eventually swept up in the final stages. 

With 11.7km remaining, a huge bunch of riders fell on a seemingly flat and innocuous piece of road.

Estonian Taaramäe, in the red jersey for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, was the highest profile rider to fall.

When he rolled over the line, he had lost more than two minutes and slipped outside the top 10 in the general classification (GC). 

Frenchman Romain Bardet, who was 14th entering the stage and in the GC battle, was involved in the fall.

The Team DSM rider was unable to shake off his injuries and finished more than 10 minutes down on the peloton. 

Belgian rider Philipsen, riding for Alpecin–Fenix, won the stage as he sprinted clear in the final metres in Albacete.

He won in a time of 4 hours 24min 41sec, to claim a second stage win of this year's race, following on from a victory in a sprint on stage two in Gamonal. 

France's Kenny Elissonde, riding for Trek-Segafredo, took the GC lead from Taaramäe, with pre-race favourite, Slovenia's Primož Roglič of Team Jumbo-Visma, just five seconds behind in second. 

Tomorrow's stage six concludes with a summit finish at Alto de la Montaña de Cullera.