Colombian wins Dauphine 6th stage; Wiggins leads

MORZINE, France (AP) — Colombian rider Nairo Quintana won the sixth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in the French Alps, while Britain’s Bradley Wiggins retained the overall lead on Saturday

Quintana, of Spanish team Movistar, raced into Morzine alone, pulling ahead of his rivals halfway up the final climb of the Col de Joux Plane to finish the 104-mile mountain stage in 4 hours, 46 minutes, 12 seconds.

Tour de France titleholder Cadel Evans finished second and narrowed the gap to Wiggins in the overall standings to 96 seconds.

Wiggins, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and defending Dauphine champion, finished fourth. He has an 80-second overall lead over Sky teammate Michael Rogers of Australia.

Andy Schleck, one of cycling’s strongest climbers, abandoned the race after 40 miles. The 2010 Tour de France champ started the stage well out of the running, nearly a half-hour behind Wiggins after a crash during a disastrous time trial on Thursday.

Schleck’s RadioShack Nissan Trek team said in a statement on its website that the Luxembourg rider was bruised on his right side and he had an extremely sore rib.