A 5-second gap opened up in the final of today's sixth stage of the Tour de France and that allowed Daryl Impey to take over the yellow jersey from Orica-GreenEdge teammate Simon Gerrans. Afterwards, sports director Matt White clarified that it had been Gerrans own wish to hand over the tunic to his friend.

The team time trial win had left the Orica-GreenEdge roommates Simon Gerrans and Daryl Impey in the top-2 positions on GC, equal on time. Only a count back had determined that it was the Australian that got to wear the yellow jersey but it would change hands if Impey could just finish 8 positions higher than his Australian teammate in today's sixth stage.

When the peloton crossed the finish line in Montpellier, the peloton had split in two, leaving Impey in the first part and Gerrans in the second that finished 5 seconds later. That allowed Impey to move into the race lead as the first ever African - coincidentally in Montpellier where Robert Hunter had taken the first ever African stage win 6 years earlier.

However, the leaderships change was not a coincidence as sports director Matt White revealed after the stage. Impey had given Gerrans the perfect lead-out in stage three when the latter won the stage and the Australian wished to give something back to his teammate.

“Simon came to me yesterday afternoon and asked if it was okay for him to pass the jersey along to Daryl,” he said “I said it was fine. They’re great mates. What they’ve done for each other will never be forgotten. Simon won his stage with the perfect lead-out from Daryl, and he had his two days in yellow. For Daryl to be the first African in yellow, even if it’s only one day – well, it will change his life forever.”

Having stepped down from the podium, Impey was ecstatic.

“I was pretty emotional on the podium,” he said. “I was standing there and thinking ‘This is it.’ - this is the proudest moment ever of my career. I don’t think anything will ever top this. That’s not to say I’ll never be able to do it again, but not in this way. It’s like winning the jackpot.”

“There are a lot of really, really good cyclists who never get the chance to wear the yellow jersey,” he added. “I’m one of the lucky ones.”

“Simon could have kept the jersey if he had wanted, but he gave up his opportunity to give me an opportunity of my own,” he said. “That shows exactly what this team is about. We have a culture where everyone is important and everyone gets an opportunity. I’m really thankful for that.”

The day had been an extremely stressful one with strong winds making the peloton extremely nervous. Throughout the day, the Australian team had, however, been in firm control, always positioned near the front of the peloton and as they entered the finishing straight, they were placed near the front.

Impey is the final lead-out man for sprinter Matt Goss and he knew that this role could automatically put him into yellow.

“It was such a stressful day,” Impey added. “I just wanted to get to the finish. I knew if I did the lead-out for Gossy as planned, I’d probably end up in yellow.”

“The team did a massive amount of work ,” said Impey. “I couldn’t have done it without them. They rode on the front all day. They got me bottles. Everyone did something. Svein [Tuft], Cam [Meyer] and Stuey [O’Grady] were on the front all day. Everyone stayed around me. Gerro [Gerrans] did the lead-out. When I say everyone did something, I mean everyone – I don’t want to forgot anyone. It wasn’t just the riders. It’s the staff and management, too. It’s Gerry [Ryan, financial backer of the team] for giving us all an opportunity to compete at this level. Everyone pitched it to get me this yellow jersey. This is super special for me, and it’s a massive moment for South African cycling.”

Gerrans explained that he wanted to give something back to his friend.

“During yesterday’s stage when I had the yellow jersey on, I was really enjoying the experience,” he said. “I thought this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I basically wouldn’t be in yellow without the support of Daryl. At that point, I decided it would be a really nice gesture to pass it on to him for a day or two.”

“I went into today’s stage with the plan of helping in the sprint and then drifting back in the bunch,” he continued. “We all had to be together in the final to pass it over like that. The first objective was to keep the jersey within the team and ride for the sprint. While riding for the sprint, it would be simple to pass it over because it was only a matter of stage places on count back. Today I had the opportunity to change the life of a good mate of mine. That’s why I decided to do it. Who wouldn’t?”

Luis Angel Mate had been the day's only escapee but he was caught when 132km still remained. White explained that the team had not chased him down on purpose.

“I don’t think he wanted to be up the road,” he said. “He attacked and looked behind him. When he realised no one had come with him and no one was chasing, I’m sure he felt pretty miserable. The general speed and anxiety of the bunch caught him before the intermediate sprint.”

“The nervousness made the race fast all day,” he added. “I’m not surprised that the bunch stayed together until the end.”

The team had hoped to set up Goss for the win but an unfortunate incident saw the Australian lose Impey's wheel.

“It was a really tricky final,” White said. “The roads were narrow. We knew there was a good chance there would be gaps at the finish.”

“Gossy got caught up in a barricade at 700m,” he continued. “Someone swung up from the Lotto train, and as he dropped back, it impeded Gossy just as Brett [Lancaster] and Daryl accelerated. Gossy lost the train and started chasing, but at that speed and with such a short distance to make gains, he wasn’t able to make contact.”

Impey will try to defend his jersey in tomorrow's seventh stage which is held on a hilly route. A solid climber, he should have a very good chance of surviving the challenges and could very well keep his new position to Saturday's first Pyrenean stage.

Starting at 14.00 you can follow tomorrow's stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.