BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - Norwegian Thor Hushovd of the Cervelo team won the sixth stage of the Tour de France Thursday, a 181.5km ride from Gerona to Barcelona in Spain.

Swiss Fabian Cancellara retained the race leader's yellow jersey with a 0.22sec lead on American Lance Armstrong ahead of the first day of climbing in the Pyrenees on Friday.

In a dramatic finale to the stage Scotland's David Millar saw an ambitious attack come to an agonising end just 2km from the finish line as the determination of the sprinters' teams paid off.

As a 40-strong group raced past the Scot on the way to the finish line, it was every man for himself as the uphill finish line approached.

Spaniard Oscar Freire pulled slightly forward of the rest but, in the dying metres, Rabobank's former three-time world champion was beaten by Hushovd, who had to dig deep to claim his first stage victory of this year's race.

It is Hushovd's seventh career victory on the race.

Britain's Mark Cavendish, who has won two sprint stages so far leaving Hushovd in his wake, retained the sprinters' green jersey for the points competition by just one point over the Norwegian.