Britain's David Millar admitted his emotions got the better of him as he battled in vain for a third stage victory in the Tour de France.

The Scot came up agonisingly short in Thursday's thrilling Stage Six, an 181kilometre jaunt from Girona to Barcelona that was eventually won by sprint specialist Thor Hushovd.

"I hadn't planned to attack but it was emotion which took over," said Millar, who has a training base in Girona like many other riders.

He added: "I rode more with my heart than with my head. We set off from my home, I knew all the roads."

Millar, 32, was part of an early three-man breakaway group which had grown to four before he pulled clear 29km from the finish on a bold raid for home.

However, he was caught by a quick-finishing peloton around a kilometre from the line and he could only look on as Cervelo's Hushovd powered past Spanish duo Oscar Freire and Jose Joaquin Rojas for the win.

Millar ran out of time on an uphill finish in the Montjuic district of Barcelona.

"With some more turns, I could have believed in winning. But in the last few kilometres, the road was big, eight to 10 metres, and the peloton was in place to organise themselves," he said.

"If there'd have been more turns, it would have been different. In Barcelona, I said to myself, 'I'm done for'."

Hushovd's first stage victory of this year's Tour brings him to within a point of Britain's Mark Cavendish in the sprinters' standings. Cavendish remains in the green jersey because his 16th-placed finish earned him some precious points.