Tour de France - Stage 6

If you thought stage 5 was a hard stage to include in the first week, you may want to look away now, because stage 6 is even harder. Starting in Tarbes and finishing atop the climb at Cauterets-Cambasque, the first summit finish of this Tour de France is preceded by one of the toughest climbs in the Pyrenees, the Col du Tourmalet, and its usual partner the Col d’Aspin. This is a huge day in the mountains, taking in nearly 4,000m of climbing for a day that will certainly shake up the general classification.

It is also the earliest that the Souvenir Jacques Goddet - a prize given to the first rider to crest the Tourmalet in the Tour de France - has ever been awarded. The previous earliest Tourmalet stage was stage 8 in 2016, when Thibaut Pinot won the Souvenir Jacques Goddet and Chris Froome the stage.

The stage starts somewhat flat, heading out from the Hautes-Pyrénées capital Tarbes, but the first climb starts after 24km and the road rarely stops going up or down from then on. The opening climb, the Côte de Capvern-les-Bains, is 5.6km with a 4.8% gradient, so perhaps a launchpad for the breakaway but a small challenge compared to what is ahead. From the top of the Côte de Capvern-les-Bains, there’s around 25km of relative flat - or at least roads that rise at only a gentle gradient - before the start of the Col d’Aspin.

At 12km long with a gradient of 6.5%, the Col d’Aspin is a tough climb in its own right, but is almost always used as a precursor to the Col du Tourmalet for a double hit of climbing. It’s so different this year, and the peloton will descend from the top of the Col d’Aspin straight to the foot of the Tourmalet. One of the highest climbs to regularly feature in the Tour, the Tourmalet is a huge effort, this time taking the short but steeper eastern ascent from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan. Riders will climb for over 17km, at a gradient of 7.2%, with only a matter of metres of respite at the top before the long descent starts.

The Tourmalet is often the star of the show, but on this stage the hors catégorie climb is followed by another category 1 challenge to the finish line. The climb to Cauterets-Cambasque starts with 16km to go, and whilst a gentler gradient at 5.4%, the peloton will already have a huge day of climbing in their legs, so this won’t be easy at all and the length leaves plenty of road for big gaps to open up.

Given the gaps that opened up on the comparatively moderate stage 5, we can expect fireworks here, and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) might be feeling particularly apprehensive after taking a brutal blow from his chief rival Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on Wednesday. The 2022 champion attacked on the Col de Marie-Blanque and gained more than a minute in what seemed like a race-defining moment. Given the time gaps opened in that short space of time, the differences on this stage could be even greater, with Vingegaard poised to take a stranglehold on the race.

Vingegaard's team will not have to do all the controlling, as it's Bora-Hansgrohe's Jai Hindley who finds himself in the yellow jersey after cleverly infiltrating the stage 5 breakaway and strongly riding it to a solo victory. The 2021 Giro d'Italia winner gained a handy chunk of time on his rivals and it'll be interesting to see how he rises to the challenge of defending the yellow jersey and how he measures up shoulder-to-shoulder with his rivals.

Climbs

km 29.9 - Côte de Capvern-les-Bains, 5.6km at 4.8% (cat 3)
km 56.1 - Col d’Aspin, 12km at 6.5% (cat 1)
km 80.8 - Col du Tourmalet, 17.1km at 7.3% (hors catégorie)
km 128.9 - Cauterets-Cambasque, 16km at 5.4% (cat 1)

You can watch live and on-demand coverage of stage 6 of the Tour de France on GCN+ via the GCN app, website and connected devices. Plus, tune into The Breakaway for expert pre- and post-stage analysis from Orla Chennaoui, Dan Lloyd, Adam Blythe and Robbie McEwen. As always, territory restrictions will apply.

Major Races

See All

Date	Event	Class
29 Jun - 21 Jul	Tour de France	2.UWT
12 Aug - 18 Aug	Tour de France Femmes	2.WWT
4 May - 26 May	Giro d'Italia	2.UWT
28 Apr - 5 May	Vuelta España Femenina	2.WWT

Provided by FirstCycling