Tour de France 2020 – Stage 6 preview

Despite our call in yesterday’s preview. Van Aert managed to combine Jumbo duty with his sprinting work and took another stage with for Team Jumbo Visma, who seem to be on a roll!

Tomorrow will be interesting for both the breakaway and the GC. Let’s take a look at the route!

The Route:

Stage 6 takes us from Le Teil to the top of Mont Aigoual. This is another ____/ stage where the fireworks are expected to happen on the final climb(s)

The first 140 kilometres are pretty much flat, with the first major obstacle in the stage appearing after 140km with the Cap de Costa (2.1km @ 7.3%). Some riders will no doubt be dropped here, but this is only a warm-up for the true final climb:

The 34km long finale is unusual in that it actually consists of three seperate climbs, with some short descents and flat sections in between. The first climb, the Col des Mourezes, is easy with just 6.1km @ 4.8%. However the true battle between the GC-riders will happen on the Col de la Lusette(11.7km @ 7,3%), which contains some sections with gradients over 10 percent.

The final climb to Mont Augoual is not overly difficult and does not contain a lot of hairpins, but the legs will no doubt be hurting after such a long and irregular climb.

The Weather:

Relatively cold temparatures atop of Mont Aigoual, with a small breeze and no rain.

The Race:

With Adam Yates in yellow Scott will be sure to work. We expect UAE to put in some work as well as it is an opportunity to seize yellow (Pogacar only 6 seconds behind on GC). As it is a mountain finish stage, expect Astana to have something up their sleeve as well.

It’s basically 50/50 whether a break will be allowed of the leash, also depending of the composition of the riders in it, so expect a fierce battle from the gun!

The Favorites:

Primoz Roglic
Clear favorite. If he wants to win tomorrow, he wins.

Tadej Pogacar
Really impressive and seems to be building form. The main challenger tomorrow and has an incentive to try and win the steal (taking over the yellow from Yates)

Sergio Higuita
Has the sprint, but will he be able to hang on on the Lusette? Didn’t look too strong last week on the climbs!

Adam Yates
Will do anything he can to hold onto yellow, but is not a fast finisher on such a relatively flat finish

Nairo Quintana
Like we said, keep an eye on this man, but not tomorrow. He will be keeping his gunpowder dry for better opportunities.

Breakaway?
Lots of options: Ion Izagirre, Herrada, Roche, Kamna, Tejada, De Marchi, Barguil, Nieve, Hirt, Schachmann, with a 50/50 break-GC there are plenty of decent betting opportunities to seize here.

The Winner:

Tadej Pogacar to win the sprint and seize yellow!