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After drama and excitement of the cobbles the Tour de France returns to the domain of the sprinters for Stage 6 from Arras to Reims. Join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 6 from 10:30pm (AEST).
The inclusion of two Fourth Category climbs once again means we could see a fight for the Polka Dot jersey of the King of the Mountains classification with Cofidis Credit Systems’ Cyril Lemoine jersey under threat by three riders. Although with Nicolas Edet part of the Cofidis team, realistically only Blel Kadri and Jens Voigt are currently a threat to the French team.
With Peter Sagan continuing to increase his increasingly massive lead in the Points Classification of the Green jersey the competition seems almost a forgone conclusion. Anyone who desires to take the fight to Sagan will need to consistently score highly at the Intermediate Sprint and finishing line and hope the Slovakian consistently performs horribly at the same time.
Should the weather forecast change, or prove to be incorrect, the peloton could be in for a rough time given the open unprotected nature of the terrain , as crosswinds could cause havoc in the peloton. After the short lived split seen during Stage 4, the barren Category 4 Côte de Roucy, 1500 metres long at an average gradient of 6.2%, could serve as the launchpad for another bold move.
The peloton will have to navigate several roundabouts when they reach Reims, potentially forcing Giant Shimano’s lead-out to come to the front of the peloton and control proceedings earlier than usual. The final 1200 metres occur on a long straight boulevard relatively free of obstructions, meaning top end speed should be the deciding factor in a large sprint.
One potential chink in the armour of Giant Shimano’s lead-out train could be an injury sustained by John Degenkolb during yesterday’s pave (cobbles) stage. With the German sprinter usually the third-to-last lead-out man in Marcel Kittel’s sprint train it will be interesting to see how they cope.
Given the dominance of Marcel Kittel so far and the poor performances of Lotto Belisol and Andre Griepel it is hard to see anyone defeating Giant Shimano’s current hegemony over the sprint stages. However, should the unthinkable happen we can expect Bryan Coquard of Team Europcar, Mark Renshaw of Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, Arnaud Demare of FDJ.FR, Alexander Kristoff of Team Katusha, and others to be waiting in the background ready to pounce.
Although, after the chaos of yesterday’s stage perhaps the peloton will want a day to rest and recover letting a breakaway steal the spotlight. However, with this being the Tour de France, and all the prestige and PR that goes with it, the teams of the sprinters are unlikely to casually throw away a chance for glory.
No matter the final result it is sure to be yet another energetic and dramatic finish, so join me from 10:30pm AEST for tonight’s live blog.
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