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The most challenging, but by no means deciding stage of the 2015 Tour of Utah will be faced by the riders on Sunday Morning when the riders take on the 177.7km route from Salt Lake City to Snowbird. Join The Roar for live race updates and coverage from 5:40am (AEST).
Michael Woods (Optum – Kelly Benefits) might have taken out yesterday’s fifth stage but today the riders will be moving onto much greater and larger challenges in the form of the category 1 climb to Guardsmans pass, which is almost instantly followed by the final climb and only one of two climbs that is outside categorisation on the tour to Snowbird. Being a summit finish will only make life harder for all the riders in the peloton as they shoot for overall glory on the 2015 Tour of Utah.
The stage will kick off in Salt Lake City, where yesterday’s change finished. Almost instantly upon leaving Salt Lake City the race will kick uphill as the riders take on the day’s first objective in the category 4 climb of Little Mountain. For this reason and with what is to follow expect the breakaway to be made up of climbers.
Little Mountain is summited after just 17.5km before a short descent follows and then the category three climb of Big Mountains, summited just 12km later.
Following these opening two climbs the first intermediate sprint will be contested in East Canyon before another little climb upwards, a descent and then what would appear to be around 90km of false flat uphill which will make for a testing day.
The riders will then arrive in Park City where the second intermediate sprint is contested. Directly following that is when the race will heat up as the Category one ascent of Guardsmans Pass is taken on. This will take the riders to almost 3000 metres above sea level and that sort of altitude will make things interesting to see who can stick with the peloton.
A long descent of over 20km will follow before the bottom of the Snowbird is reached. The snowbird has some fearsome gradients, with the average settling in about 9%. Ramps of over 12% will be experienced on the climb which stretches over a distance of almost 10km. The climb will take the riders back to an altitude of 2451 metres above sea level and it doesn’t flatten out at the finish either, climbing all the way to the very top.
Chris Horner (Airgas Safeway), the former Vuelta a Espana rider has to be considered the key favourite for this stage, however he hasn’t had a chance to really test his legs out yet on the Tour. Frank Schleck (Trek Factory) looked to be riding incredibly well yesterday as he moved his way into the top 10 of the General Classification and this climb will suit him more, as it isn’t really for a punchy short effort.
Brent Bookwalter (BMC) will try and maintain his high overall position, whilst Janez Brackovic (United HealthCare) is another pre race favourite to look out for. Lachlan Morton (Jelly Belly) and Lachlan Norris (Drapac) have looked in good touch so far and it will be interesting to see what they can do.
Team Colombia and Bardiani – CSF are both filled with climbers and it will be interesting to see which tactic they take to try and pick up the stage win. Watch out for Daniel Martinez and Edwin Avila (Colombia).
Prediction: Frank Schleck to me looks in the best shape out of the General Classification contenders and I expect him to win the stage. It will be interesting to finally get an assessment as to the form of Chris Horner and I expect him and Bookwalter to complete the top three.
Join The Roar for live coverage of stage 6 in the 2015 Tour of Utah from 5:40am (AEST) and don’t forget to add you comments and thoughts if you are following along with the action.