'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 Today is the first of three hard days in the saddle for the peloton. There are five climbs in total on stage 6 with the category 1 Col de Bourigaille and summit finish on the category 2 Fayence set to play a crucial role in today's proceedings.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 As the peloton hit around 1,500 metres to go the road takes a sharp turn upwards before levelling out slightly for the final 500m. Carlos Betancur could be on for another victory here, if yesterday's efforts haven't taken their toll. The punchy climb will suit the Colombian.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 88km remaining from 221.5km The pace of racing is a little higher today with an average speed of 44.5kph. The gap to the 10 leaders has also come down, they now hold an advantage of 2:15 on the main group.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 The high speed will no doubt show when the riders reach the final four climbs. Today's tricky finish could allow for another late break to succeed.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 21-year-old neo-pro Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) finished second behind Betancur yesterday. The Luxembourg rider pushed Betancur right to the finish line, saying that the result was "very special" to him.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 The peloton are now into their fourth hour of racing. They have sat up a little and the gap to the break has extended out to 2:25 83 kms to go
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 Sky will have to work hard today if they want to keep Thomas in the yellow jersey. While John Degenkolb is unlikely to be in the top 10 by the end of the day the Welshman is keenly aware of the potential threats further down the classification. He believes that Astana could be one of the biggest challengers for his jersey.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 Marco Canola (Bardiani-CSF) has sat up, leaving us with Nicola Boem, Jay Thomson (MTN Qhubeka), Bjorn Thurau (Europcar) and Cesare Benedetti (NetApp Endura) in the lead.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff-Saxo) knows these road well, and the finish like the back of his hands as he drops his children off at nursey right by the line. He's certainly capable of contesting a sprint like today's and his experience will certainly help.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 Cavendish and the other pure sprinters won't have it all their own way though, the finish is both technical and demanding, with tight streets in the finishing circuit and then a final kick up at 5 per cent to the line. On paper, at least, it's got Peter Sagan written all over it.
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 Bennati:“It won’t be easy, it's a complicated finale,” Bennati explained. “The route goes through a medieval arch and then turns immediately right. There are 200 metres that are quite steep and then after that, there are cobbles on a 5% slope until the finish.”
'Dale Posted March 14, 2014 Posted March 14, 2014 The sun is out today as well and there's little in the way of wind, so we've perfect conditions for racing at this time of year. Even though the break have over 6 minutes, you'd certainly expect a full-on reaction from the peloton within the next few minutes.
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