After yesterdays fireworks, what does tomorrow have in store? Lets have a look.

The main point of interest of stage 6 is probably Colombey-les-deux-églises, the village of Charles de Gaulle. The French ruler at the time, he was on the road side waiting for the Tour in 1960 but as the peloton had been informed of his presence, a stop was organized by French rider Henry Anglade to enable the General to shake the hand of yellow jersey holder Gastone Nencini who was going to win the Tour de France the day after at the Parc des Princes in Paris. That stage also finished in Troyes. Starting from Vesoul today, it’ll be one of the longest stages of the 104th Tour de France and a very important one for the sprinters who will look at two lines: the intermediate sprint in Colombey-les-deux-églises at km 135 and the final one in Troyes after 216km of racing. French champion Arnaud Démare wears the green jersey. He’s hungry for one more victory against the likes of Marcel Kittel and André Greipel. The list of the sprinters has been made thinner by the disqualification of Peter Sagan and the withdrawal of Mark Cavendish. Démare leads the points competition by fourty points over Kittel. Even before the end of the first week of the Tour, French fans are already asking him to become the first Frenchman to win the green jersey this century.

So, a sprint day then? Lets have a look at the finish then:

The Finish: they ride through Troyes on urban roads. There’s a left hand bend with 2km to go marked as dangerous in the roadbook but if it’s a 90° bend, it’s wide. The flat run through town continues with a wide chicane just before the flamme rouge and then a long finishing straight.

Who’s in the mix, lets see what Inrng has to say.

The Contenders: Arnaud Démare again? He’s in the green jersey and the big roads suit him and his FDJ’s sprint train again. Hiring Italians Jacopo Guarnieri and Davide Cimolai over the winter has boosted the team a lot and it seems they’re after Ramon Sinkeldam of Giant-Shimano too, they’re becoming more international… like in the late 1990s in the days of Bradley McGree, Baden Cooke and Bradley Wiggins.

Marcel Kittel lost his Quick Step train in Vittel which at least kept him away from the danger. He should be back again here and we’ll get a contest with FDJ.

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) has been consistently close so he only needs a touch of luck for a win. With each passing day Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) is getting better but how to beat the names cited so far, he needs a wilder finish with a maze of bends to beat the big trains.

Among the others Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was close in Vittel but lacked the speed in the finish, Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto-Jumbo) still needs a clear run at the line.

As ever, we finish with a couple pics from the day before:

The BMC train.

Tommy V, in the break and gurning on.

Aru, a GC dark horse?

The expected podium?

I love a bit of Tommy V!

Don’t think there’s any dark horse about Aru. He was as good as anyone in the Dauphine and won the Italian champs in some style with a solo break. I’ve not been entirely convinced by him in the past but he’s looking really good this year and this Tour suits him well. Astana don’t seem quite at the level of Movistar and Sky in support though.

Sagan FTW.

Sagan FTW.

got his name all over it !

Ok, he maybe winning the publicity war and the controversy around St4.

So… maybe a “bloke on a mamil bike” then.
And to hoover up the Green Jersey Points too.

It does look suspiciously like a Sagan stage doesn’t it? I guess that means that without Sagan it should be a Matthews or a Van Avermaet stage?

Looking at the profile again, the hill look far enough out not to cause any issues to the sprinters, I’m going to say that it’s not a day for Kittel, I’m going for Greipel I think.

it should be a Matthews or a Van Avermaet stage?

Will either be let out to play considering they are there for Porte/Yates?

Démare for the intermediates and Kittel for the stage?

Don’t think Démare has ever beaten Kittel in a straight sprint…

Not sure why but Greipel is growing on me as a rider, maybe it’s some of his domestique riding we’ve seen, maybe some of his trying for a break away etc, but possibly more because he just gives his all and genuinely seems to love the sprinting and the battles he has.

Others like Kittel are a bit too robotic for me….

Agreed about Greipel – I’d like him to take it but I’m not sure he’s quite got it in him any longer (probably hence the “extra” things he does rather than just winning sprints)

May I just add that Aru is, if such a thing were possible, uglier on a bike than Froome.

😯

I like him. Gives everything, was visibly delighted to have a proper tricolore jersey and adds a lot of excitement to races.

Pinched from bikeradar…

Juraj Sagan to take the stage (sporting dark sunglasses and a new haircut) 8)

May I just add that Aru is, if such a thing were possible, uglier on a bike than Froome.

🙂 It was nice to see someone go all in rather than just hit their numbers though..

Aru’s always ridden “full gas” and dribbled, such an expressive rider we’ve not seen in the Bunch for many a year. Live by the legs, die by the legs.
One of the most do or die riders, absolutely one of my favourites of the current era. You can keep all your “power by numbers” treadmill riders, replace half of them with Aru types and you’re made up for an exciting TdF.
One of the most exciting performances of his was last year when him and Nibbs were heading up a Doli and Aru fired off and Nibbs shouted after him, but he was gone.. gurning into the distance tears pouring from his eyes and mouth agape. Utterly fabulous.
I don’t want any trainer to get hold of him and turn him into a FroomeMachine, I want him to stay clear and true and ride until he pukes.
Fabulous.

As for today, Sags brother or Majka but still can see beyond “rotor cutter bloke”

One of the most do or die riders, absolutely one of my favourites of the current era. You can keep all your “power by numbers” treadmill riders, replace half of them with Aru types and you’re made up for an exciting TdF.

Lets see how the legs go today 😉

Part of me thinks they either expected him to blow or they know he will blow later in the tour

Part of me thinks they either expected him to blow or they know he will blow later in the tour

True…..but I’d rather watch a rider blow his tits off than sit there on a wattbike..

May I just add that Aru is, if such a thing were possible, uglier on a bike than Froome.

Oh yes, I watched it and thought exactly the same. His bike however is bloody lovely.

At the opposite end of the spectrum I appear to have developed a bit of a man crush on Michal [ctrl-c] [ctrl-v] Kwiatkowski. Love the way he rides his bike, properly well rounded rider, seems to love being on a bike and is had the jersey flapping to get the crowd clapping yesterday. He’s the kind of rider I’d love to me if I were 10 years younger and had some talent. Swoons…

The problem for me about Aru is, like Fuglsang, Astana and Vino. I also can’t bear to see Vaughters team doing well, his cynical marketing bollocks around clean cycling leaves me cold.

it should be a Matthews or a Van Avermaet stage?

Will either be let out to play considering they are there for Porte/Yates?[/quote]

I’m pretty sure Matthews isn’t riding for Yates given they’re on different teams 🙂

Just crossed today’s stage east of Troyes on our way down to the Alps! Missed the riders by 20 min I reckon 🙁

but I’d rather watch a rider blow his tits off than sit there on a wattbike..

Exactly. As I said to the missus “at last some proper climbing”.

Seems Bora have appealed to CAS to get Sagan reinstated. They don’t know if it’s possible but say that he’s available to join the race again.

Could a court appeal see Peter Sagan reinstated to the Tour de France? His team is hoping so

“We appealed yesterday morning at the CAS because in the UCI rules, as far as we understood, there is no chance of an official appeal as the penalty was less than 200 Swiss francs,” he said.

I was curious as to why the punishment was so harsh yet the fine so low. Deliberate to avoid appeal I guess.

Fines are silly in pro cycling. Look here (from page 11)

[list]Things like –
[*]removing helmet, DSQ and 100 CHF fine[/*]
[*]Sheltering in slipstream of team car, 20 CHF[/*]
[*]carrying a glass container, 50 CHF[/*][/list]

1000 appears to be the ABSOLUTE maximum. Given Sagan’s supposed salary, it’s hardly a disincentive to not do things

This stage is exciting.

I feel for the 3 guys in the break who will suffer tomorrow for absolutely no reason.

I feel for the 3 guys in the break who will suffer tomorrow for absolutely no reason.

Plenty of publicity for their sponsors is that standard response. I’ve been watching the stage from the start, while working, and have no idea who the three riders are or which teams. So much for working at the front all day.

Better publicity to be taken out by a parasol!

Plenty of publicity for their sponsors is that standard response

Nah, its so their mum’s can see them on telly 😆

That’s better, a proper, old fashioned transition stage. No drama, a doomed break, Kittel wins, GC unchanged, lovely.

Was quite impressive by Kittel. Only saw one quick overhead but the acceleration in about half a dozen pedal strokes that took him from a couple of bike lengths back to the win looked mightily impressive.

Demare managed to get through a pretty non-existent gap in the final few metres as well. I was expecting another into the barriers moment a la Cav but he made it through beautifully.

EBH got left a bit high and dry, had no option but to go for a long one.

Hmmm, lovely countryside.

That’s the beauty of watching the TdF, you get to see some stunning landscapes and spectacular Chateau.

The race, well bit dull wantit.

More of the same tomorrow. Quite handy really as I’ve a busy day and won’t need to worry about missing the action 🙂