2013 Tour de France, Stage 6: Aix-en-Provence→Montpellier (176.5 Km)

[SetonHallPirate]

On the profile it looks slightly uphill in the final, I assume it's just exaggerated and is actually pan flat?

Cav for the win. At least a boring flat stage will give me a chance to sleep in.

Based on the profile of the final 5 km, that doesn't look all that demanding (1.2% final kilometer, or, as some might say, uphill false flat). I'd be wondering more about that kicker that starts with about 8 to go, which I can't find a profile for.

 

[manafana]

anyone who crashed today might be nervy too

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Loving that weather forecast

 

[Afrank]

Based on the profile of the final 5 km, that doesn't look all that demanding (1.2% final kilometer, or, as some might say, uphill false flat). I'd be wondering more about that kicker that starts with about 8 to go, which I can't find a profile for.

Shouldn't cause the sprinters any big trouble then.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Echelons stages can be quite fun, but I'd prefer a nice sprint stage with no crashes. Just can't wait for the mountains... I want a nice big battle there, not a chase on Cote d'Azur.

 

[Pulpstar]

Hurrah for the wind. Turns a terribly dull stage into a potentially good one.

 

[Roderick]

I hope The Dawg gets dropped by his own teammates if there are going to be echelons

 

[the sceptic]

Dawg losing 5 minutes tomorrow would make the tour highly entertaining

 

[Simply The Best]

Any chance Impey takes yellow? He only needs to finish 8 places higher then Gerrans on the stage.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Any chance Impey takes yellow? He only needs to finish 8 places higher then Gerrans on the stage.

He needs 7 places IMO. He needed 9 yesterday, he made up 2.

 

[manafana]

impey and gerrans seem pretty closely matched they will be doing their most to keep the yellow till the weekend anyway.

 

[BigMac]

Last ''Hill'' is as easy as this:

http://tracks4bikers.com/tracks/show/147097

Gradients might not be fully accurate.*

 

[search]

He needs 7 places IMO. He needed 9 yesterday, he made up 2.

only 5 places in fact (if the TTT result counts as well - and as far as I know it does)

 

[greenedge better then some]

would love (never would happen) a team like bmc to try an make gaps,heck they have two guys in gc who need to think outside of the box to get near the top 5,10 this year,i'm sure other teams would pitch in.. can dream

 

[ElChingon]

So Rolland or De Gent for the Cat 4 points

Should be a nice side bet.

 

[auscyclefan94]

nice and windy

http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/stage-6/weather.html

hopefully just echelons and no crashes

I hope there are some crosswinds. We haven't really seen any quality echelon racing in the past couple of years at the Tour.

With strong crosswinds it will be raced fast and crashes galore.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Was there not a similar stage in 2009 where HTC split the peleton in half? Hopefully OPQS can cause similar damage.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

impey and gerrans seem pretty closely matched they will be doing their most to keep the yellow till the weekend anyway.

Keeping Gerrans in yellow is quite valuable to the team. Can't see them wanting to shift the focus to Impey at this time.

 

[saneguy]

Cross-winds make this one so much more interesting. I just hope no more crashes. Its become a week of survival!

 

[Ruby United]

In 2011 I would have expected an attack from Gilbert, Cancellara or Chavanel on that last uphill section.

Now Chavanel is working for Cav.

Cancellara isn't racing.

And Gilbert is not who he was in 2011.

 

[Cimber]

I hope there are some crosswinds. We haven't really seen any quality echelon racing in the past couple of years at the Tour.

With strong crosswinds it will be raced fast and crashes galore.

The forecast seem to suggest that there will be strong crosswinds.

On one hand I love echelon riding and the chaos crosswind means. On the other hand I hate when some favorites lose the whole race on such a stage. Especially the climber types with weak teams are at risk

 

[GuyIncognito]

Frodo's best chance for a stage win before he reaches Mount Doom on saturday

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The forecast seem to suggest that there will be strong crosswinds.

On one hand I love echelon riding and the chaos crosswind means. On the other hand I hate when some favorites lose the whole race on such a stage. Especially the climber types with weak teams are at risk

well, isn't this what racing is about? Take opportunities to drop competitors out of the game. Otherwise we can just neutralize all the stages until the Alpe fest.

I think a team like Lotto should try and eliminate a couple of smaller guys, I mean they have to do some work to set up a bunch sprint anyway. Sky and Saxo could allocate a couple of resources too, if they are placed correctly.

Let the fun begin.

 

[Cimber]

well, isn't this what racing is about? Take opportunities to drop competitors out of the game.

Of course it is. But lets say all a guy like JRod loses 5 mins today. That will make the mountain stages a lot less interesting.

So it is a part of racing. So is crashes.

Those crosswind stages can be really exciting and dynamic, and I like the echelons. I really lose watching those stages, but I dont necessarily like their impacts on the rest of the race. They might take the edge out of the mountain stages.

I am not saying they shouldnt be in the race at all, I just cross my fingers (see what I did there ) that no of the serious GC guys lose a bunch of time.

Personally I want them all to be fit and close in the GC when they hit AX3

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Of course it is. But lets say all a guy like JRod loses 5 mins today. That will make the mountain stages a lot less interesting.

So it is a part of racing. So is crashes.

Those crosswind stages can be really exciting and dynamic, and I like the echelons. I really lose watching those stages, but I dont necessarily like their impacts on the rest of the race. They might take the edge out of the mountain stages.

I am not saying they shouldnt be in the race at all, I just cross my fingers (see what I did there ) that no of the serious GC guys lose a bunch of time.

Personally I want them all to be fit and close in the GC when they hit AX3

In this case, Katusha would need to come up with a plan to get J-Rod back in the game, i.e. wheel sucking goes out the window.

Personally I have no problem with the prospect as long as the dropped time isn't a result of injuries.

I wanna see racing with drama, preferable every day.