Unlike last year, the first week is a bit of a festival for the sprinters and after the short foray into Massif Central, the fast riders will have one final chance before the race heads into the Pyrenees. Stage 6 is a typical transitional stage that will bring the riders from the hilly region in the centre of the country to the foot of the mountain range on the French-Spanish border and as it precedes three days of hard climbing, an eager group of fast riders will be eager to grab another opportunity to go for glory.
The 190.5km stage starts in Arpajon-sur-Cere and brings the riders in a southwesterly direction to Montauban close to the Pyrenees. Starting on the outskirts of Massif Central, the stage has a lumpy beginning before a long descent leads to a flatter part of France. The flat terrain will briefly be interrupted by the category 3 climb of Col des Estaques (2km, 6%) and the category 4 climb of Cot d’Aubin (1.3km, 5.4%) before a gradual uphill section leads to the intermediate sprint at the 77.5km mark. It’s a tough sprint as the final kilometre averages 3.6%.
After the sprint, the terrain again gets significantly flatter and only the category 3 climb of Cote de Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (3.2km, 5.1%) will challenge the riders as they complete their journey to Montauban. The climb comes with 41.5km to go and the final part of the stage has no challenges at all. However, the finale is a bit technical as the riders will go straight through roundabout with 3000m, 1200m and 600m to go respectively. Then a sweeping turn leads onto the 380m finishing straight on a 6.5m wide road. The final kilometre is very slightly descending.
This is the final opportunity for the sprinters before we head into the Pyrenees and the fastmen will have to wait until stage 10 and 11 before they can again go for glory. Hence, there is little doubt that this stage will be firmly controlled by the sprint teams and it will be a surprise if it doesn’t come down to a bunch kick in Montauban. For the GC riders, it will be all about saving energy for the three big Pyrenean stages but as usual the wind can come into play and make it a stressful and nervous day, with crashes a big danger throughout the entire first week of the race.
Montauban last hosted a Tour de France stage in 1998 when Jacky Durand beat Eddy Mazzoleni in a two-rider sprint. One year later it hosted to half-stages of the Route du Sud, a sprint stage won by Robbie McEwen and a time trial won by Christophe Moreau.
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