Stage 6 of the Tour takes us from Brest to the Mûr de Bretagne.
Map:
The start goes in Brest, a city and harbour, which shares some similarities with Lorient in terms of maritime tradition and culture. Brest has been visited by aircraft carriers and the like, because of its harbour, that is able to get visits from Captain Jack Sparrow's dinghy and the USS Nimitz as well. Below the harbour vividly painted by Louis-Nicolas Van Blarenberghe in the 18th century:
https://www.pictorem.com/41063/Brest%20harbour,%20with%20a%20ship%20having%20her%20rigging%20installed.html
Speaking of the harbours, Brest's maritime culture is exemplified by the Brest International Maritime Festival...
...which takes place every four years (latest edition 2016, next 2020), where over 1000 naval vessels, such as tall boats, historical replicas, working boats, exotic boats and yachts, is exhibited, and admired by the hundred of thousands visitors.
If you are drawn to this place and find yourself in need of something to eat, avoid the McDonalds and try the local cuisine; it might be your only visit to Bretagne
This crêpe bretonne is said to originate from a clumsy wife, who spilt buckwheat porridge onto a flat, hot stone. This crêpe with buckwheat, max. 30% wheat flour, water and salt is the "salty" variant, but sweet crêpe made of flour, eggs, sugar and milk is also available.
The riders probably won't get to enjoy this, because one delicious crêpe can quickly turn into many! Instead they must focus on the stage profile, which looks like this:
..and zoomed in the last 20 kilometers, where the Mûr is climbed twice:
Mûr de Bretagne itself:
In 2011, stage 4 of that Tour, Alberto Contador, coming fresh (or so it seemed) from the Giro, thought he was the first to win on top of Mûr de Bretagne...
.. but Cadel Evans actually won after a photo finish, edging out the Spaniard, but couldn't distance Thor Hushovd with the single second he needed to take the yellow jersey from him. In the end, what matters is who is in yellow in Paris, and Evans' perseverance in the mountains and his time trialling skills secured him the top spot on the podium in Paris as the first Australian Tour winner.
When the Tour returned to Mûr de Bretagne four years later, Alexis Vuillermoz took his first Tour de France stage victory with a late attack in front of Dan Martin and the peloton lead by Valverde, since he wasn't a threat for Chris Froome's yellow jersey anyway.
How will Mûr de Bretagne be ridden today? Will we see the top guns battle for the stage win, like 2011, or act more hesitating, allowing an oppurtunistic punchy rider to go for glory?
General classification before tomorrow:
1. Greg Van AVERMAET (BMC)
2. Tejay van GARDEREN (BMC) + 2''
3. Philippe GILBERT (Quickstep) + 3''
4. Geraint THOMAS (SKY) + 5''
5. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (Quickstep) + 6''
6. Bob JUNGELS (Quickstep) + 9''
7. Tom DUMOULIN (Sunweb) + 13''
8. Søren KRAGH ANDERSEN (Sunweb) st. *
9. Rigoberto URAN (EF-ED) + 37''
10. Rafal MAJKA (Bora) + 52''
* Youth classification leader
Polka-dot jersey competition before tomorrow:
1. Toms SKUIJNS (Trek) 4
2. Sylvain CHAVANEL (Direct Energie) 4
3. Lilian CALMEJANE (Cofidis) 3
Points jersey competition before tomorrow:
1. Peter SAGAN (Bora) 180
2. Fernando GAVIRIA (Quickstep) 147
3. Alexander KRISTOFF (UAE) 78
4. André GREIPEL (Lotto-Soudal) 69
5. Sonny COLBRELLI (Bahrain) 52
Weather forecast at the Mûr de Bretagne
Map:
The start goes in Brest, a city and harbour, which shares some similarities with Lorient in terms of maritime tradition and culture. Brest has been visited by aircraft carriers and the like, because of its harbour, that is able to get visits from Captain Jack Sparrow's dinghy and the USS Nimitz as well. Below the harbour vividly painted by Louis-Nicolas Van Blarenberghe in the 18th century:
https://www.pictorem.com/41063/Brest%20harbour,%20with%20a%20ship%20having%20her%20rigging%20installed.html
Speaking of the harbours, Brest's maritime culture is exemplified by the Brest International Maritime Festival...
...which takes place every four years (latest edition 2016, next 2020), where over 1000 naval vessels, such as tall boats, historical replicas, working boats, exotic boats and yachts, is exhibited, and admired by the hundred of thousands visitors.
If you are drawn to this place and find yourself in need of something to eat, avoid the McDonalds and try the local cuisine; it might be your only visit to Bretagne
This crêpe bretonne is said to originate from a clumsy wife, who spilt buckwheat porridge onto a flat, hot stone. This crêpe with buckwheat, max. 30% wheat flour, water and salt is the "salty" variant, but sweet crêpe made of flour, eggs, sugar and milk is also available.
The riders probably won't get to enjoy this, because one delicious crêpe can quickly turn into many! Instead they must focus on the stage profile, which looks like this:
..and zoomed in the last 20 kilometers, where the Mûr is climbed twice:
Mûr de Bretagne itself:
In 2011, stage 4 of that Tour, Alberto Contador, coming fresh (or so it seemed) from the Giro, thought he was the first to win on top of Mûr de Bretagne...
.. but Cadel Evans actually won after a photo finish, edging out the Spaniard, but couldn't distance Thor Hushovd with the single second he needed to take the yellow jersey from him. In the end, what matters is who is in yellow in Paris, and Evans' perseverance in the mountains and his time trialling skills secured him the top spot on the podium in Paris as the first Australian Tour winner.
When the Tour returned to Mûr de Bretagne four years later, Alexis Vuillermoz took his first Tour de France stage victory with a late attack in front of Dan Martin and the peloton lead by Valverde, since he wasn't a threat for Chris Froome's yellow jersey anyway.
How will Mûr de Bretagne be ridden today? Will we see the top guns battle for the stage win, like 2011, or act more hesitating, allowing an oppurtunistic punchy rider to go for glory?
General classification before tomorrow:
1. Greg Van AVERMAET (BMC)
2. Tejay van GARDEREN (BMC) + 2''
3. Philippe GILBERT (Quickstep) + 3''
4. Geraint THOMAS (SKY) + 5''
5. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (Quickstep) + 6''
6. Bob JUNGELS (Quickstep) + 9''
7. Tom DUMOULIN (Sunweb) + 13''
8. Søren KRAGH ANDERSEN (Sunweb) st. *
9. Rigoberto URAN (EF-ED) + 37''
10. Rafal MAJKA (Bora) + 52''
* Youth classification leader
Polka-dot jersey competition before tomorrow:
1. Toms SKUIJNS (Trek) 4
2. Sylvain CHAVANEL (Direct Energie) 4
3. Lilian CALMEJANE (Cofidis) 3
Points jersey competition before tomorrow:
1. Peter SAGAN (Bora) 180
2. Fernando GAVIRIA (Quickstep) 147
3. Alexander KRISTOFF (UAE) 78
4. André GREIPEL (Lotto-Soudal) 69
5. Sonny COLBRELLI (Bahrain) 52
Weather forecast at the Mûr de Bretagne
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