Tour de France Tour de France 2023, stage 6: Tarbes - Cauterets-Cambasque, 144.9k

[Devil's Elbow]

After possibly the best opening mountain stage in a GT of all time, this one has the unfortunate task of trying to live up to it. Can anyone challenge Vingegaard?

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The route
The stage starts from Tarbes, another Tour favourite. Just like today, it’s a long way until the proper climbing starts, but the run-in is a bit hillier with even a cat.3, Côte de Capvern-les-Bains.

Right before the start of the proper climbing, there is the intermediate sprint in Sarrancolin.

Then, it is time for probably the most classic pair of the Pyrenees - Aspin…

…and Tourmalet, normally a bigger moment in the KOM battle than the GC fight, but stranger things have happened literally today.

After a substantial valley, it is time for the MTF, Cambasque, not the hardest of climbs. After Indurain in the 1989 Tour, Virenque in the 1995 Tour and Rasmussen in the 2003 Vuelta, who will add his name to the roll of perhaps-not-honour?

Final kilometres

 

[VorstM]

Gouvenu: Let's get creative and go over the Aspin and Tourmalet this year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Tourmalet through La Mongie is still an absolute beast. I wonder if Jumbo will try to drill it and essentially eliminate Pogacar here.

 

[zlev11]

all out GC warfare on the Tourmalet

 

[ManicJack]

If Vingo is feeling good and Kuss has recovered well from today, I see Jumbo Visma trying to crack Pogacar again. They have 2 days after to take it easy ish before Puy de Dôme.

 

[Ulle97]

Gouvenu: Let's get creative and go over the Aspin and Tourmalet this year.

Ah lads, what exactly do you want??
The Aspin-Tourmalet is a great combo in this stage. And there is no flat valley between them which is what half the forum here whinge about.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Looking at the results, each team is chipping in to stay in front of Vinge and Jumbo. UAE, Cofidis, AF, and Bora all did their part and Jumbo is still without a win or jersey. What team will attack and get the better of Jumbo this time? Logic says it’s Ineos’s turn to go all out in the break with Bahrain assisting.


Otherwise will anyone finish within a minute of Vinge?

 

[Mayomaniac]

Gall to gofor KoM points once again.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Tourmalet through La Mongie is still an absolute beast. I wonder if Jumbo will try to drill it and essentially eliminate Pogacar here.

I mean, there is no way their plan will be a Vingegaard solo all the way from Tourmalet, so either Kuss would need to outclimb Pogacar by a decent margin or they need someone up the road. That's assuming they even go for it - they really don't need to take any risks. If Vingegaard is still clearly better than Pogacar tomorrow he can take another ~30 seconds on Cambasque alone and that would also just about seal it, and if he isn't they're making themselves more vulnerable than necessary.

 

[sam6]

I'm worried the final climb is not steep enough to cause gaps but too long for them to attack on the Tourmalet

 

[Skalman]

Potential nail in the coffin stage

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Tourmalet record is 45‘48“ by Jaskula and Rominger apparently http://www.climbing-records.com/2018/07/?m=0

 

[memyselfandI]

Today prolly took some edge away from tomorrow. Trek and UAE have a job at hand and Bora and Jumbo can stay close up until the final climb and like leave it for the final sprint. If Skjelmose or Pogi happen to get any sort of blackout then maybe that ignites something more.

 

[Gigs_98]

I really don't see Jumbo doing anything on the Tourmalet. Vingegaard could probably pull it off but why on earth do a 50 km solo when you are well in control. If people think Jumbo should eliminate Pogacar with the strength of their team on the Tourmalet then they have clearly already forgotten anything about todays stage.

I think not much will happen until the final climb but I do have some hope for a Yates attack on the Tourmalet. That's the only long range attack that would make any sense to me.

 

[KOM]

I really don't see Jumbo doing anything on the Tourmalet. Vingegaard could probably pull it off but why on earth do a 50 km solo when you are well in control. If people think Jumbo should eliminate Pogacar with the strength of their team on the Tourmalet then they have clearly already forgotten anything about todays stage.

I think not much will happen until the final climb but I do have some hope for a Yates attack on the Tourmalet. That's the only long range attack that would make any sense to me.

Youre probably right, but Id go in for the kill if I was jumbo and lick my wounds+hope nothing much happens if i was UAE. We shall see.

The only way I see for Pogacar to win the TdF now is clinging on to the faint hope hell get stronger as the race goes on and Vingegoo getting weaker. Its quite unlikely though

 

[ManicJack]

If people think Jumbo should eliminate Pogacar with the strength of their team on the Tourmalet then they have clearly already forgotten anything about todays stage.

What is it that we've forgotten?

 

[Gigs_98]

What is it that we've forgotten?

People here are writing like Pogacar was horrible and is just waiting to be killed off, but that's not what happened. He was still 2nd out of the peloton over the top of the Marie Blanque. If they want to drop Pog on the Tourmalet Vingegaard will have to attack. He's not gonna get dropped by Benoot setting a high pace.

 

[ice&fire]

I wasted tree weeks following the Giro to see barely anything until the last Saturday. All I ask now is have the Tour decided tomorrow, so I can get more than two weeks back.

 

[Salvarani]

Hope that Hindley can recover from the effort today.

A few riders should already be trying to into the break or go for the stage-win/KOM-points.

 

[ManicJack]

People here are writing like Pogacar was horrible and is just waiting to be killed off, but that's not what happened. He was still 2nd out of the peloton over the top of the Marie Blanque. If they want to drop Pog on the Tourmalet Vingegaard will have to attack. He's not gonna get dropped by Benoot setting a high pace.

Yeah. Jumbo, by team strength, eliminating Pogacar and isolating him are two different things for sure.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Ah lads, what exactly do you want??
The Aspin-Tourmalet is a great combo in this stage. And there is no flat valley between them which is what half the forum here whinge about.

It's not about the actual climb itself that we see such criticisms, at least not for me and I know I'm one of the main people who has raised complaints about Tourmalet. It's about the way ASO uses the same mountains year on year and have turned them into brands in their own right, which leads to repetitious routes and misses out on a lot of the beauty and options that France has to offer, while lots of climbs with great history and variety go unused for decades at a time, which often also leads to predictable spectacles many years where every major rider knows the climbs like the back of their hand and neutralise one another because everybody knows when the time to attack is, the time to dose efforts, et cetera (although that has significantly improved recently). The Tourmalet in and of itself is actually a great climb and a bona fide HC which is here being used pretty well, especially given today's stage was raced far harder than many would have expected with an MTF today and given how early it is in the race.

 

[Reynard]

Jumbo will decide how this stage is raced. Bora can't control with this team and UAE should be interrested in a stage where Pogi can fight in a sprint against Jonas in the end.

So does Jumbo want to blow up the race on the Tourmalet? If Jonas feels good I think they try...a lot can happen in the Tour and I could see Jonas putting 90 sec to 2 minute in the field if he has support ahead to pilot him from the Tourmalet peak...

Breakaway win is still possible, as the peleton will be far behind if the teams let Bora pace.

 

[houtdffan]

After possibly the best opening mountain stage in a GT of all time, this one has the unfortunate task of trying to live up to it. Can anyone challenge Vingegaard?

should watch the 1986 TDF

 

[houtdffan]

Gouvenu: Let's get creative and go over the Aspin and Tourmalet this year.

Then Guillen got even more creative and went over Abisque and finishes at Tourmalet

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So there are possible scenarios:
1) JV, full of confidence, decides to put the hammer down on Tourmalet trying to finish off Pogacar (who looks weaker now) for good - Wout would be very helpful in a breakaway (way more than today) to help Vinge on those shallow 20 km.
2) More conservative scenario: Vinge trying to gain some seconds on Cauterets (which isn't as lame climb as it looks on the stage profile, it has a nasty section).
3) Revenge day by UAE, Pogacar to go crazy on cold Tourmalet...time to wake up