Stage 6: Remiremont - Morteau, 159 km
Start time: 11:40 CEST. There will be live pictures from 13:50-ish
Expected finish time: Around 16:00.
After yesterday's flustercuck of a final, the race continues with a stage designed by/for
@RedheadDane, presumably. After an early cat. 3 climb, where Silvia Persico and Puck Pieterse can battle for QOM points, the route will pass through Thibaut Pinot's hometown of Mélisey and his birthplace in Lure. That will however already have happened once we get live pictures.
The last 75 km contain 4 categorised climbs and some uncategorised ascents/false flat sections, as well both an intermediate sprint and a bonus sprint. The 17 km stretch from Consolation-Maisonnettes to the top of Côte des Fins average around 3%, but reaches 9% at its steepest points. This is followed by last 15 km towards the finish in Morteau. The final few hundred meters is slightly uphill (2-4%).
Some riders will be out for revenge, while others will be hoping for an easy day where they can recover from the effects of yesterday's crashes. The big question is what will SDW do? Or perhaps rather, what will Demi do? I'm fairly sure she has reconned this stage, but she obviously needs to have the legs in order to try something today, and it's possible that she'll rather wait until tomorrow.
A breakaway victory is a likely occurrence, but as we know from women's races, a breakaway might not actually be formed until it's too late for it to succeed.
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