Stage 6 takes the riders over Col du Lautaret and Chamrousse, before a descent takes them to Grenoble, where the stage winner will be decided. It’s a tough stage, but the descent could bring a couple of riders together, which means we could see a sprint for the win today.
It’s another sunny day in France, but there’s a lot of wind at the start. Surprisingly, the bookmakers doesn’t fancy Contador
much, but hold Dekker Spilak Amador
as favourites for the stage win.
Bøchman Vorontsov Kruopis
kicks today’s stage off, attacking from the very beginning.
Rosseler Joly Bole
quickly find out that this is probably the early breakaway, and they attack to bridge the gap.
They manage to make contact with the 3 first attackers, and they’re going over the Col du Lautaret 2’10 ahead of the peloton. Joly
takes the 10 points on offer, Vorontsov Bøchman
follow behind.
Poels Brolin Fedrigo
attacks away from the peloton just before we hit the top of Col du Lautaret. Jack Wolfskin doesn’t have faith in Rosseler it seems, and that’s quite understandable, as he isn’t a climber, and it will take a climber to win today’s stage.
118km to go, and the trio catch the breakaway on the descent. With 118 kilometers to go, we’ve got 9 riders up front, their lead is 2’30.
The first intermediate sprint is up for grab, but no one really wants it, as none of them stand a chance of the green jersey. Vorontsov
rolls over first, followed by Bøchman Fedrigo
Their lead has extended with 1 minute on the descent, they now lead with 3’30.
No doubts they’re allowed some TV-time today. The peloton, led by Warner Brothers
are 5’40 behind the front 9 with 70 kilometers left.
Siutsou
tries a surprising attack 5 kilometers before the final intermediate sprint. He’s quickly allowed a minute by Warner Brothers, and he starts to chase the breakaway on his own. Arroyo succeeded yesterday, Siutsou is a worse climber, but he can't be underestimated by the peloton, then he might "pull an Arroyo."
Brolin
takes the final intermediate sprint, ahead of Bole Fedrigo
But just like the first intermediate, they don’t sprint for it, and it’s some seconds of cheap fame for wild card team Saab. Their gap is almost 7 minutes back to the peloton now, meaning it’s starting to look good for a stage win.
Siutsou
is doing great. After his attack, he has managed to make himself a gap of 3’10 back to the peloton, and he’s chasing 3’25 behind the front 9 when he starts the climb to Chamrousse.
And with 14 kilometers to the top of the mountain, he catches the breakaway. The peloton is still led by Warner Brothers
But they’re yet to speed up, they’re still chasing 6’25 behind.
Siutsou’s
pace immediately forces Kruopis Joly Bole Rosseler
to let go.
Back in the peloton, it’s finally action with 13 kilometers left of climbing. Serpa
attacks! His attacking strength isn’t in the same league as Contador’s though, and he has to settle into his rhythm fairly quickly, and he tries to squeeze something more than those 30 seconds his acceleration gave.
Warner Brothers continue their slow and steady pace for Spilak
Serpa isn’t a threat for Spilak, and they quickly allow him a gap of 1’30. Surely, some of Spilak’s challengers must raise the pace?
Siutsou
leaves everyone behind with 9 kilometers left of climbing. He’s looking for one of those epic solo wins today!
And with 10 kilometers left of climbing for the peloton, Warner Brothers has actually allowed Siutsou
up to 3rd overall. He started the day 10’33 down on Spilak, right now, he’s 8’33 up the road. Serpa
is also giving it his best, he has taken 3’20 on the peloton so far on the climb.
Going over the top of Chamrousse, Siutsou
is looking determined. And that’s not without reason! He’s the virtual leader of the race! He’s going over the top 11’21 ahead of the peloton, where Warner Brothers still seems confident to chase slow, and no one wants to help them.
Vorontsov
is 2nd over the climb, but he’s more than 3 minutes behind Siutsou. It looks like the Belarusian only needs to keep himself on the bike, and the stage win is surely his.
Poels Serpa & Bøchman
comes over the top 4’28 behind Siutsou. Clever move from Serpa, he caught them 1 kilometers earlier, but now he’s relying on help from his team mate Bøchman on the descent. Brolin
follows 25 seconds behind, he will need to take his chances on the descent.
Fedrigo
is next over the mountain, but he will need to do the descent like a demon to better his stage placing on the descent. He’s 6’50 behind Siutsou. 50 seconds behind Fedrigo, follow Joly Kruopis
They could catch Fedrigo, but not much more, I think.
Bole
is the final rider going over the summit ahead of the peloton, he’s 1’50 ahead of the slow-chasing peloton.
The peloton is still led by Warner Brothers, and there’s no doubt they’ve been going slow, very slow. There are still 53 riders left, and they’re 11’40 behind Siutsou. What a shocking ride, it seems like they’re just handing over the yellow jersey.
Siutsou
stays on his bike, and he does it well. The trio behind doesn’t manage to take much time on him, and with 5800 meters left, all of them being flat, he can smile. It’s 5800 meters of joy.
Poels
looks empty, and he has to let the duo from Festina go with 8 kilometers left.
Siutsou
can celebrate early. He concludes a brilliant solo ride with the stage win. Will he take the jersey too?
Vorontsov
holds on to 2nd place, more than 4 minutes behind Siutsou.
On the final flat, there’s no doubt Serpa
is hunting a good overall placing here. He thanks Bøchman for the help, and starts his sprint early.
An easy and quiet stage for the peloton was too good to be true, and as the descent is about to be finished, there’s a huge crash. Kashechkin
is an easy spot, he clearly goes down. There’s also a rider from Festina and Jack Wolfskin there, and after some hectic moments on the race radio, it’s clear they’re Contador Plaza
Taaramäe Rohregger Löfkvist Arroyo
are some of the riders not crashing, but they were blocked by the crash, and with 6 kilometers left they’re chasing for dear life to get the same time as the other favourites.
Not knowing their leader has crashed, Serpa & Bøchman
are next to cross the finishing line, Serpa is about 5 minutes behind Siutsou.
Poels
is next, getting 5th on the stage.
Brolin
takes 6th, solid ride from him, honouring the race and their invitation.
Fedrigo
comes home in 7th. The home favourite must be a bit disappointed, he was definitely looking for a stage win today. But it was always going to be hard when Siutsou made contact with them, to not mention Serpa.
Kruopis
outsprints Joly
for 8 th place and 2 ProTour points.
Zabriskie
was one of those held up by the crash, but he sprints good, and takes the sprint in the peloton. A great day for Pendleton's, but did Zabriskie maneuver cost Siutsou the overall lead?
No, not at all. Siutsou is in yellow, by quite a margin aswell, the peloton crosses the line almost 12 minutes behind Siutsou. Chapeau Siutsou!
Paterski
sprints home the unlucky crashers, 13’30 behind stage winner, and race leader, Siutsou. Plaza Kashechkin Contador
can only hope they are good to go tomorrow, being able to bring a good performance back to their team, as especially Plaza's and Contador's Dauphine's has been filled by bad luck this year. Sprick is the only rider who needs to abandon the race due to the crash. Hopefully he'll be back training pretty quick, preparing himself for his next race.
The favourites, and Warner Brothers decided to take a day off today, and especially one rider was able to profit on that. Siutsou is the new race leader, 1'35 ahead of Spilak and 2'05 ahead of Phinney. Will the Belarusian hold on "tomorrow," where the riders will face the Queen stage of this year's edition, finishing on Alpe d'Huez? Also, Serpa climbs in the overall classification, he now sits 13th, which is better than Contador, who dropped to 14th thanks to his crash.
