Stage 6 Results

General Classification after Stage 6:

Hushovd tops uphill sprint — cyclingnews
Full Results (click on "Stage Standing") — letour.fr
high-res victory salute
  Last 1.6 Km (03:17 dutch) — nos
Hushovd wins wet, crash-filled day as Garmin’s Millar is swept up at final km — velonews
 Hushovd is Freire te snel af in Barcelona — sporza.be
Hushovd knuste alle i Barcelona — msn.tv2sporten.no
  Stage 6 Last Km (01:00) — eurosport
  Armstrong Post Stage: "Scary Day" (02:45) — eurosport
  Cancellara Remains Confident" (01:31) — eurosport
  ITV stage 6 podcast with Matt Rendell, Ned Boulting and Chris Boardman — ITV
Millar happy with Tour performance despite no stage win — cyclingweekly.co.uk
  Stage 6 Recap/Highlights (03:12) — letour.fr/aso
9 Big Photos from Stage 6 — sirotti
Graham Watson Stage 6 Photos — grahamwatson
  Versus Stage 6 Recap — versus
  Pre and Post Interviews: Hushovd, Millar, Cancellara, Farrar, Hincapie — versus
  Last 7 Km (10:00 italian) — rai
  Why Girona, Spain Has Been Home To American Pro Cyclists (01:30) — espn
  Stage 6 Highlights Part 1 (01:40) — eurosport
  Stage 6 Highlights Part 2 (01:40) — eurosport
  A well edited montage of video highlights set to music (02:39) — eurosport

Post Stage Analysis

Hushovd Wins in the Rain in Spain
Millar attacks, but falls short, Cancellara still in Yellow as mountains approach

It was very nearly an epic win for David Millar of Garmin-Slipstream, who attacked on the final climb of the day. But with the line in sight, Millar ran short of legs, chased down by the hard-charging field. Thor Hushovd of Cervélo TestTeam won the stage in Barcelona ahead of Oscar Freire of Rabobank and José Joaquín Rojas of Caisse d’Épargne.

The win for Hushovd has re-opened the battle in the points classification as the Norwegian came within a point of stripping the Green Jersey from Mark Cavendish of Columbia-HTC. In the general classification, Fabian Cancellara continues to wear the Yellow Jersey of race leader, followed by Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador. Tomorrow, it’s into the mountains for the first mountain top finish of this year’s Tour.

The Story

The early break went today at kilometer 30 under the impetus of British rider David Millar of Garmin-Slipstream. Three riders joined Millar including Stéphane Augé of Cofidis, Amets Txurruka of Euskaltel-Euskadi, and Sylvain Chavanel of Quick Step. Over the first four categorized climbs of the day, Stéphane Augé took the points and will wear the Polka Jersey of mountains leader tomorrow. Over the Collsacreu, Txurruka lagged behind the other three, but soon bridged back across on the descent. Behind, Astana led the main field, and held the gap to just under 2:00. With just over 65 kilometers to go, David Millar was the race leader on the road, the virtual Yellow.

On wet roads, Astana continued to keep the pace high in the Yellow Jersey group. The team of Contador and Armstrong did much of the work today to control the gap to the break. With 35 kilometers to race, the gap stood at just over 1:00. Both Cervélo TestTeam and Rabobank began to contribute to the chase for their sprinters Thor Hushovd and Oscar Freire. As the gap ticked down and the rain fell harder, a sprint finish looked inevitable.

On the final climb of the day with 28 kilometers to race, David Millar attacked from the break. The group of four had just under a minute over the main field led by a disorganized mix of Rabobank, Milram, and Cervélo. A crash in a roundabout also disrupted the chase, and took down Michael Rogers and Heinrich Haussler. Both riders continued, but Rogers finished more than thirteen minutes down, his general classification hopes gone.

None of the break could react to Millar’s attack immediately, and on the slopes of the Côte de Conreria, the Garmin-Slipstream rider steadily pulled away. Recognizing the possibilities in Millar’s attack, Txurruka set off to join him. The Basque rider from Euskaltel-Euskadi came close, but never made it across. Meanwhile, from the main field, Rémi Pauriol of Cofidis attacked as Astana and Rabobank took up the chase.

There were now five groups on the road: Millar attacking, Txurruka bridging, Chavanel and Augé from the early break, Pauriol on the attack from the main field, and the Yellow Jersey group led by Astana. With 26 kilometers to race, Millar held 15 seconds over the break and just over a minute over the main field. The rain-soaked, technical roads offered Millar a slim advantage over the main field and the possibility of hanging on for a solo victory.

As the kilometers counted down to the finish, Millar’s gap dropped, then built up, then dropped again. With 15 kilometers to go, the British crono specialist held just over a minute over the main field. Astana still sat on the front, but had slowed their chase in the wet conditions. Inside 10 kilometers to go, the gap to Millar still stood at 1:08, while Milram, Rabobank, and Caisse d’Épargne began to rev up the chase. Crashes, meanwhile, broke up the bunch behind the chase. Laurens Ten Dam and Yukiya Arashiro slipped on a paint line and went down. A second crash took out five riders, including Belgian National Champion Tom Boonen. No sprint for Boonen, today, after that mishap.

As Millar hit the wide boulevards leading to the Parc Montjuic, the advantage shifted to the chase. Though the wet roads persisted, the wide straight roads to the Plaça d’Espanya in Barcelona left Millar nowhere to hide. At 5 kilometers to go, Millar still held over 30 seconds over the chase. Milram, Columbia, and Rabobank had the race well in hand, though, and were steadily closing down Millar’s escape.

As the field hit the slopes of the climb to the finish, it was clear that Millar’s big day out had ended. Pedaling squares, Millar slipped back into the bunch as it charged onward to the sprint. Tony Martin of Columbia-HTC tried to go early, but couldn’t gain any ground over the fast-moving field. The field spread across the road, the sprint disorganized and slowed by the climb. Alberto Contador sat near the front, not taking any risks of missing a split in the finale.

Filippo Pozzato opened the sprint, followed by José Joaquín Rojas of Caisse d’Épargne. Then came a big acceleration from Oscar Freire, but from behind, Thor Hushovd unwound his big sprint and overtook Freire. At the line, Thor Hushovd took the win ahead of Freire and Rojas. Gerald Ciolek of Milram and Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas-Doimo rounded out the top five. Fabian Cancellara finished tenth, and successfully defended his Yellow Jersey for another day. Cadel Evans also had a good ride, and finished ninth.

Today marked Thor Hushovd’s seventh Tour de France stage victory. Hushovd has also won the Green Jersey in the past, and is now nipping at the heels of sprinter Mark Cavendish. After the stage, Hushovd said, "Of course, winning makes me very happy. It's always important to win a stage at the Tour de France." "I knew that today would be a good opportunity for me. I was able to get on the wheel of Freire and that was the perfect place to be," he explained. His goal of a stage win in the first week accomplished, Hushovd, will now work to help team leader Carlos Sastre. Cervélo TestTeam manager Thomas Campana, meanwhile, has renewed faith in Hushovd’s Green Jersey chances. “Everything is possible now. We are now in the hunt for the Green Jersey.”

As for Millar, the Garmin-Slipstream rider said after that stage that he knew he couldn’t survive alone on the wide boulevards leading to the finish. “I didn’t plan to attack, but we started the stage from near my house. I rode more with my heart than with my head,” he said. Millar dropped out of the top ten in the general classification after his adventures today, but will no doubt try again for a stage win before the Tour reaches Paris.

General Classification Update

Here is the current top ten:
Fabian Cancellara Saxo Bank
Lance Armstrong Astana :00
Alberto Contador Astana :19
Andreas Klöden Astana :23
Levi Leipheimer Astana :31
Bradley Wiggins Garmin-Slipstream :38
Tony Martin Columbia-HTC :52
Christian Vandevelde Garmin-Slipstream 1:16
Gustav Larsson Saxo Bank 1:22
Maxime Monfort Columbia-HTC 1:29

The general classification shuffled a bit after today’s stage, as several riders dropped out of the top ten. Fabian Cancellara still wears the Yellow Jersey of race leader, while Lance Armstrong sits second at same time and Alberto Contador is third at 19 seconds.

Continuing his rough Tour so far, Denis Menchov finished 1:02 down on the stage, and currently sits in 64th in the general classification at 4:54. Garmin-Slipstream riders David Millar and David Zabriskie both dropped out of the top ten today, but Christian Vandevelde has now moved up to eighth. Haimar Zubeldia of Astana also dropped out of the top ten and is now fifteenth at 1:41. A crash today ended the general classification hopes of Michael Rogers of Columbia-HTC and he finished the stage more than thirteen minutes down. Columbia-HTC has confirmed that Rogers suffered no fractures in the crash, and will start tomorrow’s stage.

Other General Classification riders: Roman Kreuziger of Liquigas-Doimo @ 1:31, Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas-Doimo @ 1:36, Andy Schleck of Saxo Bank @ 1:41, Fränk Schleck of Saxo Bank @ 2:17, Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas-Doimo @ 2:32, Carlos Sastre of Cervélo TestTeam @ 2:44, Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto @ 2:59, Denis Menchov of Rabobank @ 4:54.

Other Classifications: Stéphane Augé of Cofidis takes over as leader of the mountains classification after his long day out in the break. Augé crossed the line first over the first three climbs of the day and leads Jussi Veikkanen of Français des Jeux by 5 points. Tomorrow’s stage should overturn completely the standings in the mountains classification.

Today’s stage significantly altered the situation in the points classification. With his stage win today, Thor Hushovd made a serious run at Mark Cavendish who finished sixteenth on the stage. Cavendish now leads the points classification by just one point over Hushovd. Gerald Ciolek is third, Tyler Farrar fourth. Tony Martin still wears the White Jersey of best young rider, ahead of Roman Kreuziger and Vincenzo Nibali. David Millar received the award for most combative on today’s stage and wears the red numbers tomorrow.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow, the Tour heads into the Pyrénées for the first mountain-top finish of this year’s race. The stage, which is among the longest in this year’s Tour, finishes at the ski station on Arcalís in the principality of Andorra. The general classification battle is on tomorrow, as the climbers will not pass up this opportunity to gain time on their adversaries. With the exception of Alberto Contador, many of the climbers have lost time during this difficult first week of the Tour.

With four riders in the top five, Astana is well-placed to take over the race lead, though it remains an open question as to which rider will actually wear the jersey at end of the day tomorrow. Fabian Cancellara is not known for his climbing, and would need a super ride on Arcalis to continue in Yellow, but he is not a rider to underestimate. Still, it is likely that the Saxo Bank rider will at last concede the shirt tomorrow. Watch for riders like Carlos Sastre, Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, and Franco Pellizotti to go on the attack tomorrow on the roads of Arcalís.

Course Preview

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Terrain Type:   Bumpy, but not mountainous. Breakaway country.
GC Importance:   Minimal. The Yellow Jersey could change hands today, but in the long run, this stage won't decide the Tour.

The Climbs
Côte de Sant Feliu de Guixols, 2.0 km, avg. 5.4 %, Catégorie 4
Côte de Tossa de Mar, 3.8 km, avg. 4.2 %, Catégorie 4
Côte de Sant Vicenç de Montalt, 3.3 km, avg. 5.2 %, Catégorie 3
Collsacreu, 4.1 km, avg. 5.2 %, Catégorie 3
Côte de la Conreria, 4.7 km, avg. 4.5 %, Catégorie 4

The Tour de France now heads into Spain for a brief visit. Continuing the Mediterranean theme of this first week of the Tour, the stage visits Gerona and Barcelona. This course has breakaway written all over it, and includes five categorized climbs and few flat kilometers. The final climb of the day, the Côte de la Conreria, lies 22 kilometers from the finish, close enough to influence the stage outcome. The finish is also uphill. The break should stay away today.

This year marks the first ever visit of the Tour de France to Gerona. Drawn by the good weather and hilly terrain, many American riders racing in Europe have chosen Girona as their home-base on the continent. The stage finishes in Barcelona, the capital of Cataluña. The city has hosted a stage finish twice previously, and the Tour visited Barcelona most recently in 1965. That year, the stage began in Aix-les-Thermes and climbed two major cols in freezing conditions. Spanish rider José Pérez Francés of Ferrys won the stage after a 223 kilometer solo break, which is among the longest in Tour history. Italian Felice Gimondi of Salvarani wore the leader’s jersey that day, and went on to celebrate the overall victory in Paris. This year, the stage finishes in the Parc de Montjuic, site of the 1929 World Exposition.

Profile Details

The stage sets out from Gerona in bumpy terrain. The first categorized climb comes after 32 kilometers of racing. If no one has established a successful breakaway, the category 4 Côte de Sant Feliu de Guixols should provide a launch pad for the attackers. The climb lasts 2.0 kilometers and has an average gradient of 5.4%. Nothing too difficult there. From the summit of the Côte de Sant Feliu de Goixols, the course continues along a jagged plateau for about 20 kilometers before descending.

The stage follows the coastline for much of the day, and passes through Tossa de Mar on the way to the second climb of the day. The Côte de Tossa de Mar climbs 3.8 kilometers at an average gradient of 4.2%. It is rated a category 4 and summits at kilometer 55. The break should be well-established by this point, but there might be a bit of a scuffle for the mountain points. Podium time is always a good thing. Just after the climb comes the first intermediate sprint of the day in Lloret de Mar.

From Lloret de Mar, the next 25 kilometers are relatively flat. At kilometer 85.5, there is a second intermediate sprint in the town of Sant Pol de Mar. The stage continues to linger on the coast, and passes through Canet de Mar and Arenys de Mar. At Caldes d’Estrac after approximately 90 kilometers of racing, the course turns inland away from the coast. Say adios to the ocean views, at least for now.

The third categorized climb of the day has a category 3 rating and summits at kilometer 98. The Côte de Sant Vincenç de Montalt climbs 3.3 kilometers with an average gradient of 5.2%. At the summit, the roads climbs farther before a short descent. The next climb of the day follows just under 10 kilometers after the summit of the Côte de Sant Vincenç de Montalt.

The Collsacreu climbs 4.1 kilometers at an average gradient of 5.2%. It has a category 3 rating, but is still a long way from the finish. From the summit, there remains 71 kilometers to race. From the Collsacreu, the course descends quickly, but the next 25-30 kilometers are mostly flat with a few wrinkles to break the rhythm. The third intermediate sprint comes at kilometer 132.5 in the town of Cardedeu. From there, it’s a descending false flat to the final climb of the day at kilometer 152.5 as the course steadily winds its way back to the coast.

The final categorized climb of the day lies just outside Badalona. The Côte de la Conreria climbs 4.7 kilometers and has an average gradient of 4.5%. From the summit of this final climb, there remains 22.5 kilometers to race. It is well-placed to provide a launch-pad for a stage-winning move, and may well prove a climb too far for a few of the breakaway riders. The general classification riders will not have a problem here, and with the exception of a few of the sprinters who may wish to take an easy day, the main field should stay together.

The course descends steeply from the Côte de la Conreria. Then, it’s about 10 kilometers of flat riding to the uphill finish. The run-in to the finish is on wide, flat roads, and passes through the Plaça d’Espanya. From the roundabout at the Plaça d’Espanya, the course turns onto the tree-lined Avinguda del Marquès de Comillas at 2 kilometers to go.

The finishing climb begins here at 2 kilometers to go. The course rises 500 meters in less than a kilometer, and the average gradient for this short kicker is 6.6%. It offers the perfect terrain for a stage-winning attack. Under the red kite, the road continues to climb, but it’s a more gradual climb to the finish line. Look for an attack on the final climb and a desperate chase in the final kilometer. The stage finishes on the wide and straight Avinguda de l’Estadi. Though the steep climb favors an attacker, the more gradual climb to the finish will favor the chase, especially on the relatively wide road of the Avinguda de l’Estadi.

Who to Watch

A break-friendly stage like this one is made for the smaller teams to chase television time and podium kisses. Skil-Shimano, Bbox-Bouygues, and Française des Jeux are expert at this game. Of course, there are also a number of riders who specialize in riding the breaks in pursuit of stage wins. When set loose from support duties, Jens Voigt is brilliant at winning from the escape. Saxo Bank will likely save their energies to support the ambitions of Andy and Fränk Schleck, though, and give this stage a pass.

Look for riders like Thomas Voeckler of Bbox Bouygues, Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis, Jérôme Pineau of QuickStep, Serguei Ivanov of Katusha, Romain Feillu of Agritubel, Simon Gerrans of Cervélo TestTeam, and Fabian Wegmann of Milram to go looking for the right break on this stage.

The finish favors a rider who can accelerate hard on a short climb. Paolo Bettini is the classic example of this type of rider, which the French call a puncheur. Of course, the attacker also has to stay away for the final kilometer in order to take home the podium flowers and the cuddly lion.  — Gavia