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.

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Previa etapa 6: GIRONA-BARCELONA

Tipo de terreno: escarpado, pero no montañoso. Terreno para fugas

Importancia para la general: Mínima. El maillot amarillo podría cambiar de manos hoy, pero a la larga, esta etapa no va a decidir el Tour.

Cotas
Cota de Sant Feliu de Guixols, 2.0 km, pend. media 5.4 %, Categoria 4
Cota de Tossa de Mar, 3.8 km, pend. media 4.2 %, Categoria 4
Cota de Sant Vicenç de Montalt, 3.3 km, pend. media 5.2 %, Categoria 3
Collsacreu, 4.1 km, pend. media 5.2 %, Categoria 3
Cota de la Conreria, 4.7 km, pend. media 4.5 %, Categoria 4

El Tour de Francia se dirige a España para hacer una breve visita. Siguiendo el color  mediterráneo de la primera semana, la etapa visita Gerona (Girona en catalán) y Barcelona. Para esta etapa está claramente escrita una escapada, e incluye cinco cotas puntuables y algunos kilómetros llanos. La última subida del día, la cota de la Conreria, se encuentra a 22 kilómetros de meta, suficientemente cerca para alterar el resultado de la etapa. El final también es en cuesta, con lo que  la escapada necesitaría tomar gran ventaja.

Esta edición supone la primera visita del Tour de Francia a Gerona. Llamados por el buen tiempo y el terreno montañoso, muchos ciclistas americanos que compiten en Europa han escogido Gerona como hogar y lugar de entrenamiento. La etapa acaba en Barcelona, la capital de Cataluña, ciudad que había albergado dos finales de etapa anteriormente, siendo la última vez que el Tour la visitó en 1965. Aquel año la etapa comenzaba en Aix-les-Thermes y se subían dos grandes puertos en frías condiciones ambientales. El corredor español José Pérez Francés, del Ferrys, ganó la etapa tras de 223 kilómetros de escapada en solitario, estando ésta entre las mas largas de la historia de la ronda gala. El italiano Felice Gimondi, del Salvarani, vistió el maillot de líder aquel día, y no lo soltaría hasta su victoria final en París. En dicho año la etapa finalizaba en el Parc de Montjuic, lugar de la Exposición Universal de 1929

Detalles del perfil

La etapa parte de Gerona en terreno rompepiernas, pues la primera cota puntuable llega a los 32 kilómetros de etapa. Si hasta entonces no se ha seleccionado la escapada buena, la subida a la cota de Sant Feliu de Guixols dará alas a los valientes que busquen la escapada, gracias a sus 2 kilómetros y su pendiente media del 5,4%. Tras subir esta nada complicada colina, la carrera continúa por 20 kilómetros de incómodo llano antes de descender. 

Siguiendo la costa mediterránea durante la mayor parte de la etapa, la carrera pasa por Tossa de Mar en dirección a la segunda subida del día. La cota de Tossa de Mar comprende 3,8 km y una pendiente media del 4,2%; valorada como categoría 4, su cima se encuentra en el kilómetro 55. La escapada ya debería estar establecida, pero podría haber pugna por los puntos de la montaña, buscando la siempre apetecible subida al podio. Justo después de la cota viene la primera meta volante del día en Lloret de Mar.

Desde ahí, los siguientes 25 km son esencialmente llanos. En el punto kilométrico 85,5, hay un segundo sprint bonificado en la localidad de Sant Pol de Mar. Continuando por la costa, la ruta atraviesa Canet de Mar y Arenys de Mar, y a los aproximadamente 90 km, cerca de Caldes d’Estrac, entramos tierra adentro y nos alejamos de la costa. Adiós a las vistas del mar, al menos por ahora.

La tercera cota puntuable de la jornada es de 3ª categoría y tiene su cima en el kilómetro 98. La cota de Sant Vincenç de Montalt dura 3,3 kilómetros, con una pendiente media de 5,2%. Al coronar, la carrera desciende brevemente para encontrarse con la siguiente subida, tan sólo 10 km más adelante. 

El Collsacreu, puerto de 4,1 kilómetros y 5,2 de pendiente media, es de 3ª categoría, pero se encuentra lejos de la meta. Tras coronar, todavía restarán 71 km. Un rápido descenso, y 25-30 km llanos con alguna tachuela para cambiar el ritmo. La tercera y última meta volante de la jornada está en el pueblo de Cardedeu, kilómetro 132,5. Desde allí, un falso llano descendiente nos lleva a la última dificultad orográfica, el kilómetro 152,5 y volviendo a la costa mediterránea.

La última subida puntuable del día se encuentra a las afueras de Badalona. Es la cota de la Conreria, 4,7 km con 4,5%  de pendiente media. Desde la cima de esta última subida quedan 22,5 kilómetros hasta meta, luego está bien situada para animar movimientos de cara a la resolución de la etapa, y puede hacerse muy larga para algunos corredores de la fuga. Los ciclistas que pelean por la victoria final no tendrán problema alguno, y salvo algunos sprinters que querrán tener un día tranquilo, el pelotón debería mantenerse agrupado.

El pronunciado descenso de la cota de la Conreira deja a los corredores a falta de 10 kilómetros llanos y un final en cuesta. Los últimos kilómetros son carreteras anchas y llanas, pasando por la Plaça d’Espanya. Desde ahí, la carrera gira hacia la Avinguda del Marqués de Comillas, a 2 km de meta.

En este punto empieza la subida final. La carrera sube 500 metros en menos de 1 km. La pendiente media de este corto repecho es de 6,6%, ofreciendo un terreno muy propicio para un ataque definitivo. Tras el triángulo rojo, la subida continúa, pero de forma más gradual hasta la línea de meta. Atentos a un posible ataque en la subida final y una persecución desesperada en los últimos metros. La etapa finaliza en la ancha y recta Avinguda de l’Estadi. Aunque la subida pronunciada favorece a los atacantes, los últimos metros más favorables animarán la persecución, especialmente en la mencionada Avinguda de l’Estadi.

A seguir

Una etapa como ésta, propicia para escapadas, está hecha para que los equipos modestos puedan optar a algo de atención televisiva y algún que otro beso en el podio. Equipos como  Skil-Shimano, Bbox-Bouges y Française des Jeux son expertos en esta forma de correr, pero hay también un buen número de ciclistas especialistas en ir escapados para conseguir alguna victoria. Libre de sus obligaciones con el equipo, Jens Voigt es capaz de conseguir victorias escapado, pero el Saxo Bank preferirá que ahorre fuerzas para apoyar a sus líderes Andy y Frank Schleck, y probablemente dejarán escapar la etapa.

Atentos a corredores como Thomas Voeckler del Bbox Bouygues, Samuel Dumoulin del Cofidis, Jérôme Pineau del QuickStep, Serguei Ivanov del Katusha, Romain Feillu del Agritubel o  Fabian Wegmann del Milram. Ellos estarán buscando la escapada buena del día.

El final favorece al ciclista capaz de acelerar en una subida corta. Paolo Bettini es el ejemplo clásico de este tipo de corredor, conocido en francés como puncheur. Claro que el ganador tendrá que llegar con ventaja al kilómetro final si realmente quiere quedarse con las flores del podio y con el simpático león.

Translated by Juan Bonilla