Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 6 takes place on Saturday and is the ‘queen stage’ of the 2016 race. The stage features five extremely difficult climbs and will widen the time gaps in the top ten of the General Classification.
The Profile
Stage 6 is 141kms in length starting in the picturesque town of La Rochette and ending on the mountain top at Méribel.
The route starts out fairly flat for about 6kms. After that it is it all categorised climbing – 1 category 2, 3 x category 1 and an hc ‘off classification’ climb right in the middle of the stage.
There will be attempts to breakaway on the first climb as riders try to capture mountains classification points. I would expect some of the break riders to still be at the front of the days racing until the final 20kms of the stage.
Now that Chris Froome has taken the lead, something I hinted at yesterday but didn’t back, the onus will be on the Sky team to control the tempo at the front of the race. I suspect a group of about 30-40 riders will arrive together on the lower slopes of the climb into Méribel and then the race will explode as the GC riders attack.
Can Chris Froome be beaten?
I backed Froome overall, based partly on his past performance in this race as his form coming here was patchy. It looked like he was struggling on the final climb in Stage 5. Sky now have a new set of tactics and have sent Mikel Landa up the mountain ahead of the race to be used as a springboard for Froome to attack. This makes a difference to the Sky team riding ridiculous tempo at the front, peeling off one by one and destroying their rivals. I feel this older tactic will be the one employed on stage 6. A number of riders in the team including the mightily strong Wouter Pouls have been able to save themselves for the final two stages and they will protect Froome tomorrow.
As we saw in Stage 5 – Froome simply rode away from everyone, including Richie Porte in the last 300 metres. Froome gave the impression that had the climb been even longer he would have increased the time gaps on the rest. It will be very hard for anyone to beat him into Méribel.
Alberto Contador lost his race lead to Froome, finishing the stage in 5th losing some time to Dan Martin and the impressive Adam Yates in the last 200 metres. Contador managed to match Froome’s first attack but was quickly dropped by the second. On the longer climbs tomorrow I can see a bigger gap developing. I am amazed to see Froome priced at 5.0.
Richie Porte has been impressive in this years race with his 2nd stage runner-up place in stage 5. He was the only rider who managed to hang on to Froome’s second attack but you could see it was a struggle and he did drop a few bike lengths at the end of the stage. His form suggests he will be the closest challenger to Froome on stage 6.
A number of fancied riders, including one of my overall tips Thibaut Pinot lost a lot of time on stage 5. Fabio Aru looks well short of form and this must be impacting his and Pinot’s Tour de France odds in a negative way. I think they will both continue to struggle on the queen stage.
Adam Yates and Dan Martin could both challenge Contador for third place on the overall classification. They both were impressive on the final climb in stage 5 dropping Contador at the end. Yates is an ascending rider and I look forward to watching him (actually I’m at a wedding so I will be watching on Sunday) on the high mountain climbs. Yates is a decent EW selection for stage 6 at odds of 23.0
I can’t really see anyone else in with a chance – apart from maybe one or two of the Sky riders – Landa, Henao or Pouls completing their team duties and being strong enough for 2nd or 3rd on the stage.
Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 6 Tips
Back Chris Froome to win Stage 6 of the Dauphiné with a 2.5/10 stake at 5.0 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
NOTE – THERE WILL NOT BE A PREVIEW OF STAGE 7.
I am at a wedding from lunchtime today and will be travelling back tomorrow when the stage starts.
