A technical run to the finish of Stage 6 of the 2016 Tour de France saw the Tinkoff team surrounding Alberto Contador to keep him safe, with road furniture, tight turns and teams jostling for position creating risks before the sprint. Narrow roads only heightened this danger, making it hard for the sprint trains to keep together, and several teams lost their leaders. With 600m to go, Peter Sagan found himself boxed in, but this wasn’t going to stop the green jersey holder as he powered through to take 6th in the sprint. A few seconds back, Alberto was brought home safe with the GC riders and the rest of the bunch.
Contador comes home safely
It was a tougher sprint all round, with the difficult run in to the finishing stretch making positioning difficult, but De Jongh was still pleased with the day’s outcome, which saw Peter place well, and Alberto ride home safely with strong support. “Peter was a bit too early in the front and he then held back a bit which meant that he got a bit swamped but it was a good day for us still. Alberto was feeling a lot better today, he’s recovering a bit day by day, and with Peter we can now look ahead of the next opportunity for a stage win.”
With the focus on the sprint, the aim for Alberto was to finish safely, and with the team around him, the Tinkoff leader could concentrate on recovery. “We finished safely and that was the most important part of today. Now we have to rest and recover after a very warm day. I feel my form the same as yesterday but as I said yesterday it’s still a long tour and we have a lot of stages ahead of us. We will see what we can achieve.”
Pyrenees Await
The Pyrenees await the peloton tomorrow. After a gentle lead in, with the first 100km of the 162.5km stage fairly flat, the road begins to ramp up – first with the fourth category Côte de Capvern, before the race gets serious with the ascent of the first category Col d’Aspin – a 12km grind at an average gradient of 6.5%. The day doesn’t end on the Col however, with a short downhill after the summit allowing riders to either make up time or extend their lead before the finish in Lac de Payolle. While the yellow jersey has a significant advantage, the GC riders will be aiming to eat into his lead.
The team’s focus for stage 7 would be to get through the day on the most challenging climb of the Tour so far, explained De Jongh. “Tomorrow will be a totally different day, all about surviving the Col d’Aspin in a good way and then getting down to the finish safely.”
The first day in the mountains was going to be tough, said Alberto, but he was still confident in his recovery. “Looking at tomorrow, I would say it’s a test day, as there hasn’t been enough time to recover, but still I feel I have time to come back to my best.”
Ron is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.
Websites:
Bike World News
Ron’s Bike Garage
Current Bike Quiver:
Bird Bikes Zero 29 29″ hardtail mountain bike
Commencal Absolut 26″ Dirt Jump/Pump Track bike
Commencal Tempo 29″ full suspension mountain bike
Felt ZA 700c race bike
Kona Kilauea vintage 26″ mountain bike
Niner RLT9 700c road/gravel bike
Specialized Stumpjumper vintage 26″ mountain bike
Day Job: Digital Marketing
Night Job: Digital Marketing, eCommerce Consultant, Web Consultant, Bike Shop Operator, Husband, Dad, Tenor
Discover more from Bike World News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.