Le Tour 100 – Stage 6

Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier

Distance: 176.5 kilometers.

Stage six starts with the first third being mostly down hill, then the sprint followed by the category 4 Col de la Vayède. The sprinters should be out at the front.

Daryl Impey took the Yellow because his teammate, Simon Gerrans, wasn’t able to chase when the group they were in split at the end and he could maintain the team’s hold on the Jersey rather than surrender it to Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen.

The riders were having to deal with crosswinds, and André Greipel did it better than anyone else on the stage, taking the win and the Red Numbers for his efforts. Mark Cavendish had to settle for fourth on the stage when he lost time and a bike to a crash 33 km from the finish.

A crash at the finish of yesterday’s race knocked Jurgen Van Den Broeck [knee] and Maxime Bouet [wrist] out of the race. Given the wind-related crashes today, there will probably be more non-starters tomorrow.

Daryl Impey ( RSA – OGE – 185 ) [Yellow] 22h 18′ 17″
Peter Sagan ( Svk – CAN – 011 ) [Green] 159 points
Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 051 ) [Polka Dot] 10 points
Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) 5 [White]

Team: Orica-GreenEdge ( OGE – 181-189 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: André Greipel ( Ger – LTB – 024 )
Combative: André Greipel ( Ger – LTB – 024 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Daryl Impey ( RSA – OGE – 185 )
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen ( Nor – SKY – 002 ) + 00′ 03″
3 Simon Gerrans ( Aus – OGE – 181 ) + 00′ 05″
4 Michael Albasini ( Sui – OGE – 182 ) + 00′ 05″
5 Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) + 00′ 06″
6 Sylvain Chavanel ( Fra – OPQ – 152 ) + 00′ 06″
7 Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 001 ) + 00′ 08″
8 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 006 ) + 00′ 08″
9 Nicolas Roche ( Irl – TST – 097 ) + 00′ 14″
10 Roman Kreuziger ( Cze – TST – 094 ) + 00′ 14″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Alberto Contador ( Esp – TST – 091 ) + 00′ 14″
12 Michael Rogers ( Aus – TST – 098 ) + 00′ 14″
13 Andrew Talansky ( USA – GRS – 178 ) + 00′ 22″
14 Ryder Hesjedal ( Can – GRS – 171 ) + 00′ 22″
15 Adam Hansen ( Aus – LTB – 025 ) + 00′ 22″
16 Daniel Martin ( Irl – GRS – 175 ) + 00′ 22″
17 Thomas Danielson ( USA – GRS – 173 ) + 00′ 22″
18 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 121 ) + 00′ 25″
19 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 124 ) + 00′ 25″
20 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas ( Col – MOV – 128 ) + 00′ 25″
21 Andrey Amador ( CR – MOV – 122 ) + 00′ 25″
22 Przemyslaw Niemiec ( Pol – LAM – 148 ) + 00′ 30″
23 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 031 ) + 00′ 31″
24 Philippe Gilbert ( Bel – BMC – 034 ) + 00′ 31″
25 Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 039 ) + 00′ 31″
26 Amaël Moinard ( Fra – BMC – 035 ) + 00′ 31″
27 Eduard Vorganov ( Rus – KAT – 109 ) + 00′ 33″
28 Jan Bakelants ( Bel – RLT – 042 ) + 00′ 33″
29 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver ( Esp – KAT – 101 ) + 00′ 33″
30 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni ( Esp – VCD – 204 ) + 00′ 33″

Did not start:
Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 021 )
Maxime Bouet ( Fra – ALM – 083 )

Did not finish:
Fredrik Kessiakoff ( Swe – EUC – 067 )
Nacer Bouhanni ( Fra – FDJ – 073 )

Note: Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally makes you look for an elevator or Sherpas.

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