Tour de Suisse 2014 – Stage 6 Preview

By David Hunter

Stage 5 Recap

We got the expected sprint, with a very dangerous finish. The very tight corner, with 300 metres to go, brought a crash involving Van Poppel, Goss and Cavendish. This stopped them and anyone behind from contesting the sprint, but to be honest, they were already out of it. The lead-out train of OPQS failed to control the sprint and it was Giant – Shimano who bossed it. With 500 metres to go, Richeze brought Modolo right up to wheel 3. This turned out to be the move that won the stage. Sagan was in front of Modolo in the first corner, but by the time we hit the last corner, the Italian was flying. He easily past Sagan to take a wonderful victory. Sagan finished 2nd with Degenkolb 3rd.

Stage 6 Buren a. Aare – Delemont 192.8km

Last chance for the non-climbers.

This is a very tricky looking stage. We have 2 difficult climbs in the opening 70km, before a long section of downhill. This sets the race up nicely for the last 30km. We have a cat 2 climb, a cat 3 climb, a steep downhill before a flat finish.

The cat 2 climb is long, 11.6km at 3.8%. The final 7.7km is at 5%. The cat 3 climb goes up in a couple of steps, and continues on for another 500 metres after the official KOM point. It’s 6.2km at 3%. The figures of these climbs don’t seem too tough but they will be raced hard and after an intensive week, it will be too much for most riders.

For the break to succeed there has to be no threats on GC. There are a number of talented riders in that category: Moser, Kern, Teklehaimanot, Deignan, Wyss, Van Der Sande, Lastras, Rast, Gerdemann, Albasini and Schurter. Remember, Albasini won from a break in Romandie, he doesn’t just wait for sprints. He knows that it will be very difficult to out sprint Sagan, so we might just see him in the break. The Swiss riders will want a stage win before the weekend!

Cannondale will be keen on ensuring we have a sprint finish. Sagan is the favourite for the stage, so other teams might not help them. This means the break would make it. The other reason it will be hard to set up a sprint is lack of teammates. If the peloton gets small, it is impossible to organise a chase. I don’t see most of the sprinters making it to the end of the stage, the long cat 2 climb will eliminate them.

Prediction time…

If a break wins, I say Van Der Sande. If we get a sprint, it has to be Sagan.

David Hunter

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