Tour de Suisse 2015 – Stage 6 Preview
By David Hunter
Biel – Dudingen 164.6km
A stage that looks like a sprint, but might not be. The race finishes with a challenging circuit, in Dudingen. The lap features two cat 3 climbs, which are completed twice. The circuit doesn’t feature many flat roads, constantly ascending or descending. This is going to be another hard day in the saddle.
The climbs are 1.1km at 6.4% and around 1km at 7%. The second climb does contain a few ramps over 10% and is a challenging, little hill. The stage ends with a tough finish. The final 800m is at 3.8%, the last 500m of that is at 4%. This is another stage, where we could get a sprint, but it might be from a smaller group.
After a wet day today, the riders will be glad to hear that tomorrow should stay dry. One less thing to worry about!
In the previous stages, Orica and Tinkoff, have decided to make the climbs very hard. This has put Cavendish and Kristoff in trouble and they haven’t been able to sprint. Today, they messed up, and didn’t get involved in a sprint battle. Stage 7 looks too difficult, so this is their last chance. After a long week, they would really like to walk away with a win. Especially as Greipel has recorded wins in Luxembourg and Ster.
Peter Sagan has had a brilliant week. Not too long ago, we were talking about a poor season, for the Slovak. This week, he has recorded two wins, against big name opposition. As we approach the TDF, he can be very happy with his form. The plan for this stage should be the same as the earlier stages, go hard on the climbs and try to drop Cav and Kristoff. Michael Matthews is no longer here and I don’t think Albasini believes he can beat Sagan. He won’t drop Degenkolb, but will try to tire him out. Sagan has a good chance of another stage win.
John Degenkolb hasn’t had a great week. The team have been focused on Tom Dumoulin and he’s lacked support in the finishes. Today looked good for him, but they didn’t get it right. This stage looks very good for him, as he loves an uphill sprint. He’s got a bigger chance of winning an uphill sprint, than a flat sprint. He needs a good lead out and Giant have the riders to deliver this. If Kristoff and Cavendish don’t make the finish, he, obviously, has an even better chance.
Demare, Stuyven, Van Avermaet, Bonifazio, Cimolai, Roelandts, …. There is a long list of talent here and given the right circumstances, they could compete for a podium spot. Nail the lead out, get a little luck, and a good position is yours. For a lot of riders, this is the last chance to impress, before the TDF.
Tinkoff, really were impressive today. Yes, they benefitted from the Etixx crash, but they did grab control of the race, right at the correct moment. Sagan, was very impressive. The way he took the second last corner, won him the race. He went forward 6 places, Cav went back 4! His bike handling skills, really are among the best.
The circuit does provide the break with a chance, but with most teams happy to work for a sprint, we should see another one.
Prediction Time
I don’t think the circuit is hard enough to drop the sprinters. I think we’ll get a medium sized sprint. The uphill finish is ideal for Kristoff and I think he’ll take the win.
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