The six stages that have been contested in this women’s Tour de France have had a common pattern: in all of them, Marianne Vos has appeared in the top-5 of the day. The Dutchwoman is being the star of the first days of the race, and today she has added her second stage win so far in the test. With this victory (she has two other second places, a third and a fifth), in addition, the Jumbo is more leader of the Tour thanks to the bonus. It is the first time in the history of the women’s Tour de France in which the first classified in the general classification wins a stage, and You arrive in yellow on the two mountain days in which the race will be decided, being an unknown if it will be able to endure.
The sixth day of the Tour, 128.6 kilometers between Saint-Dié-des-Vosges and Rosheim, started with many breakaway attempts, but none materialized until following more than 40 kilometers. A group of 14 runners, including the Spanish Sheyla Gutiérrez and Sandra Alonso, formed the break of the day, although the peloton never let the time difference exceed two minutes. The UAE and the Valcar, not having any cyclist in the lead, commanded the main group, which made sure to hunt down the breakaways. Meanwhile, the race entered a continuous up and down route, and numerous attacks sought to break up the two groups that were there. The most combative ahead was the French Marie Le Net, who was not caught until the final five kilometers.
Before, when there were 20 left to go, a fall left one of the main favorites for victory today offside. Lorena Wiebes, winner yesterday (and also from the first stage) went down in a dangerous descent together with Lotte Kopecky. The Dutchwoman got back on the bike with a bloody right elbow, and it was impossible for her to rejoin a peloton that was already rolling (she ended up entering more than seven minutes). Without the woman who had already beaten her twice, everything was easier for Marianne Vos. The also Dutch she started her sprint without being well placed, but immediately showed the power she has to leave her rivals behind and was able to celebrate her victory. At 35 years old, Vos continues to demonstrate the kind of runner she is, and there are already 242 wins in her career. Second was the Italian Bastianelli, while Kopecky, who had gone down along with Wiebes, was third.
“Now comes the hard part” for Mavi García and the rest of the favorites
“It was a difficult race, for us it was a good situation with several riders in the breakaway. There has been action, there was a complicated descent. The girls have kept me out of harm’s way and out of the wind, they’ve done a great job of keeping me ahead. I try to be at the best level I can and of course I am very happy”, declared the winner of the day and leader of the race. The 10-second bonus for winning causes Vos’ lead in the general classification to increase just before the arrival of the mountain to the race.
Mavi García, meanwhile, had to overcome unforeseen events once more. On the first descent of the day, the UAE suffered a fall once once more, although luckily she did not have to suffer any physical damage. “Unfortunately today I hit the ground once more on the first descent, on the first descent they fell and it wasn’t much, I had to change bikes and I joined the group. Mission accomplished and now comes the hard part”, declared the Spanish champion following the stage. Mavi is 11th overall, 2:40 behind Vos, so she has to come back up the mountain.
The same will happen with the rest of the favorites for the final victory, such as the Dutch from Movistar, Annemiek Van Vleuten, who is 8th at 1:28. While people wonder how long Vos will last on the mountain, the favorites are already thinking regarding the tough fight ahead. Tomorrow, the 127-kilometer day between Sélestat and Le Markstein Fellering will climb three passes, all of them first category. The last one, Grand Ballon, will be the longest ascent of this Tour (13.5 kilometers at 6.7%). All this before La Super Planche des Belles Filles on Sunday. The battle is served.
Results of the sixth stage
1st Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) – 3h 09:26
2ª Marta Bastianelli (UAE ADQ) – mt
3ª Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) – m.t.
23ª mavi garcia (UAE ADQ) – mt
General ranking
1st Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) – 19:30:14
2nd Silvia Persico (Valcar) – at 30″
3ª Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon SRAM) – mt
8ª Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) – 1:28
11ª mavi garcia (UAE ADQ) – 2:40
