A peloton made up of 173 riders set off this Thursday from Binche for the sixth stage of the Tour de France 2022, the longest of this 109th edition with 220 kilometers.
Three difficulties are on the menu: the Côte des Mazures (3rd category, 2 km at 7.6%), placed at km 87, the Côte de Montigny-sur-Chiers (4th category, 1.6 km, 4.4%) 14 km from the finish, and the coast of Pulventeux (3rd category, 800 meters at 12.3%) with a summit judged to be 6 terminals from the line. The finish itself is at the top of a bump not listed for the classification of the best climber, the Côte des Religieuses (1.6 km at 5%).
The start of the stage is more than rhythmic. Several runners try to escape, starting with Wout van Aert et Tadej Pogacar. The Belgian rider, wearing the yellow jersey, tries to do it several times and fulfills this objective… 148 kilometers from the finish. He escapes with the American Quinn Simmons (Trek) and the Dane Jakob Fuglsang (Israel). At the back of the peloton, the ordeal continues on the other hand for Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
The three leading men have up to regarding 4 minutes in advance, from Aert taking advantage of the opportunity to pocket 20 points in the intermediate sprint on the road to Longwy. 65 kilometers from the finish, Birdsong rises. The trio is reduced to a duet… and a solo when Simmons cracks 30 kilometers from the final line. The gap is then one minute.
The lead of the Belgian is gradually diminishing, his courageous and heroic adventure ends 11 kilometers from the finish. The victory finally went to Tadej Pogacar, the first to cross the line following the Côte des Religieuses. The Slovenian therefore inherits the leader’s jersey for this 2022 edition of the Grande Boucle. Michael Matthews takes second place in the stage, David Gaudu the third. Van Aertthe combative of the day, completed the stage more than 7 minutes from the winner.