Safe through flat stage six before grueling ‘pre-Alps’
01 July 2021

Tour de France (st. 6)

Enric Mas, Movistar Team avoid setbacks en route to Châteauroux, head into 'marathon day' in Saône on Friday, with 250km and five categorized climbs.

At an inevitable sprint finish -the last one scheduled on this first week of the TDF-, Mark Cavendish (DQT) took the win in Châteauroux following the 160km of stage six in the ‘Grande Boucle’, the least stressful so far in this year’s race and a day of some recovery for the Movistar Team and the GC contenders.

Erviti and Arcas always rode attentively to take care of Mas. (c) BettiniPhoto

Following a really fast start, with a strong group -featuring Asgreen (DQT), Politt (BOH), De Gendt (LTS), Kragh (SUN) or Skujins (TFS)- brought back by the bunch after just 30km, Greg Van Avermaet (ACT) and Roger Kluge (LTS) ended up forming the day’s main breakaway, caught with 3km to go.

Iván García Cortina, here alongside ‘Superman’, also worked well near the end for his team leaders. (c) BettiniPhoto

Enric Mas y los telefónicos, muy presentes en posiciones cabeceras, solventaron sin percances el día -el mallorquín sigue a 1’58” de Van der Poel (AFC)- y ya miran al exigente séptimo día de la ronda francesa, con 250 km mañana viernes entre Vierzon y Le Creusot y cinco altos puntuables, incluido Signal d’Urchon (2ª + Bonus) y la Gourloye (4ª) en los últimos veinticinco kilómetros.

REACTION / Alejandro Valverde:

“We got through the day pretty well. Obviously there was some stress – there’s always lots of that near the end of a sprint stage – but I’m happy to realise we’re all becoming more conscious about the danger we’re exposed to, and we’re staying more away from risks. I’m really happy for Cavendish; these must have been difficult years for him with no victories in the Tour, he wasn’t able to turn things around in his career, and coming back to what had been his ex-team has helped him find back the motivation and get back to winning ways.

Skinnier than ever? No, when I was World Champion (2018) I was probably as skinny as now. I feel OK at the moment. Our goal for the upcoming days? Well’, we’ve got Enric up there with the top contenders – Pogacar is obviously a bit apart from the rest, but Enric is close to the other favourites and Miguel Ángel, even if a bit further back, can still get closer. We will have to fight hard to get Miguel Ángel back into contention. And if we can chase any stage victories, we’ll of course do our best.

Valverde after today’s finish. (c) Movistar Team

My plans for the Tour / the Olympics? My initial idea was to ride through the end of the Tour. Racing in 2022? My plans at the moment are to continue, yes…”

Cover picture (c): BettiniPhoto

Male Team 26 Jun - 18 Jul

Tour de France FRA

(6th Stage) Tours - Châteauroux (161 km)
  1. 01 Mark Cavendish Deceuninck - Quick Step 3h17'36"
  2. 02 Jasper Philipsen Alpecin-Fenix "
  3. 03 Nacer Bouhanni Arkéa Samsic "
  4. 20 Iván García Cortina Movistar Team "
  5. 32 Enric Mas Movistar Team "
  6. 52 Imanol Erviti Movistar Team "
  7. 53 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team "
  8. 79 Miguel Ángel López Movistar Team "
  9. 143 Jorge Arcas Movistar Team +1'07"
  10. 161 Carlos Verona Movistar Team +1'51"
See prov general ranking
  1. 01 Mathieu Van der Poel Alpecin-Fenix 20h09'17"
  2. 02 Tadej Pogacar UAE Team Emirates +8"
  3. 03 Wout Van Aert Jumbo - Visma +30"
  4. 14 Enric Mas Movistar Team +1'58"
  5. 35 Miguel Ángel López Movistar Team +5'20"
  6. 57 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team +10'13"
  7. 58 Iván García Cortina Movistar Team +10'21"
  8. 109 Imanol Erviti Movistar Team +19'27"
  9. 114 Carlos Verona Movistar Team +20'17"
  10. 141 Jorge Arcas Movistar Team +26'44"
See stage ranking