LIVE stage 6 Tour of Switzerland 2025 | Stage opportunity has Belgian fans watching closely

Finally! That's what the sprinters will think when they see the profile of the sixth stage. The really fast guys aren't there for that reason, but maybe they were already hoping for a chance in the first five stages. However, the first real sprint stage of this Tour de Suisse is not until day 6, and it will also be the last...

The stage typically ends in a sprint but can be divided into three parts. The first is mainly flat. There is a very small uncategorized climb, but nothing to worry about. The second part starts after just under 45 kilometers, and the road to Wildhaus climbs 9 kilometers at 7%. After a small plateau, the climb to the Hemberg follows, which at 6.2 kilometers at 6% can be pretty nasty.

The riders then arrive at the third and longest section. For the last hundred kilometers, the road is mostly downhill and flat. The few small hills along the way should be fairly easy to manage before the sprint finish in Neuhausen am Rheinfall.

Times.

The weather forecast for Switzerland is excellent. With lovely summer sunshine, temperatures will rise to around 28 degrees Celsius while a light breeze will blow from the northeast.

As mentioned, the real top sprinters are missing, but a few brave souls have still come to Switzerland for that one chance on day 6. The big favorite on paper is Jordi Meeus, the Belgian sprint hope for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. Meeus already won a stage in the Algarve this year, but we haven't seen a show of skill like he displayed on the Champs Elysées in the 2023 Tour for a while. So today could be a great opportunity for him.

Meeus will be challenged by, among others, Pavel Bittner, the strong climber from Picnic-PostNL. The 22-year-old Czech won a stage in last year's Vuelta a España and showed in the Tour de Suisse that his legs are slowly coming into form. The stage victory of teammate Oscar Onley on Thursday will boost team spirit. The same is undoubtedly true for EF Education-EasyPost, where Vincenzo Albanese has already won a stage, and Madis Mikhels will now be looking to sprint.

Other challengers? Definitely! What about Arnaud De Lie at Lotto? The young Belgian would have been the top favorite in top form but now returns after a mentally challenging period. Can he pull it off after a week of climbing? At Groupama-FDJ, they are hoping for Lewis Askey, who climbs very easily and thus has the most explosive legs left after such a stage. We also count on Antonio Morgado at UAE Team Emirates-XRG in that regard.

In their constant hunt for UCI points, XDS-Astana naturally also has a fast man in Davide Ballerini, while Tudor will be hoping for fast legs from Marius Mayrhofer.

Top favorites: Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto)

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])