Favorites stage 6 Tour de France Femmes | Turning point in the race!

From the starting point in Clermont-Ferrand, the riders will face a relatively flat opening phase. After 30 kilometers, the intermediate sprint is in Sermentizon, followed by the first hills of the day. With the 1.7-kilometer Côte de Courpière at 6.8% and the subsequent 2.6-kilometer Côte d'Augerolles at 5.6%, the riders will get their first real meters of elevation gain of the day.

After a short descent, the most challenging climb of the day quickly follows, namely the Col du Béal. The first category climb is quite long at 10.2 kilometers and has an average gradient of 5.6%. The climb does not have any extremely steep sections, as the gradients vary between 4 and 7%.

At the top, there are still more than 40 kilometers to go to the finish, but the next climb looms immediately after the descent. The Col du Chansert, with a length of 6.3 kilometers and an average gradient of 5.5%, is a second category climb. At the top, the four categorized climbs of the day are behind us.

However, that does not mean that there is no more climbing to do. When the riders have conquered the descent of the Chansert 20 kilometers from the finish, another 4.6-kilometer climb of around 5% awaits them. The road surface rises towards Valcivières, bringing the bonus sprint into play.

At the top, the riders will ride five kilometers on a plateau, after which they will descend at full speed to the finish. There are some tricky corners in the descent, after which the riders arrive in Ambert, the finish town. At the start of the last kilometer, the descent is over, after which the road climbs slightly towards the finish line. There are three corners in the final kilometer.

Climbs
37 km: Côte de Courpière (1.7 km at 6.8%)
45.7 km: Côte d'Augerolles (2.6 km at 5.6%)

Times
Start: 2:25 PM local time (08:25 AM EDT)
Finish: 5:45 PM local time (11:45 AM EDT)

The weather will remain good in France on Thursday. In the starting town of Clermont-Ferrand, the temperature will rise to 27 degrees Celsius with a lovely sun, while the wind will blow very lightly from behind. Perfect weather for racing!

On Thursday, we will finally see how much Demi Vollering is still suffering from her crash earlier in this Tour. The Dutch rider from FDJ-SUEZ appeared at the start as one of the women to beat and will finally get a chance in stage six to strike the first blow against her competitors. If Vollering is not feeling well for any reason, the French team still has two riders who can ride hard uphill in Juliette Labous and Évita Muzic.

After the withdrawal of Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), we have to look a little harder for riders who can make life difficult for Vollering on the climbs. However, we quickly come up with Kasia Niewiadoma. The Polish rider from Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto beat the Dutch rider in last year's Tour. We also expect a lot from Cédrine Kerbaol, as well as Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike), who is back this year.

For SD-Worx Protime, it will mainly come down to how well Anna van der Breggen can keep up on the climbs. The Dutch team has seen Lotte Kopecky struggle so far, which means that the Belgian's chances in a difficult stage like this seem slim. Fenix-Deceuninck is counting on the experienced Pauliena Rooijakkers, who finished third in last year's Tour de France. The team also has two dangerous attackers in Puck Pieterse and Yara Kastelijn.

AG Insurance-Soudal has Sarah Gigante, who finished third in the recent Giro d'Italia, where she proved she has excellent climbing legs, and with yellow jersey Kimberly Le Court, she is the woman to beat so far. Other riders to watch out for are Niamh Fisher-Black, Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek), Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Uno-X), Liane Lippert (Movistar), and Mavi Garcia (Liv Jayco AlUla).

Top favorites: Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto)
Outsiders: Kimberly Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step), Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime)
Long shots: Pauliena Rooijakkers, Puck Pieterse (both Fenix-Deceuninck), Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal), Niamh Fisher-Black, Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek), Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Uno-X), Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Mavi Garcia (Liv AlUla Jayco)