TDF 2019: Stage 6, Mulhouse > La Planche des Belles Filles 11/07/2019 - 160,5 km *Spoilers*
blazing_saddles
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Mulhouse > La Planche des Belles Filles 11/07/2019 - Stage 6 - 160,5 km
Stage 6 is 160.5km from Mulhouse to la Planche-des-Belles-Filles. It's a proper tough, testing mountain stage, featuring Vosges classics such as the Ballon d'Alsace and the Grand Ballon. It finishes with the steep climb to la Planche des Belles Filles, won by Fabio Aru last time the Tour tackled it in 2017. This time however, the race climbs a further 900 metres, on an unpaved section that touches an eye watering (tears for some?) 24%.
Mulhouse hosts the departure of the Tour de France’s 6th stage. The last time that La Grande Boucle arrived in Mulhouse was in 2014. Tony Martin was on the attack during the whole day and in the last 50 kilometres he soloed to the win.
Peaking at an elevation of 1,148 metres, La Planche des Belle Filles climb in the Vosges Mountains has established a reputation as a puncher’s finish in a short time. In 2012 it debuted in the Tour de France and now, after eight editions, it is already the fourth time that the climb is included. In all three editions La Planche des Belles Filles was a climb of 5.9 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.5%. The ‘new’ Planche des Belles Filles amounts to 7 kilometres at 8.7%.
The stage also includes Le Markstein (10.8 kilometres at 5.4%)
Grand Ballon (1.3 kilometres at 9%)
Col du Hundsruck (5.3 kilometres at 6.9%)
Ballon d’Alsace (11 kilometer à 5,8%)
Moreover, GC riders are tempted to open up the finale on the Chevrères, a punchy 3.5 kilometres climb at 9.5%. The Chevrères is crested with 19 kilometres. The descent leads to a false flat of 4 kilometres, which runs to the foot of the final haul up.
Favourites 6th stage 2019 Tour de France
Surely, the summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles will bring the GC riders out of the shadows. There is no place to hide on the steep slopes, which are - to pep things up - unpaved in the last kilometre. Obviously, this is the terrain for the pure mountain goats, lightweights with an explosive acceleration. But you also need stamina in the 6th stage to survive the climb. Moreover, La Planche des Belles Filles is the last one in a long list of Vosges climbs that are on the menu.
**** Thibaut Pinot, Adam Yates, Egan Bernal
*** Mikel Landa, Alejandro Valverde, Rigoberto Uran ,
** Romain Bardet, Daniel Martin, Enric Mas, Michael Woods, Dylan Teuns
* The diesel GC boys
Mulhouse
16 previous stages
Population: 113,000 and 273,000 in the 39 communes of Mulhouse Alsace Agglomeration
Mulhouse hosted the Tour de France sixteen times and has beautiful bicycle tales to tell and especially the story of the Buysse brothers, the only siblings in the Tour history to have held the yellow jersey in the same edition. Winner of the first stage of the 1926 Tour in Mulhouse, Jules Buysse took the jersey that day, three weeks before seeing his brother Lucien win the race in Paris. The Buysse were a real cycling dynasty since their older brother Marcel won six stages in the 1913 Tour and also held the yellow jersey for two days. All had children who became professional riders.
Mulhouse also hosted two stage starts in 1959 and 1971. The winners list in town includes three Tour winners, Nicolas Frantz, Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon.
The last stage finish in Mulhouse, in 2014, saw the triumph of Tony Martin, who raised the arms after a 59-km solo, while Tony Gallopin took the yellow jersey for a day before handing it to its final holder, Vincenzo Nibali. Like the Buysses, the Gallopins could see this ephemeral yellow jersey as a family achievement, since Tony’s father Joel rode several Tours in the 1980s while his uncle Guy was also a professional rider. As for Tony’s other uncle, Alain, a team director with Trek-Segfredo for a long while, he shed a few tears of joy that day.
A picturesque and lively town centre and charming pedestrian streets take visitors along the “red thread”, a 3.8-lm course accessible to people with mobility problems. Mulhouse is also a family and children-friendly town. The Family Plus label is useful to spot the venues and sites suited to the whole family.
Specialities: Baeckeoffe (meat and vegetable marinated in white wine),
Flammekueche (flambéed tart),
Spaetzle (Alsatian pasta), sauerkraut, Sürlawerla (veal liver), Lawerknäpfla (liver quenelles), Kougelhopf (run), Mannala and Schnackala (bread loaves in the shape of men and snails), Schankala (small sweet doughnuts), le Melfor (honey and herbs vinegar), Mulhouse beer.
La Planche des Belles Filles
Three previous stages.
The sole ski resort in the Haute-Saone department and the last summit of the Vosges, La Planche des Belles-Filles made a smashing Tour de France debut when it revealed the climbing talent of Chris Froome. The English rider conquered his first Tour de France stage there in 2012 one year before his overall victory on the Champs-Elysees. That day, the man who was then Bradley Wiggins's main support, surged recklessly in the finale to drop Cadel Evans and win in style. The hold of Team Sky on the Tour had just begun. The stage was also a special one for Frenchman Thibaut Pinot as the race was going through Melisey, a town whose mayor is his father. The FDJ climber waited for the next day in Porrentruy to raise his arms in jubilation. Two years later, Vincenzo Nibali, already winner in Sheffield, went solo to snatch a yellow jersey he would keep all the way to Paris. In 2017, Fabio Aru clinched a prestigious stage victory while Chris Froome went back to his roots to take a yellow jersey he was to take to Paris for the 4th time. Every year, the Trois Ballons Grand Fondo goes up La Planche des Belles Filles, dubbed "the small Alpe d'Huez" by the entrants.
Specialities: cancoillotte cheese,
Charcenne wine and cheese, Fougerolles AOC kirsch,
Villeminfroy water, Grillotines of Fougerolles, myrtles in Belfahy, Montbozon biscuits, Luxeuil lace, Passavant-la-TarbesRochère glass and crystal.
Stage 6 is 160.5km from Mulhouse to la Planche-des-Belles-Filles. It's a proper tough, testing mountain stage, featuring Vosges classics such as the Ballon d'Alsace and the Grand Ballon. It finishes with the steep climb to la Planche des Belles Filles, won by Fabio Aru last time the Tour tackled it in 2017. This time however, the race climbs a further 900 metres, on an unpaved section that touches an eye watering (tears for some?) 24%.
Mulhouse hosts the departure of the Tour de France’s 6th stage. The last time that La Grande Boucle arrived in Mulhouse was in 2014. Tony Martin was on the attack during the whole day and in the last 50 kilometres he soloed to the win.
Peaking at an elevation of 1,148 metres, La Planche des Belle Filles climb in the Vosges Mountains has established a reputation as a puncher’s finish in a short time. In 2012 it debuted in the Tour de France and now, after eight editions, it is already the fourth time that the climb is included. In all three editions La Planche des Belles Filles was a climb of 5.9 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.5%. The ‘new’ Planche des Belles Filles amounts to 7 kilometres at 8.7%.
The stage also includes Le Markstein (10.8 kilometres at 5.4%)
Grand Ballon (1.3 kilometres at 9%)
Col du Hundsruck (5.3 kilometres at 6.9%)
Ballon d’Alsace (11 kilometer à 5,8%)
Moreover, GC riders are tempted to open up the finale on the Chevrères, a punchy 3.5 kilometres climb at 9.5%. The Chevrères is crested with 19 kilometres. The descent leads to a false flat of 4 kilometres, which runs to the foot of the final haul up.
Favourites 6th stage 2019 Tour de France
Surely, the summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles will bring the GC riders out of the shadows. There is no place to hide on the steep slopes, which are - to pep things up - unpaved in the last kilometre. Obviously, this is the terrain for the pure mountain goats, lightweights with an explosive acceleration. But you also need stamina in the 6th stage to survive the climb. Moreover, La Planche des Belles Filles is the last one in a long list of Vosges climbs that are on the menu.
**** Thibaut Pinot, Adam Yates, Egan Bernal
*** Mikel Landa, Alejandro Valverde, Rigoberto Uran ,
** Romain Bardet, Daniel Martin, Enric Mas, Michael Woods, Dylan Teuns
* The diesel GC boys
Mulhouse
16 previous stages
Population: 113,000 and 273,000 in the 39 communes of Mulhouse Alsace Agglomeration
Mulhouse hosted the Tour de France sixteen times and has beautiful bicycle tales to tell and especially the story of the Buysse brothers, the only siblings in the Tour history to have held the yellow jersey in the same edition. Winner of the first stage of the 1926 Tour in Mulhouse, Jules Buysse took the jersey that day, three weeks before seeing his brother Lucien win the race in Paris. The Buysse were a real cycling dynasty since their older brother Marcel won six stages in the 1913 Tour and also held the yellow jersey for two days. All had children who became professional riders.
Mulhouse also hosted two stage starts in 1959 and 1971. The winners list in town includes three Tour winners, Nicolas Frantz, Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon.
The last stage finish in Mulhouse, in 2014, saw the triumph of Tony Martin, who raised the arms after a 59-km solo, while Tony Gallopin took the yellow jersey for a day before handing it to its final holder, Vincenzo Nibali. Like the Buysses, the Gallopins could see this ephemeral yellow jersey as a family achievement, since Tony’s father Joel rode several Tours in the 1980s while his uncle Guy was also a professional rider. As for Tony’s other uncle, Alain, a team director with Trek-Segfredo for a long while, he shed a few tears of joy that day.
A picturesque and lively town centre and charming pedestrian streets take visitors along the “red thread”, a 3.8-lm course accessible to people with mobility problems. Mulhouse is also a family and children-friendly town. The Family Plus label is useful to spot the venues and sites suited to the whole family.
Specialities: Baeckeoffe (meat and vegetable marinated in white wine),
Flammekueche (flambéed tart),
Spaetzle (Alsatian pasta), sauerkraut, Sürlawerla (veal liver), Lawerknäpfla (liver quenelles), Kougelhopf (run), Mannala and Schnackala (bread loaves in the shape of men and snails), Schankala (small sweet doughnuts), le Melfor (honey and herbs vinegar), Mulhouse beer.
La Planche des Belles Filles
Three previous stages.
The sole ski resort in the Haute-Saone department and the last summit of the Vosges, La Planche des Belles-Filles made a smashing Tour de France debut when it revealed the climbing talent of Chris Froome. The English rider conquered his first Tour de France stage there in 2012 one year before his overall victory on the Champs-Elysees. That day, the man who was then Bradley Wiggins's main support, surged recklessly in the finale to drop Cadel Evans and win in style. The hold of Team Sky on the Tour had just begun. The stage was also a special one for Frenchman Thibaut Pinot as the race was going through Melisey, a town whose mayor is his father. The FDJ climber waited for the next day in Porrentruy to raise his arms in jubilation. Two years later, Vincenzo Nibali, already winner in Sheffield, went solo to snatch a yellow jersey he would keep all the way to Paris. In 2017, Fabio Aru clinched a prestigious stage victory while Chris Froome went back to his roots to take a yellow jersey he was to take to Paris for the 4th time. Every year, the Trois Ballons Grand Fondo goes up La Planche des Belles Filles, dubbed "the small Alpe d'Huez" by the entrants.
Specialities: cancoillotte cheese,
Charcenne wine and cheese, Fougerolles AOC kirsch,
Villeminfroy water, Grillotines of Fougerolles, myrtles in Belfahy, Montbozon biscuits, Luxeuil lace, Passavant-la-TarbesRochère glass and crystal.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
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Comments
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Load of big goat and dog balls, this stage.
Admittedly my French isn't great, but that's what I make out from the climb names.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
I heard valverde has lost 6kg ..maybe up him a *"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0
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Another great opener - you should be getting paid for these!0
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I rode the Cyclosportive/Gran Fondo Trois Ballons in 2003, including the finishing climb up the Planche, and we entrants in 2003 didn't think of it as "the small Alpe d'Huez" – that sounds like some later journalist's tosh.Blazing Saddles wrote:La Planche des Belles Filles
Three previous stages.
The sole ski resort in the Haute-Saone department and the last summit of the Vosges ... Every year, the Trois Ballons Grand Fondo goes up La Planche des Belles Filles, dubbed "the small Alpe d'Huez" by the entrants.
For us it was just our La Planche des Belles Filles, unique in its own way, part of our cyclosportive, without any need for comparison.
And I'd rather that ASO hadn't 'discovered' it. The small quiet peaceful top has been destroyed by enlarging the area for the Tour and all its vehicles, etc.0 -
mididoctors wrote:I heard valverde has lost 6kg ..maybe up him a *
Chapeau!Correlation is not causation.0 -
Forgot to mention that there's 3800 metres of climbing packed into tomorrow's 160kms."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0
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Great little climb. I rode up it in 2012 to watch the stage (what a day!), with a 20kg rucksack full of booze and picnic. I nearly blew my stack, I did. My wife still insists the whole water melon was a good idea. I was so glad when a gendarme told me to get off and walk with about a km to go. If Valverde has lost 10kgs, it'll be like he's riding without that water melon, so he should go twice as fast as me, if my maths are correct.0
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No tA Doctor wrote:Load of big goat and dog balls, this stage.
Admittedly my French isn't great, but that's what I make out from the climb names.
yeah La Planche des Belle Filles translates asthe board/plank of the beautiful girls...sounds alot better left in French imo, but can see why Wiggo was bigging up stage 6 as the stage Thomas needs to show GC win credentials0 -
“Ironing board of the hotties” on the ITV podcast ;-)2015 Canyon Nerve AL 6.0 (son #1's)
2011 Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc (son #4s)
2013 Decathlon Triban 3 (red) (mine)
2019 Hoy Bonaly 26" Disc (son #2s)
2018 Voodoo Bizango (mine)
2018 Voodoo Maji (wife's)0 -
RichN95 wrote:An interesting quandry for the King of the Mountains competition. You would think that any prospective KOM suitor would need to be in the break for this stage, but the favourite is currently in Yellow. Will he be allowed into the break?
It's a bit tricky, isn't it? I suspect there are a couple of teams that wouldn't mind, even giving him just enough time to hold the yellow for a little while longer as well as getting his kom points, but can't see e.g. Lotto giving him any room.
There's a very early sprint as well (29km), so Sagan and Mathews will be trying to get to that without anyone ahead of them. If they do that by getting in a break then Mathews could well keep rolling for a col or four.
In other news, for some reason I chose today to be on a flight. I've made schoolboy errors like this before, it usually means Steve Cummings wins.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
Which GC rider is going to puncture on the gravel section?0
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No tA Doctor wrote:RichN95 wrote:An interesting quandry for the King of the Mountains competition. You would think that any prospective KOM suitor would need to be in the break for this stage, but the favourite is currently in Yellow. Will he be allowed into the break?
It's a bit tricky, isn't it? I suspect there are a couple of teams that wouldn't mind, even giving him just enough time to hold the yellow for a little while longer as well as getting his kom points, but can't see e.g. Lotto giving him any room.
There's a very early sprint as well (29km), so Sagan and Mathews will be trying to get to that without anyone ahead of them. If they do that by getting in a break then Mathews could well keep rolling for a col or four.
In other news, for some reason I chose today to be on a flight. I've made schoolboy errors like this before, it usually means Steve Cummings wins.
a) you absolute wally. I have managed to clear my diary from 3pm onwards.
b) QS may work with ineos to keep the break fairly small and with no KoM favourites so Alaphilippe can pop off the front of the peloton and mop up the remainder.0 -
I probably need to leave the office at 4.40 so hopefully it'll be finished by then...0
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OCDuPalais wrote:Great little climb. I rode up it in 2012 to watch the stage (what a day!), with a 20kg rucksack full of booze and picnic. I nearly blew my stack, I did. My wife still insists the whole water melon was a good idea. I was so glad when a gendarme told me to get off and walk with about a km to go. If Valverde has lost 10kgs, it'll be like he's riding without that water melon, so he should go twice as fast as me, if my maths are correct.
Live scenes...
Correlation is not causation.0 -
No tA Doctor wrote:In other news, for some reason I chose today to be on a flight. I've made schoolboy errors like this before, it usually means Steve Cummings wins.
I have a meeting from 4pm-7pm Greek time so will miss the pointy end action!
Correlation is not causation.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:
I think it will be Pinot, who will then have a bit of a meltdown, kicking his bike in frustration.0 -
greasedscotsman wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:
I think it will be Pinot, who will then have a bit of a meltdown, kicking his bike in frustration.
Not Porte?0 -
Alejandro Valverde's kg = this horse.
Correlation is not causation.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:greasedscotsman wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:
I think it will be Pinot, who will then have a bit of a meltdown, kicking his bike in frustration.
Not Porte?
Isn't Porte more of a crashy than a pucturey kinda guy?0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:greasedscotsman wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:
I think it will be Pinot, who will then have a bit of a meltdown, kicking his bike in frustration.
Not Porte?
No, he'll topple off and cry.0 -
greasedscotsman wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:greasedscotsman wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:
I think it will be Pinot, who will then have a bit of a meltdown, kicking his bike in frustration.
Not Porte?
Isn't Porte more of a crashy than a pucturey kinda guy?
Toblerone Boy has had some memorable punctures.
Correlation is not causation.0 -
Above The Cows wrote:Toblerone Boy has had some memorable punctures.
Of course, forgot about that. Wasn't it Simon Clarke who helped him then, maybe he could do it again!0 -
Indeed it was. And then Porte was given a time penalty for taking a wheel from a non-team mate. Plus the silly sausage stopped on the wrong side of the road to begin with which compounded the problem.Correlation is not causation.0
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That's a lot of climbing. I am hoping movistar/ someone disrupts early.
Time Bonus? Mmmmm"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
I'll be running ITV4 on my screen with headphones and the cricket on the office TV (which handily lines up directly above my monitor). Who says the UK has a productivity problem?0
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All the favourites on the highlights stating that this is going to be the hardest stage, not sure if it's bluffing or playing down expectations but on looking at the profile I can sort of see why.. that's a hell of a lot of climbing in a relatively short space!0
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Can't wait. Working hard this morning then decant to the living room for zero work. Annoyingly have a call 2.30-3.300
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Shirley Basso wrote:Can't wait. Working hard this morning then decant to the living room for zero work. Annoyingly have a call 2.30-3.30
hard work out the window. Now watching cricket.
Adam Yates backing himself firmly for the stage, saying he knows the area well.0
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