Stage 5 gave us a taste of the incredibly fun mountain action still to come at the 2016 Tour de France. Riders will hit the Pyrenees on Friday and start climbing in earnest. Before then, the sprinters get one last gasp. On Stage 6, riders will spend more time descending than ascending, and roughly 30 kilometers of flat land before the finish should give team leadout trains plenty of time to solidify.
Tour de France 2016 live stream: Time, TV schedule and route for Stage 6
The 2016 Tour de France is just one day away from the Pyrenees, which means sprinters have just one last gasp for glory before attention turns to the general classification contenders.
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Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel will be the men to watch Thursday when Stage 6 gets started in Arpajon-sur-Cère at roughly 6:50 a.m. ET. NBCSN should pick up the race at 7:30 a.m. until the race finishes in Montauban some time before noon. Those who wish to stream the stage will need a subscription to NBC Sports Gold.
Greg Van Avermaet will wear the yellow jersey after soloing his way to victory Wednesday. The Classics specialist should be in no danger to lose it. Barring an accident, a sprint finish should ensure that everyone will receive virtually the same time. That certainly won’t be the case Friday.
Stage 6 does feature some climbing -- two Category 3 climbs and one Category 4 -- putting a few King of the Mountains points up for grabs, though likely not enough to totally break up the Belgian entente of Thomas de Gendt, Van Avermaet and Jasper Stuyven atop the climber classification.
The points classification will be interesting, however. Sagan still has the green jersey, and should win the intermediate sprint at Montbazens. Kittel, Cavendish and company can take the stage, however. Sagan currently leads Cavendish by four points and Kittel by eight.
Thursday will be the last bit of calm before the storm. Enjoy the sprint, then strap in for the Pyrenees.
Stage Route
Profile
Stage map and profile courtesy of the Tour’s official site.
Tour de France coverage for Stage 6 on Thursday
Start time: 6:50 a.m. ET (approx.)
Route: 190.5 kilometers from Arpajon-sur-Cère to Montauban
TV: NBCSN, beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET
Streaming: NBC Sports Gold (subscription required)
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