Stage 6 | Thursday, 6 July | Tarbes - Cauterets-Cambasque | 144.9 kilometres
Rolf Aldag's assessment: Test for the classification riders
Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet: there are no other names that evoke as much myth as the passes in the Pyrenees, which were populated by wild animals in the early days of the Tour.
When a stage like today's is announced, the fans expect a big battle of the stars. But I'm a little cautious about that and I think the favourites are too. It's clear that the riders with big ambitions for the overall classification want to make their mark today. This probably also means that a breakaway group will have little chance of getting through on the compact and hilly course. However, Tadej Pogacar will also hardly be inclined to attack before the final climb to Cauterets-Cambasque. After the Tourmalet, the peloton still has a descent ahead of them, which is often characterised by a headwind.
At the finish in Cauterets-Cambasque in 1989, it was a 25-year-old helper of Pedro Delgado who made a big impression in the Tour for the first time in his career. His name: Miguel Indurain. So this is a terrain where historic cycling moments can be created. I don't expect the battle of the best climbers until the last five kilometres of the stage, where it will be more about seconds. But as we all know, these are also important.
Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of stage 6 of the Tour de France 2023
- Neutral start: 13:10, sharp start 13:25
- Estimated arrival time: between 17:08 and 17:33
- TV broadcast: ARD - from 14:10, Eurosport - from 13:00
- Live stream: ARD one, sportschau.de, GCN+, Discovery+, Eurosport
Our expert Rolf Aldag
As a professional cyclist, our expert Rolf Aldag rode the Tour de France ten times up to 2004; as manager and sporting director, he has led various top teams through France and will once again be in charge of the German team Bora-Hansgrohe as sporting director at the Tour de France this year. There are few people who can tell so vividly what can happen on the stages of a grand tour and within the peloton. For TOUR, the 54-year-old sports manager has once again scrutinised the elevation profiles and march tables of this year's Tour de France.
In his predictions, he names the teams and riders he sees at the front on each day, assesses the difficulties of the routes and says where he expects attacks from whom. Will there be a bunch sprint? Will a breakaway group make it to the finish? Aldag also assesses for TOUR what role each stage plays for the classification jerseys: The more coloured jerseys our expert assigns to a stage, the greater their significance for the respective classification. The yellow jersey symbolises the weight of the stage in the overall classification, the green jersey stands for the importance of the best sprinter in the points classification and the red dotted jersey for the mountain classification, i.e. for the best climber. With these first-hand predictions, you can follow the TV broadcasts well informed and with profit!
