STAGE 6
The mountains greet racers a bit earlier in this year's race. Running with the theme of unpredictability, Stage 6 enters the middle mountains of the Massif Central in the heart of France and ends with an uphill finish, a relative oddity for the Tours first week. Racing 139 miles through small French bergs on narrow roads, this stage is primed for a select break to hold off the pack if it can hold together though the first category 2 climb of the race, the Col de la Croix-Morand out of Mont Dore.
With a short-but-steep uphill finish at the ski resort of Super Besse, the sprinters teams will not be motivated to aid in chasing down an escape, in which case the peloton may only get close to the break if the overall leaders team is strong (and motivated) enough to reel them in. The finishing run (which features almost a mile of 10% grade) will favor explosive climbers and the kinds of specialists who excel in the one-day spring classics like Amstel Gold and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The overall favorites will poke and prod each other here, but without time bonuses luring them at the finish line, most will be more concerned with tracking their rivals than distancing them. Then again, the first climbs of the Tour always produce a few surprises, as some riders have a harder time transitioning from the long flat stages.
VIDEO PREVIEW
See how the Tour turns sleepy towns in central France into rowdy centers. Plus, an on-the-road preview of stage 6 by our European Correspondent James Startt. Watch on our
Tour de France video page.
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Stage 21
Google Earth Flyover: 2008 Tour de France
See more race coverage at
bicycling.com/tourdefrance.
Photo 1
Location: Unknown
One of the world's biggest sporting events is coming to this desolate road in the French countryside.
Photo 2
Location: Unknown
A bit of bike art on the race route
Photo 4
Location: Unknown
Courtside seats come July
Clermont Ferrand
Location: 45.778539°, 3.083038°
Home to the Michelin's corporate headquarters and test track.
Photo 7
Location: Unknown
A feed zone of sorts
Côte de Crocq
Location: 45.867421°, 2.367554°
Category 4 climb
Sprint Point
Location: 46.304490°, 2.025261°
Côte de Bellegarde-en-Marche
Location: 45.984797°, 2.289620°
Category 4 climb
Cressat Sprint Point
Location: 46.139880°, 2.108688°
Puy de Dome
Location: 45.777581°, 2.962875°
Site of the famous <a href="http://www.bicycling.com/tourdefrance/30moments/7.html" target="blank">Antequil/Poulidor duel</a> in the 1964 Tour.
Super-Besse
Location: 45.501775°, 2.873097°
That category 2 climb up to Super-Besse is a rarity for the first week of the Tour in that it's an uphill finish. Expect the real fireworks to fly on the 10% ridge around the corner from the finish.
Col de la Croix-Morand
Location: 45.598546°, 2.842541°
The misty slopes of Croix-Morand
This category 2 climb out of the ski resort town of Mont Dore may actually be harder than the final climb to Super-Besse. A long run-in on the backside of this climb will allow the peloton to regroup, likely discouraging the favorites from attacking before Super-Besse
Mont Dore
Location: 45.577282°, 2.808724°
The peloton will hook a U-turn through the narrow streets of Mont Dore before the category 2 climb up Col de la Croix-Morand.
Besse
Location: 45.512422°, 2.936697°
A dog's eye view of Besse
Location: 45.507730°, 2.901249°
The first (easier) tier of the climb to Super-Besse
Location: 45.503760°, 2.883139°
At the base of the steeper pitches of the final climb to Super-Besse. Look for the attacks to fly here.
La Bourbole
Location: 45.588816°, 2.733879°
Rolling through La Bourbole
Jarnages
Location: 46.181019°, 2.085342°
Jarnages awaits le Tour.
Over three weeks, the Tour rolls through countless small towns in the French countryside. The race may fly through in a matter of seconds, but it's still the one mammoth sporting event that comes to the people.
Location: 46.016724°, 2.283869°
Flowers under construction
Location: 45.512663°, 2.919016°
Wildflowers line the valley on the mild climb out of Besse.
Location: 45.502798°, 2.865114°
Summiting Super-Besse
Cressat Sprint Point
Location: 46.112754°, 2.174950°
An abandoned bakery in Cressat
La Bourbole
Location: 45.588816°, 2.733879°
A roadside chapel in La Bourbole
Location: 46.016724°, 2.283869°
Ahhh, France.
