TdF 2019 - Stage 6 - SPOILER ALERT!
 

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First proper mountain stage and although it's unlikely to tell us definitively who will win GC in this year's Tour it should be a good indication of who is unlikely to win. Will it be a one-two for Skineos? That would surely be a statement. I'm hoping for a Bardet win. I'd like to see Dan Martin up with the top guys but don't see him winning the stage.

Really steep finish so maybe someone who's been hiding all the way has the legs to take the stage in the final 100m.

Some tricky descents so a big name crashing out is also a possibility.

Stage 6
1 TEUNS, Dylan (TBM) 4:29:03 2 CICCONE, Giulio (TFS) + 11 3 MEURISSE, Xandro (WGG) + 1:05 4 THOMAS, Geraint (INS) + 1:44 5 PINOT, Thibaut (GFC) + 1:46 6 ALAPHILIPPE, Julian (DQT) 7 QUINTANA, Nairo (MOV) + 1:51 8 BUCHMANN, Emanuel (BOH) 9 FUGLSANG, Jakob (AST) + 1:53 10 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (MOV) 11 PORTE, Richie (TFS) 12 BERNAL GOMEZ, Egan Arley (INS) 13 YATES, Adam (MTS) + 1:58 14 MARTIN, Daniel (UAD) 15 URAN, Rigoberto (EF1)

GC
1 CICCONE, Giulio (TFS) 23:14:55 2 ALAPHILIPPE, Julian (DQT) + 6 3 TEUNS, Dylan (TBM) + 32 4 BENNETT, George (TJV) + 47 5 THOMAS, Geraint (INS) + 49 6 BERNAL GOMEZ, Egan Arley (INS) + 53 7 PINOT, Thibaut (GFC) + 58 8 KRUIJSWIJK, Steven (TJV) + 1:04 9 WOODS, Michael (EF1) + 1:13 10 URAN, Rigoberto (EF1) + 1:15 11 FUGLSANG, Jakob (AST) + 1:19 12 BUCHMANN, Emanuel (BOH) + 1:22 13 MAS NICOLAU, Enric (DQT) + 1:23 14 YATES, Adam (MTS) + 1:24 15 MEURISSE, Xandro (WGG) + 1:39 16 QUINTANA, Nairo (MOV) + 1:41 17 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (MOV) + 1:43 18 MARTIN, Daniel (UAD) + 1:46 19 GAUDU, David (GFC) + 1:52 20 NIBALI, Vincenzo (TBM) + 1:56 21 PORTE, Richie (TFS)

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Thomas is in form and must for now at least be seen as the main GC hope for Skineos. Dan Martin will be happy with his performance but there's a lot of tough days ahead and he's a woeful TTist. I see him hopefully in the bottom half of the top ten by Paris, anything better will be incredible.
Bardet is out of it as regards GC. Nibali too, probably because of his effort in the Giro. Quintana has a stage win in him but I don't see him on the podium. I can see a French rider on the podium but not on the top step.

Great finish for the GC bunch, has Geraint silenced his doubters? Dropping Bernal and putting time into everyone. Or is it just show on Bernal's part, with him and the rest of the GC letting Geraint go ahead a little?

Eneos isn’t as strong this year but can anyone beat them ?

Geraint does nothing to promote the sport. No one will get excited by watching this guy win again. I hope someone can beat him.

Also sucks that Thomas has road all the stages in the slipstream of his teammates while Alaphalipe has busted his tale for his team and has been lead out for his team as well as winning a stage.

Remember ..... domestique is for losers

Why do people keep spelling it "Eneos" instead of "Ineos"?