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170km to go: Here is how the points classification ranking looks after the intermediate sprint:
1. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), 112
2. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), 102
3. Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 97
4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), 97
5. Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step), 72
The breakaway – with a 13sec gap – are now climbing the category three Côte du Mont Pinçon (5.6km at 3.7%).
173km to go: The gap for the pair out front (Lidl-Trek’s Quinn Simmons and EF Education-EasyPost’s Ben Healy) has increased to 15secs. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) has made a move and attacked from the peloton, but he’s out there on his own.
177km to go: Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) followed the sprinters and are trying to make a breakaway happen. They’ve only got 6secs on the pack behind them.
180km to go: Intermarché-Wanty and Lidl-Trek were in control going into that sprint and although Biniam Girmay was well positioned, Jonathan Milan pushed hard to cross the line first and scoop up 20pts.
182km to go: Before we head into the intermediate sprint, here’s a reminder of the standings for the points classification now:
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), 97pts
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Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), 92 pts
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Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), 87 pts
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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 80pts
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Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick-Step), 72pts
There’s some great pictures already coming in today from the newswires:
189km to go: The peloton are eating up the kilometres – they’ve been rattling along at about 50km/h since the start. Intermarché-Wanty are still controlling the front, with their sprinter Biniam Girmay among them.
195km to go: Fans of Normandy native Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) are out in force. There’s even a hot air balloon in a field with a giant picture of his face on it.
Israel-Premier Tech have been on the radio to their riders telling them that Lidl-Trek and Intermarché-Wanty are controlling the peloton to the sprint.
The racing has begun!
197km to go: The peloton are away. There’s an intermediate sprint pretty early on today – just 20km in to the parcours. Intermarché-Wanty have made their intentions clear by a number of riders taking up positions at the front.
ITV4 have spoken to Sepp Kuss. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider diplomatically shrugs off Jonas Vingegaard’s ITT result, saying sometimes you just have a bad day. He stresses that the Tour is long and it’s early days. There’s still time.
In a clip of an interview Vingegaard gave yesterday to a Danish TV station, the rider said:
[I’m] disappointed in today but it doesn’t make me believe in myself less … I still think I can win the Tour.
Today's rollout has begun
Stage six of the Tour de France 2025 is under way. The peloton have rolled out from a Bayeux. There’s a 5.2km neutralised section before the racing begins.
Tadej Pogačar is collecting jerseys. As the official Tour de France X account puts it:
It’s the first time since Philippe Gilbert and his victory on stage one of the 2011 Tour that a rider has the lead in the GC, the sprinter’s classification and the mountain classification.
It's the first time since Philippe Gilbert and his victory on stage 1 of the 2011 Tour that a rider has the lead in the GC, the sprinter's classification and the mountain classification. 💛💚❤️🤍
C'est la première fois depuis Philippe Gilbert et sa victoire sur l'étape 1 du Tour… pic.twitter.com/UoRqqUqZ6E
Stage six: Bayeux to Vire, 201km
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Thursday 10 July: Bayeux to Vire, 201.5km, with William Fotheringham’s preview:
The Suisse Normande isn’t widely known among cyclists now, but back in the day local amateurs spoke in awe of races over this area’s leg-breaking climbs. The fun starts in the final 70km, with three third-category climbs, before a final little brute, the Côte de Vaudry, 4km from the finish. French fans will be hoping Julian Alaphilippe can throw back the years as this would have been made for him in his pomp.
Preamble
At 201.5km, today’s stage six from Bayeux to Vire Normandie is the second longest stage of this year’s Tour. It’s also a punchy stage with a total elevation gain of 3,550m – that’s greater than the third week stage that ends with a climb of Mont Ventoux. There are six categoried climbs on the route today; all category three except the final Côte de Vaudry. And the finish is steep, averaging just over 10% for 700 metres.
The peloton are scheduled to roll out at 12.35pm CEST (11.35am BST) and the finish is estimated to be at about 5.14pm CEST (4.14pm BST).
So how might today look? A stage like this could be one for a good breakaway. Of course, where there’s a climb, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won’t be far away. It’ll be interesting to see how Jonas Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike play today after yesterday’s disappointing time trial result.
Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) is one to watch having grown up in Normandy; he knows the terrain and climbs well. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin‑Deceuninck) is a favourite too among pundits. As always I’d love to hear your predictions so please email me your thoughts, questions and guesses.
While we wait for the live TV coverage to kick off, here’s Jeremy Whittle’s stage five race from Caen report:
