The 163.5km stage 6 from Mâcon to Dijon, should be another day for the sprinters, and another chance for Mark Cavendish to add to his newly minted record for all-time Tour de France stage victories after his 35th win on Tuesday.
Cavendish will be in a reinvigorated battle for the green jersey, with the Manx Missile now within striking distance of taking it from the shoulders of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty).
Last year's winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has yet to win a stage this year and will be a major threat, as will Girmay. Other sprints like Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech), Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) are also hungry for their first wins of the Tour this year.
The sprinters only have to get over one categorized climb of the day, the Col du Bois Clair, only 10km into the stage, which is unlikely to be the launching point for the break of the day with the intermediate sprint at kilometre 31.1.
Once the sprint is done, the green jersey hopefuls can sit up and let a breakaway go but will keep them on a very tight leash through the vineyards of the Côte Chalonnaise.
It would have to be a very strong breakaway to foil the fast men who will have a wide 800-metre straightaway into the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or as their battleground for the stage victory.
Mark Cavendish won his 35th stage on Tuesday without the assistance of his final lead-out man, Michael Mørkøv, and Astana are unlikely to make the same mistake twice. The team had their faith affirmed and will be brimming with confidence on stage 6.
"The sprint he did today, you see why we believed in him. He's one of these riders who can pull out something amazing when you really have to," Mørkøv said on Tuesday. "Since joining Astana I was 100% sure that if we could just bring him one time in sight of the finish line I know he has something special in him and he could pull it off. We hoped for it the other day but he was caught up behind the crash.
"He nailed it. Unfortunately I got a bit caught out and was chasing him toward the finish line. At one point I saw he was in a good position and I couldn't help him anymore. I had to cross my fingers."
When asked if Cavendish would go for more stage wins, the Danish lead-out specialist was positive.
"In 2021, we also came to the Tour and nobody thought he could win a stage, and he won the first stage and three more, so why not!"
Stage 6 profile/map
Stage 6 Sprints
- Intermediate sprint, km 31.1
Stage 6 Mountains
- Col du Bois Clair (1.6km at 6%), cat. 4, km 10
