Here is Jeremy Whittle’s report from Blagnac:
And that’s the lot for today. Thanks for reading and emailing in. Bye!
Pure emotion from Norsgaard and Movistar Team.
Updated
This video on the official race Twitter shows you how close Norsgaard, the stage winner, came to being caught by the chasing pack on the final straight. An absolutely sensational performance by Norsgaard – and a richly well deserved stage victory.
ALLEZ ! ALLEZ ! ALLEZ !
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 28, 2023
🏆 @emmanorsgaard1 - @Movistar_Team 🏆#TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @GoZwift pic.twitter.com/cITtOb7x1L
Re: tomorrow’s late start (16.15 CET), my sources tell me it is nothing to do with avoiding the worst of the heat. More likely it’s a TV scheduling matter: France v Brazil, in the Women’s World Cup, kicks off at 12.00 CET, for one thing …
Provisional GC says that Demi Vollering has moved up to second, with Van Vleuten now third … awaiting confirmation of the GC.
And in fact it appears that provisional GC was incorrect, with Moolman-Pasio remaining in second. The top five now looks like this:
Kopecky (SD Worx) 21hr 54min 30sec
Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance - Soudal Quick-Step Team) +53sec
Van Vleuten (Movistar Team) +55sec
Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) +55sec
Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM) +55sec
All to play for tomorrow …
Updated
“Four stages back to back won from the breakaway!” emails Alan. “Now that’s a bike race.”
Norsgaard: "I reached for the stars"
Today’s stage winner, Emma Norsgaard of Movistar Team, speaks as she fights back tears of happiness: “I’m lost for words, really … sorry, it’s been a difficult start of the year [after she crashed during Strade Bianche and breaking her collarbone] … I’m lost for words. I want to thank everyone around me, my family, my husband, the team, for believing in me after I was out the whole spring. It’s the biggest victory ever, I’m so happy.”
Why did she decide to go for the break?
“I’m not a sprinter anymore, I have to realise it. I might be fast, but I can’t keep up with the sprinters. I took a chance, I reached for the stars today, and here we are. I was even emotional when Lianne [Lippert] won [stage two], and now me … I love this team, it’s an amazing atmosphere.”
Is she going to be able to celebrate, with a big stage coming tomorrow?
“I am going to celebrate, don’t worry.”
Updated
Annemiek van Vleuten, Norsgaard’s Movistar teammate, speaks to Eurosport: “It’s like, wow. Riding with me in the team is not always easy, sometimes they don’t get the opportunity [to go for wins] … she went for the break, and she finished it off … that gives me goosebumps … she deserves it so well, she really needed this one. You saw her tears … it’s always more beautiful when you come back from a setback, and then you win.”
“For me it [the Tour] really starts tomorrow … I’m ready.'”
Reaction coming up …
Top five on stage six
1. Emma Norsgaard Bjerg (Movistar Team)
2. Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich), +1sec
3. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx), +1sec
4. Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), +1sec
5. Soraya Paladin (Canyon//Sram), +1sec
Let’s hope everyone caught in that crash is OK … anyway, what a performance from Norsgaard. She looked so strong all day, and made a very good call to attack her breakaway companions with about 4km to go. Skalniak-Sojka managed to come with her, and that was probably crucial in Norsgaard hanging on, ultimately, for a fantastic stage win. A sensational performance, she held off the sprinters by a whisker!
Updated
Emma Norsgaard wins stage six!
Incredible ride – and so well deserved! Wow! The Danish rider holds off the sprinters by a couple of seconds!
Updated
1km to go: The two riders up front hit the very long final straight. There is a big crash in the bunch as the riders come across the tram tracks, a bend in the course from left to right.
1.5km to go: Massive, massive effort from Skalniak-Sojka and Norsgaard to keep this going. They still have 10sec!
2km to go: Norsgaard still looks strong. The gap is 13sec. Alonso is swept up by the peloton … meanwhile Lizzie Deignan is leading the way in the chase, on the front of the bunch!
3km to go: Good news for the break is that they’ve left that long, straight section and now there are bends and roundabouts to negotiate. These two are the time trial champions for Denmark and Poland respectively, according to the Eurosport commentators, so there is plenty of power in there.
4km to go: The gap falls to 15sec … and Norsgaard decides she’s had enough, and powers away. Skalniak-Sojka manages to stay with her, but Dominguez is dropped.
6km to go: The gap plunges to 22sec. It definitely looks like the tank is nearly empty for Dominguez (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling). Skalniak-Sojka and Norsgaard will be feeling it too, of course.
7km to go: The riders in the bunch can see the break up front, further up the road. The gap is 25sec. Dominguez is looking tired, her head lolling to the side as she tries to do her fair share of the work to keep the peloton at bay.
9km to go: Now 35sec for the break. Suddenly their days look numbered and we look much more likely to have a bunch sprint.
11km to go: The gap has fallen to 43sec … better signs for the peloton bringing this back. It’s a long, straight road into Blagnac at the moment, lined by those famously French, supposedly Napoleonic trees.
Updated
12km to go: The gap has fallen to 49sec. The average speed for the stage has just crept over 40km/h.
13km to go: UAE Team ADQ are working on the front of the bunch. I don’t like the peloton’s chances at this rate. Norsgaard is pictured again, tapping out a smooth cadence, barely looking as if she has broken sweat.
14km to go: There was a crash at the back of the peloton a few minutes ago, but thankfully not a serious one. You wonder how Veronica Ewers is getting on, just trying to finish the stage.
💥Crash at the back, involving Jade Wiel and @LoesAdegeest. Everyone is back up and riding
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 28, 2023
💥Crash à l'arrière, impliquant Jade Wiel et @LoesAdegeest. Tout le monde est de retour sur le vélo#TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift pic.twitter.com/TrIUYWBLie
Updated
15km to go: The gap falls to 56sec, but it’s still very much game on.
Updated
16km to go: You can argue this breakaway is benefiting from a few factors … one is that many riders are already fatigued and are finding it hard to chase. Another is that many of them will be saving themselves, or trying to, for tomorrow’s massive stage, or even the time trial on Sunday.
19km to go: The gap is hovering at around a minute.
On Eurosport, Manon Lloyd tells us she has just driven the final kilometre, that features a few roundabouts.
She is also standing right by some tram tracks, which the riders will need to ride across on their way down the finish straight.
“There is no chance of a train or tram coming through today, which is good,” Lloyd adds.
You can say that again …
21km to go: Up front, Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) puts in a powerful turn at the front. The leading trio are still alternating, still working together to try and set up a shot at a prestigious stage win.
Updated
22km to go: The riders at the front of the peloton look more determined now and they have shaved a few seconds off the gap. It’s down to a minute.
24km to go: That gap is holding steady at around 1min 08sec. You wonder who is going to take the responsibility for the chase behind. Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team ADQ and Team DSM are visible at the front. Marianne Vos will definitely fancy her chances of a sprint win.
26km to go: The gap has fallen to 1min 08sec.
For Eurosport, Slappendel says that a teammate has dropped back to help Ewers finish the stage, although again, they are not visible on the official tracker. No idea why.
She also reckons the breakaway has a very healthy chance of success given the narrow, winding roads into Blagnac …
29km to go: The break rolls through the intermediate sprint point at Hameau de Rastel … then Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) attacks from the following bunch, wearing yellow, and takes fourth place with Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step) behind her.
Updated
30km to go: “I was looking at tomorrow’s stage details (mainly because I know some of the places on the route so I want to know when to pay particular attention), emails Justin. “… and I was surprised to see that it’s scheduled rather later than today’s stage - 1615 CET with an expected arrival time of 1906, compared to today’s 1420 and 1720. Is this so that riders don’t go up the Tourmalet in the worst of the heat?”
I don’t know. Of course in the men’s race, the Paris stage has been an afternoon/evening affair in recent years, which I believe is partly for TV audience reasons … but in this case I don’t know. Anyone?
31km to go: The gap is 1min 34sec. Brown has not managed to get more than five seconds ahead of the chasing bunch.
33km to go: The gap is 1min 35sec. Meanwhile Grace Brown (FDJ–Suez) has struck out alone off the front of the bunch. Almost as if she has lost patience with what looked to be an ineffective chase. This could be a very exciting end to the stage if the three up front keep co-operating to such an effect.
35km to go: The bunch flies through the town of Villebrumier, and over a bridge, a highly technical section with plenty of road furniture to avoid.
38km to go: Again, Skalniak-Sojka mops up the two points on the day’s final climb, she has now collected eight points on the day. Alonso second. The gap is 1min 45sec between break and peloton.
The average speed displayed on the official live tracker is 39.8km/h and that will almost certainly go above 40km/h by the end of the stage.
Updated
41km to go: With fractionally under 30km remaining, we’ll have the day’s intermediate sprint, at Hameau de Rastel.
Meanwhile, the riders are on the fourth and final categorised climb, the Côte de la Gayre.
Updated
42km to go: It’s a sign of how well this front three is working together that the gap is up to 1min 48sec. There will be some nervous sports directors on their radios, warning their teams not to let this break get any further away.
OK, there is still over 40km to race, but the leading trio are riding very strongly.
42km to go: Ewers is not visible on the live tracker on the official site. I am not sure how far behind she is, but she was off the bike for between five and 10 minutes.
44km to go: Ewers (EF Education - Tibco - SVB) is back on her bike after that horrible crash. Iris Slappendel, on the Eurosport motorbike, says: “She’s clearly in a lot of pain … it took the doctor four, five minutes to allow her to get back on the bike. She has tears in her eyes … she is a GC favourite, but this crash was really nasty … I am not sure if she should continue in this race actually.”
Ewers is 15th in GC, 2min 17sec down. It’s incredibly brave of her to try and carry on. It was a very heavy fall indeed.
Updated
46km to go: The gap between break and peloton surges to 1min 20sec.
There will be some sprinters in the peloton who would be seriously annoyed to miss the chance of a stage win in Blagnac.
Updated
47km to go: There was a split in the main pack, but it appears we’re all back together now.
The riders in the three-woman breakaway have a 1min advantage, and they are:
Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (Canyon/SRAM)
Emma Norsgaard (Movistar)
Sandra Alonso Dominguez (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling)
Updated
49km to go: The three up front are riding through and off, in a team-time-trial fashion. With under 50km to go, they clearly fancy their chances of competing for a stage win. The crash in the bunch will not aid the peloton’s hopes of bringing this back either.
Updated
53km to go: A crash for the QOM leader, Yara Kastelijn, and several other riders in the bunch. It was a nasty looking crash especially for Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) who is pictured lying in a ditch by the side of the road. It looks like her race is over.
54km to go: The gap is back up to over a minute. There are 24 riders who have been dropped by the main bunch.
55km to go: Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) was forced to abandon the race yesterday due to illness. A shame for her and the team, but that makes today’s opportunity for the sprinters all the more interesting.
57km to go: The gap continues to fall with the pace in the peloton having gone up a notch or two. Although fairly slowly: it’s hovering at around 45sec now.
58km to go: Now we are seeing plenty of attacks off the front of the bunch. The gap is down to 49sec. There are plenty of riders who fancy getting in the break now the gap is more manageable for them to bridge.
59km to go: France TV did indeed report that Henttala was sent packing for holding on to a team car. It was also mentioned in commentary on Eurosport.
Lotta Henttala (AG-Soudal Quickstep) disqualified during the stage, FranceTV reports she was holding onto a team car pic.twitter.com/4m6QP8x0q8
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 28, 2023
62km to go: The gap is down to a minute. The three riders up front are Skalniak-Sojka (Canyon/SRAM), Norsgaard (Movistar) and Dominguez (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling).
Updated
63km to go: Skalniak-Sojka takes the two points on climb No 3, the Côte du Clos Pourtié. Norsgaard takes a point.
64km to go: Lotta Henttala (AG Insurance - Soudal Quick-Step Cycling Team) is the rider who has been expelled from the race. I believe she was dropped early on, and obviously bent or broke the rules in trying to get back on.
Updated
65km to go: The riders have already hit the third climb, the Côte du Clos Pourtié. Someone’s just been booted out of the race for holding on to a team car after being dropped. I didn’t catch who but will confirm. I think the car’s been booted, too.
65km to go: Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) had a chat with Eurosport earlier and was asked about her expectations for the stage: “To be honest, I don’t want to think today will be an easy day. We thought yesterday would be and it wasn’t … I think that our goal is to stay very attentive … I need to stay out of the troubles, and make sure I don’t do anything stupid.”
66km to go: Erik Zabel is the man driving the Canyon/SRAM team car. He has quite a pedigree in the Tour de France: he won the points classification six years in a row, between 1996-2001, in the men’s race. He won 12 stages at the Tour in his career and eight at the Vuelta.
70km to go: Skalniak-Sojka rolls through the QOM point and takes the two points. It’s a very narrow road, and the peloton trundles through a couple of minutes later. The three riders out front are now on the high-speed descent.
71km to go: So now it’s a three-rider break. Skalniak-Sojka (Canyon/SRAM), Norsgaard (Movistar) and Dominguez (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling) are all together and are approaching the top of the second climb, the Côte de Puycelsi. They have just under 2min on the bunch.
Updated
72km to go: Skalniak-Sojka is on the second climb, the Côte de Puycelsi, and has a two-minute advantage on the peloton, but the two chasers are about to catch her …
73km to go: Demi Vollering of SD Worx, who was given a 20-second penalty for the incident yesterday that saw the team director thrown off the race, spoke to Eurosport before the stage: “It [the penalty] feels harsh but the team is still very focused,” she said. “I hope in the end it won’t change that much … I hope I won’t lose the Tour by 20 seconds … I feel like I did nothing wrong, I did not get a warning … we can talk all day about this, but it doesn’t change anything, and that’s the sad story.”
And as for the race: “Yesterday was a really, really hard race … today we don’t know.”
Updated
76km to go: A team car is pictured barging its way past the main bunch in dangerous fashion. I think it was the Canyon/SRAM looking to get up with the lone escapee.
⏱️ The gap has gone up to 2'20" for the rider of @WMNcycling!
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 28, 2023
⏱️ L'écart est passé à 2'20" pour la coureuse de @WMNcycling ! #TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift pic.twitter.com/jW4noqzqBL
Updated
79km to go: Skalniak-Sojka continues to ride hard at the front. There is a slip of paper sellotaped to her handlebars with the details of today’s stage, particularly the climbs, printed on it. On her jersey, in big yellow letters, it says “ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ”, which seems appropriate.
Updated
81km to go: “A hard start … so many attempts to break away,” says Iris Slappendel on the Eurosport motorbike. “A hectic and fast 30km, but now it looks like the peloton is taking a bit more of a break.
“Most of the riders I spoke to this morning are very, very tired … today will about who has something in the legs, and who is willing to suffer.”
83km to go: The weather: the temperature stated on the live tracker is 29.2C. Hot, but bearable.
Skalniak-Sojka is working away at the front, generating an incredible amount of power to maintain this gap.
In about 10km, the next climb of the day arrives, the Côte de Puycelsi. Another couple of QOM points up for grabs there for the first rider over the top.
Updated
86km to go: Skalniak-Sojka (Canyon/SRAM) has 1min 49sec on the bunch, and 42sec on the chasers.
Updated
88km to go: Now, Skalniak-Sojka (Canyon/SRAM) is solo at the front. Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) and Dominguez (Ceratizit–WNT) are the chasers.
Updated
90km to go: Skalniak-Sojka wins the race to the top of the climb. It’s all very active behind, with riders trying to get away from the peloton. Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) attacks at the summit of the climb when the peloton comes through.
Updated
93km to go: Another two-rider break: Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (Canyon/SRAM) and Sandra Alonso (Ceratizit-WNT) are up the road.
97km to go: For quite a while, the live tracker was showing a 12sec gap for that early breakaway, but it’s now displaying that the race is indeed all together. The summit of the Côte de la Cadène is coming up in about 5km. It’s a 2.5km climb with an average gradient of 4.5%.
(For the avoidance of doubt, the Côte de la Cadène is the first of four categorised climbs on today’s route.)
Updated
98km to go: “We cannot change so much … they have the end decision,” Stam told Eurosport earlier today. “It’s a decision that they make … I think we need to accept it, it is how it is, I don’t think it will have any influence on the riders.”
Matt Stephens speaks to SD Worx sports director Danny Stam after he was disqualified from the Tour de France Femmes and fined 500 Swiss francs by the UCI 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/ArPbxc0cfx
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 28, 2023
Updated
99km to go: Danny Stam, one of the SD Worx sports directors, has been expelled from the race after an incident yesterday. Stam was pacing Demi Vollering back to the peloton following a puncture.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift: UCI statement on the decision of UCI Commissaires’ Panel concerning Mr Danny Stam https://t.co/mXbGMjp4cP pic.twitter.com/P5FPKnbLnU
— UCI_media (@UCI_media) July 28, 2023
101km to go: Just in case you want to multi-screen it, we’ve also got live Ashes coverage from the Oval today:
There is also county cricket:
While at the Women’s World Cup, China have just edged past Haiti 1-0 in Group D:
102km to go: Here’s our stage report from yesterday, and Ricarda Bauernfeind’s dramatic victory in Albi:
103km to go: Mixed messages: Radio Tour stated it was “the end of the breakaway” a couple of minutes ago, but the live tracker shows the two riders up front, with a gap of 12sec between the break and the main bunch. All will become clear in 25min or so when the live coverage starts.
106km to go: Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) had in fact got across to Tacey and it was a two-rider break, but according to race radio, it’s now all back together. It was a brave effort by Neylan and Tacey – there may even be a hint of annoyance in the peloton that they’ve had to work so hard to shut them down.
Updated
108km to go: While we are waiting for live pictures, why not have a read of Jeremy Whittle’s latest – an interview with Claire Steels, leader of the Israel-Premier Tech Roland at this race:
110km to go: Tacey, who hails from Leicester, is doing a great job keeping the peloton at a distance. She had as much as 30sec at one point, but the gap is now down to 10sec. Clearly there are too many teams interested in having a rider in today’s break to let Tacey strike out alone …
112km to go: You can always get in touch with me with thoughts on the race: Email or tweet (X?) @LukeMcLaughlin
113km to go: April Tacey (Lifeplus Wahoo) is on the attack, alone out front, and has opened up a gap of 15sec on the pack.
I don’t know about you but I think a break has a great chance of success today – provided of course a decent-sized group can get up the road.
116km to go: The queen of the mountains competition is one to keep an eye on today, with four categorised climbs en route. Yara Kastelijn (Canyon/Sram) leads the way as it stands, with 23pts, Anouska Koster is second for Uno-X Pro Cycling, with 19pts, while Kathrin Hammes (EF Education Tibco SVB) is third with 11pts.
119km to go: Here’s the peloton rolling out for the neutralised start a few minutes ago.
🗣️"C'est partiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"#TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift pic.twitter.com/fKdDczrlyB
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 28, 2023
120km to go: The peloton has rolled through KM0, and stage six is go. However, we won’t have live pictures until 2.30pm UK time at the earliest, which is a particular shame on a day like today, when you’d expect a big battle to form a breakaway and plenty of action in the first hour or so.
Top 10 in GC before stage six
1) Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) 18hr 55min 17sec
2) Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Soudal-Quickstep) +49sec
3) Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) +51sec
4) Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) +51sec
5) Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) +51sec
6) Yara Kastelijn (Fenix–Deceuninck) +1min
7) Demi Vollering (SD Worx) +1min 03sec
8) Liane Lippert (Movistar) +1min 25sec
9) Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM) +1min 38sec
10) Juliette Labous (DSM–Firmenich) +1min 48sec
Preamble
A route peppered with short, punchy ascents looks like classic territory for a successful breakaway: four category-four climbs and constant undulations on the road from Albi to Blagnac will make today’s stage difficult to control for any team that wishes to try.
There will also be tired bodies in the peloton, with five hard stages already in the riders’ legs, and almost certainly there will be a few riders lurking in the bunch who have held something back in the last couple of stages with a view to prioritising victory today.
On Tuesday we saw Julie Van de Velde caught agonisingly close to the finish line in Montignac-Lascaux, but today we are far more likely to see a larger group clip off the front and attempt to keep the peloton at bay.
Stage start time: 1.20pm BST/2.20 CET
