Stage 6 Breakdown:

Stage 6 takes the riders on a mountainous 186.2km journey from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre. This is the queen stage of the opening week and the final day in the Pyrenees. With over 4100m of climbing, including the legendary Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet, it is the first stage where the general classification contenders are expected to go head-to-head.

After a relatively gentle opening 100 kilometres, the race reaches the foot of the Col d’Aspin before immediately tackling the mighty Tourmalet, one of the most famous climbs in Tour de France history. The summit comes with just over 40 kilometres remaining, leaving a long descent before the final 8km climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre, which averages around 5%. The climb is not steep enough to create huge gaps on its own, meaning any rider hoping to win will likely have to make their move on the Tourmalet.

Whether we see an early attack or a tactical battle remains to be seen, but this is the first stage where the yellow jersey could change hands through pure climbing strength. After the opening days, UAE look like the strongest team in the race, but Visma will be determined to put them under pressure in the high mountains.

Favorites:
| +++ | Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel
| ++ | João Almeida, Isaac del Toro, Primož Roglič, Mattias Skjelmose
| + | Carlos Rodríguez, Felix Gall, Enric Mas, Lenny Martinez