2024 Vuelta Femenina Stage 6 Preview

 Flat, with a nice climb at the end

Stage 6 profile from procyclingstats.com

There will be some wind on the way, but the stage should be all about the climb at the end. There is uncategorized climbing from the gun until 30km or so into the stage that should allow a decent break to form, but I expect everything to be brought back together by SD Worx by the finishing climb, which looks like this:

Profile of the finishing climb on stage 6 from procyclingstats.com

There should a large group at the base, and it isn't as difficult as stage 5's summit finishing, so there will be more riders in contention midway through. However, I don't see that changing the outcome too much.

Contenders

DEMI VOLLERING -- Took her first win of the season on stage 5 as well as the leader's jersey, her and the team will be looking to keep it from here on in. She slowly ground the rest of the leading group with about 2km left to go on stage 5, not even accelerating out of the saddle. She's the best rider in the race right, and I expect another win today.

ELISA LONGO BOURGHINI -- Climbed well to finish stage 5, but couldn't match Vollering's power output; there's no shame in that. Only thirty seconds down, she won't get any freedom from SD Worx, so I don't see a stage win in the cards here, but probably another top 3.

KASIA NIEWIADOMA -- Surprisingly dropped early on the final climb of stage 5, was it just a bad moment or something else? Still only 97 seconds down, even if she has a better day, I again don't see any freedom being given.

GAIA REALINI -- Lost time in the echelons and a crash on stage 5 saw her ship several minutes, any GC bid is gone. If feeling better, she should be given freedom to potentially chase the stage from other teams.

YARA KASTELIJN -- Second on stage 5, clearly climbing very well right now. She's in the Goldilocks situation of having form while down on the GC, she could be the most likely winner outside of Vollering

As mentioned earlier, I don't see a break making it to the finish; SD Worx will really want to secure a second win for Vollering before thinking about giving out any gifts.

Prediction

Barring accident or illness, I think it will be Vollering again...she is the best climber on the best team

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2024 Men's Tour de France Preview

Image
 Here we go again...time for the annual 21-round bout via bike around France. Previously... Last year we saw an epic two-week battle between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard that looked as though it would go down to the wire until Vingegaard took a huge chunk out of the Slovenian with "the time trial of his life" on the first day of the third week. Then, the unthinkable happened when Pogacar infamously imploded on the climb of the Col de la Loze and bled out about 6 minutes by the time he crossed the line. And, just like that, over the span of two days, two riders who had been separated by seconds over the course of two weeks were now looking at each other across a gulf of almost 8 minutes.
Read more

Race Report: 2021 USATF Club Cross Country Nationals

Image
 Having determined the performance in the open race at the Eastbay Northeast regional "good enough," I tentatively decided to prolong my cross country season for two more weeks in hopes of additional recovery of the Achilles tendon and time to regain some fitness before the USATF club cross country championships in Tallahassee. Upon returning from New York, I signed up unattached for club nationals, essentially hoping not to get last place in the competition. Unfortunately, despite neither increasing mileage nor intensity the following week of training, the Achilles did not recover well following the race at Van Cortlandt Park. The Saturday before nationals, the situation was looking bleak: the Achilles was still not recovered, but I needed a workout to flash some fitness to myself and justify making the trip. Remembering the response I got from the C & O canal surface two weeks prior, I drove to Point of Rocks for a short tempo run on the gravel. While the pace was respe
Read more

2023 Men's Tour de France Preview

Image
 It's the most wonderful time of the year... The Tour de France is phenomenon that needs no explanation, but it usually looks something like the following: The group of the malliot jaune climbing L'Alpe d'Huez in 2018 -- how many countries' flags do you see represented?                                             This year's route covers 3,404 kilometers over the standard 21 stages. It starts in the Basque Countries and finishes in Paris...as usual. Here's the map: The 2023 Men's Tour de France route in all its glory My Key Stages  In contrast to most years, the first week is quite difficult, not unexpected given that the race begins the Basque Country. The first two stages are reminiscent of what one might see in Itzulia, especially given the inclusion of the Jaizkibel climb on stage 2. Any rider who comes in undercooked in the first week could easily be 'found out' before the race even enters France, and those of Basque descent and in possessi
Read more