The 122.1 kilometer course of the sixth stage of the Tour de France foreshadowed a sprint finish on Friday. Member of the breakaway of the day, the Danish Emma Norsgaard Jorgensen, of the Movistar team, rather resisted to save herself with the victory.
The peloton was only meters away from Norsgaard Jorgensen when she sped up with 500 meters to go. She was one second ahead of the Dutch Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich) and the Belgian Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), still holder of the yellow jersey.
It is the third day in a row on this Tour that a rider who is part of the breakaway celebrates at the finish line.
Emma Norsgaard signs a first victory in the World Tour, she who had fractured a collarbone following a fall at Strade Bianche, at the start of the season.
Simone Boilard, from the St Michel – Mavic – Auber93 squad, was the best ranked Quebecer in this stage, finishing 29th. Clara Émond (Arkéa) was also in this group and finished 32nd.
Olivia Baril (UAE Team ADQ) worked hard in front of the peloton to help her Italian teammate Chiara Consonni to position herself well. The latter finally finished in 6th place, while Baril finished 111th (1 minute 39 seconds) after this effort. Magdeleine Vallières-Mill, from the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB squad, is in 134th place, 9 minutes 56 seconds behind the winner.
Remember that Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin was forced to retire on Thursday during the fifth stage.
Thanks to the various bonuses, Lotte Kopecky now has a lead of 53 seconds over Ashleigh Moolman (AG Insurance – Soudal Quick-Step) in the provisional general classification.
The queen stage of this Tour de France will take place on Saturday, over 89.8 kilometers, with a start given in Lannemezan and a scheduled finish at the Col du Tourmalet.
