OFFICIAL Stage 6 Results
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Vuelta a España Gamers!
STAGE Grade: B-
I rate today’s stage a B-. I loved the route both for making a good race and for the scenery. Plenty of tactics, except for the GC battles which surprisingly fizzled out. Overall, I expected better from this stage.
Route: 4/5 GC: 1/5 Tactics: 3/5 Sprint: 0/5 Surprises: 2/5
“You’re not going to die,” the doctor told the 25-year-old cyclist involved in the crash. “You’re not going to die, but we don’t know yet if we can save your legs.”
How do you respond to that? You’re 25, your wife is pregnant. You saw a future where you could walk and ride with your children. And now the doctor is telling you to be grateful that you’ll live?
Il sue nome è Jay Vine. His name is Jay Vine. Who was given that message. In the crash in the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country that ended with Jonas Vingegaard’s collapsed lung, broken ribs, and broken collarbone; and Remco Evenepoel’s fractured collarbone and shoulder; it was Jay Vine who nearly died. “We don’t know if we can save your legs.” You’re thinking: will I walk again? Ride again? Ever race again — competitively?
Vine learned to walk again, ride again, and win again. Today he won the stage in Andorra, where he lives. With his wife, and his child. In 2024 Bre, pregnant, had to drive six hours from Andorra to the hospital. Not knowing if she would find her husband dead or alive.
Cycling is a family sport.
Apart from the context of his bad luck, there were elements of Vine’s race today that left me in awe. Being local, he clearly knew where to attack, and he did. An advantage. And the legs to do what he did! Twenty-one kilometers solo. Behind him, legitimate climbers were chasing hard. Dropping a couple of minutes on the likes of Lorenzo Fortunato and Pablo Castrillo, while solo, is champion-level.
Then there were all the races within the race. Louis Vervaeke was racing Vine for the KOM jersey. Not sure if Vine knew or cared, but I’m certain Vervaeke knew or cared. Fifth place in the stage would seal the jersey for him, but sadly for him, he finished seventh. We didn’t get to see it, TV showed us Bruno Armirail in fourth but then went to the GC battle further down the mountain.
Armirail himself, hats off to him as well. I lost count of the number of times he got dropped, yet he kept getting back and captured fourth place. Equaling his best in a Grand Tour stage. He was racing Torsten Træen for the red jersey, but lost out by half a minute.
Torsten Træen also raced against Jonas Vingegaard for the red jersey. But in the end, it wasn’t much of a race. Træen moved into the overall lead with over two minutes over Vingegaard. As Sepp Kuss has demonstrated in 2023, an outsider can move into the lead and remain there. But Træen is not Kuss. This is an interim leader, Vingegaard isn’t worried about him. It wasn’t really a battle, after all.
I’m glossing over Lorenzo Fortunato’s battle, who also had a chance to move into the GC lead. In the end, Træen beat him decisively.
The next battle was between Juan Ayuso and everybody else. On the final climb, with 4.4 kilometers to go, and forty-something riders still in the peloton, he just got dropped. He kind of downplayed it, mumbled something about saving his legs for later. That doesn’t ring true. His place is up there with João Almeida. As long as his legs allow. A bit of a mystery.
No mystery was that João Almeida was dropped when Giulio Ciccone attacked. Jonas Vingegaard followed and for a moment it looked like the GC could topple. But no: Almeida was just too far back. A mistake, for sure, but while the cameras looked away he managed to get back. And so the entire group of contenders sprinted to the finish line. A great stage fizzled out.
Just before the start of the final climb, Jay Vine raced through the village of La Massana. With 10.7 kilometers to go, he passes by the base station of the cable car. It is an astonishingly modern piece of architecture, all steel and mirror glass. Inside there are shops, you can get a haircut, restaurants. A bit over the top for your average ski crowd, but Andorra is also a hiking and biking paradise. Taking the bicable gondola from there, it’s just an eight minute ride to where today’s stage finished. It took Vine 26 minutes.
Whether you got to the top the Vine way or the gondola way, in summer you can take any number of mountain bike trails back down. Or you can go even higher up, with even more trails. On TV today you could see a couple of wooden bridges, singletrack going over the road. Hiking and biking paradise. And lifts.
There are at least 1,500 gondola lifts in the world, but not more than sixty bicable lifts. Lift manufacturer Leitner calls bicable lifts a “a symbiosis of its monocable and tricable technology, so they combine the best of both worlds.” Of course. Where would we be without marketing brochures.
Andrea Bagioli was pulling the peloton with 2.1 kilometers to go when Ciccone attacked. Team Liz* are responsible for putting Bagioli in the no-other-team-picked him spotlight. Not it wasn’t Bagioli’s fault that he was pulling the peloton. His team told him to do that.
But I’m not sure if it was Lidl-Trek’s right move. But it’s complicated.
Who should race here? Team Visma – Lease-a-Bike’s red jersey was under attack. But by Træen, we’ve covered that already. Visma didn’t really have to defend that attack, all they had to do was keep the time difference to a few minutes. And they did that. And cover any attacks from Lidl-Trek and UAE Team Emirates – XRG. And they did that. Missions accomplished.
UAE Team Emirates – XRG also didn’t have to attack. They had Vine up in the breakaway. They, too, controlled the tempo, but didn’t drill it to break the peloton.
From that perspective, Lidl-Trek’s move to harden the race made sense. On the other hand, it made life easy for Vingegaard. He just had to sit on Ciccone’s wheel and counter the attacks. This cost Lidl-Trek a lot of energy for no gain. I didn’t like what I saw.
But it wasn’t Bagioli’s fault. He was in the lead of the peloton with 2,100 meters to go. Then he finished 52nd, more than ten minutes behind Ciccone. Ten minutes behind in just two kilometers of racing. Recovery pace.
Watch the final kilometer HERE.
Watch the official La Vuelta highlights HERE.
Watch the extended NBC Sports highlights HERE.
Read the TNT Sports report HERE.
Team Hugo, with help from Jay Vine, took most of the daily prizes today: most points from the stage, most points from classifications, most points overall. They extend their overall lead.
Second today were Team Josh, who move into fifth. By just a few points.
Then a gap and then third place: Team Ansel who are back in second place now. Team Amalia in fourth, most riders in the Top-25 (thirteen), they remain sixth. Team Grace were fifth, they remain seventh.
The next gap takes us to Team Tadej in sixth, still in ninth overall. Tied for seventh were Team Charles and Team Samuel. Team Charles remain second, Team Samual drop down to eighth. Right behind them were Team Dominic, they drop a place to fourth overall.
Team Sam were tenth, that’s also their overall position. Team Liz were a bit back in eleventh, but that’s good enough to move up a spot into eleventh overall. Team Sylvia were twelfth and they remain thirteenth, and Team Will thirteenth drop down to twelfth overall.
More climbing on Friday. A category 1 climb to start, then two category 2 climbs, and a category 1 summit finish. The finish is in Cerler, another ski resort. I’m counting a half dozen ski lifts. Those ski lifts will be faster than the stage winner. Jonas Vingegaard is again my favorite, but the whole thing of letting everyone else attack first is making it harder to predict. So who knows? Jay Vine again. Marc Soler. Marco Frigo.
I don’t know!
Standings after stage 6:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Hugo* |
1089 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Ansel* |
1016 |
3 |
1 |
|
Team Charles* |
1016 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
Team Dominic* |
983 |
3 |
-1 |
|
5 |
Team Josh* |
979 |
8 |
3 |
|
6 |
Team Amalia* |
962 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Grace* |
958 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Samuel* |
942 |
5 |
-3 |
|
9 |
Team Tadej* |
889 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Sam* |
706 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Liz* |
651 |
12 |
1 |
|
12 |
Team Will* |
641 |
11 |
-1 |
|
13 |
Team Sylvia* |
606 |
13 |
0 |
Standings after stage 6 (including adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Hugo* |
1089 |
3 |
2 |
|
2 |
Team Feng |
1050 |
1 |
-1 |
|
3 |
Team Adam |
1042 |
6 |
3 |
|
4 |
Team Kari |
1033 |
4 |
0 |
|
5 |
Team Craig |
1031 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Ansel* |
1016 |
8 |
2 |
|
Team Charles* |
1016 |
6 |
0 |
|
|
Team Kent |
1016 |
13 |
7 |
|
|
9 |
Team Corsa |
1012 |
2 |
-7 |
|
10 |
Team Chuck |
1008 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Dominic* |
983 |
8 |
-3 |
|
12 |
Team Josh* |
979 |
16 |
4 |
|
13 |
Team Amelia |
967 |
19 |
6 |
|
14 |
Team Amalia* |
962 |
14 |
0 |
|
15 |
Team Grace* |
958 |
15 |
0 |
|
16 |
Team Mitchinson |
954 |
12 |
-4 |
|
17 |
Team Samuel* |
942 |
11 |
-6 |
|
18 |
Team Laurens |
940 |
17 |
-1 |
|
19 |
Team Rob |
893 |
21 |
2 |
|
20 |
Team Joe |
892 |
18 |
-2 |
|
21 |
Team Tadej* |
889 |
20 |
-1 |
|
22 |
Team Wes |
863 |
23 |
1 |
|
23 |
Team Corey |
844 |
24 |
1 |
|
24 |
Team John |
810 |
22 |
-2 |
|
25 |
Team Jonwaine |
794 |
25 |
0 |
|
26 |
Team Julie |
780 |
26 |
0 |
|
27 |
Team Sam* |
706 |
27 |
0 |
|
28 |
Team JB |
652 |
29 |
1 |
|
29 |
Team Liz* |
651 |
31 |
2 |
|
30 |
Team Doug |
647 |
28 |
-2 |
|
31 |
Team Will* |
641 |
30 |
-1 |
|
32 |
Team Sylvia* |
606 |
32 |
0 |
|
33 |
Team Kate |
280 |
33 |
0 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 6:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
PINK JERSEY |
PURPLE JERSEY |
BLUE JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
139 |
27 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
43 |
182 |
780 |
962 |
|
Team Ansel* |
145 |
20 |
11 |
5 |
3 |
41 |
186 |
830 |
1016 |
|
Team Charles* |
114 |
21 |
11 |
0 |
8 |
40 |
154 |
862 |
1016 |
|
Team Dominic* |
116 |
18 |
11 |
0 |
8 |
37 |
153 |
830 |
983 |
|
Team Grace* |
143 |
20 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
36 |
179 |
779 |
958 |
|
Team Hugo* |
158 |
28 |
11 |
7 |
3 |
51 |
209 |
880 |
1089 |
|
Team Josh* |
156 |
29 |
11 |
5 |
3 |
50 |
206 |
773 |
979 |
|
Team Liz* |
104 |
11 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
24 |
128 |
523 |
651 |
|
Team Sam* |
109 |
14 |
9 |
5 |
3 |
33 |
142 |
564 |
706 |
|
Team Samuel* |
118 |
16 |
13 |
5 |
0 |
36 |
154 |
788 |
942 |
|
Team Sylvia* |
96 |
13 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
21 |
117 |
489 |
606 |
|
Team Tadej* |
113 |
29 |
11 |
2 |
9 |
51 |
164 |
725 |
889 |
|
Team Will* |
92 |
16 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
109 |
532 |
641 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 6 (including adults):
|
138 |
26 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
42 |
180 |
862 |
1042 |
|
|
Team Amalia* |
139 |
27 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
43 |
182 |
780 |
962 |
|
Team Amelia |
183 |
27 |
11 |
7 |
8 |
55 |
238 |
729 |
967 |
|
Team Ansel* |
145 |
20 |
11 |
5 |
3 |
41 |
186 |
830 |
1016 |
|
Team Charles* |
114 |
21 |
11 |
0 |
8 |
40 |
154 |
862 |
1016 |
|
Team Chuck |
157 |
25 |
9 |
7 |
8 |
51 |
208 |
800 |
1008 |
|
Team Corey |
131 |
20 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
30 |
161 |
683 |
844 |
|
Team Corsa |
97 |
20 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
31 |
128 |
884 |
1012 |
|
Team Craig |
121 |
21 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
41 |
162 |
869 |
1031 |
|
Team Dominic* |
116 |
18 |
11 |
0 |
8 |
37 |
153 |
830 |
983 |
|
Team Doug |
69 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
87 |
560 |
647 |
|
Team Feng |
124 |
20 |
11 |
0 |
3 |
34 |
158 |
892 |
1050 |
|
Team Grace* |
143 |
20 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
36 |
179 |
779 |
958 |
|
Team Hugo* |
158 |
28 |
11 |
7 |
3 |
51 |
209 |
880 |
1089 |
|
Team JB |
82 |
20 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
105 |
547 |
652 |
|
Team Joe |
118 |
18 |
11 |
5 |
0 |
36 |
154 |
738 |
892 |
|
Team John |
75 |
14 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
102 |
708 |
810 |
|
Team Jonwaine |
114 |
11 |
9 |
5 |
0 |
27 |
141 |
653 |
794 |
|
Team Josh* |
156 |
29 |
11 |
5 |
3 |
50 |
206 |
773 |
979 |
|
Team Julie |
109 |
16 |
13 |
5 |
3 |
39 |
148 |
632 |
780 |
|
Team Kari |
120 |
21 |
11 |
1 |
9 |
42 |
162 |
871 |
1033 |
|
Team Kate |
27 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
33 |
247 |
280 |
|
Team Kent |
174 |
26 |
11 |
7 |
12 |
58 |
232 |
784 |
1016 |
|
Team Laurens |
140 |
27 |
11 |
2 |
8 |
48 |
188 |
752 |
940 |
|
Team Liz* |
104 |
11 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
24 |
128 |
523 |
651 |
|
Team Mitchinson |
130 |
20 |
11 |
5 |
0 |
38 |
168 |
786 |
954 |
|
Team Rob |
133 |
26 |
11 |
2 |
7 |
46 |
179 |
714 |
893 |
|
Team Sam* |
109 |
14 |
9 |
5 |
3 |
33 |
142 |
564 |
706 |
|
Team Samuel* |
118 |
16 |
13 |
5 |
0 |
36 |
154 |
788 |
942 |
|
Team Sylvia* |
96 |
13 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
21 |
117 |
489 |
606 |
|
Team Tadej* |
113 |
29 |
11 |
2 |
9 |
51 |
164 |
725 |
889 |
|
Team Wes |
133 |
18 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
34 |
167 |
696 |
863 |
|
Team Will* |
92 |
16 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
109 |
532 |
641 |
-Laurens.