Stage 6: Torre del Lago Puccini (Viareggio) to Rapolano Terme – 180 km
Where to watch: 🇺🇸 Max, 🇨🇦 FloBikes, 🇬🇧 Discovery+, 🇪🇺 Eurosport, 🇦🇺 SBS On Demand
Coverage start time: 🇺🇸 6:30 am EDT, 🇨🇦 6:35 am EDT, 🇬🇧 11:30 am BST, 🇪🇺 12:30 pm CEST, 🇦🇺 8:35 pm AEST
Estimated finish time: 🇺🇸🇨🇦 11:13 am EDT/🇬🇧 4:13 pm BST/🇪🇺 5:13 pm CEST/🇦🇺 1:13 am AEST
Stage type: Hilly
What to expect: Gravel! After a flat first 70 km, the road gets bumpier in more ways than one on stage 6, with an undulating profile and three sections of gravel roads in the Tuscan hills. Race favorite Tadej Pogačar has a history of doing well in this part of the country. Will he mix it up with the Classics specialists on the start list here? Will the other GC hopefuls falter on less-familiar terrain?
Fantasy favorites: It will come as no surprise that Strade Bianche winner Tadej Pogačar is the favorite for stage 6, and he's a solid bet to finish very well on this terrain. That said, gravel introduces a bit more randomness into the equation and we've already seen a move that wasn't supposed to get away stay clear on stage 5. In other words, Pogačar is less of a sure thing as a fantasy choice to win the stage than he might be for, say, an uphill time trial. Others to watch include Jhonathan Narváez, Filippo Ganna, Julian Alaphilippe, and Max Schachmann. It's also not entirely out of the question that Jonathan Milan survives to the finish where he would surely be the favorite in a sprint.
Did we do a good job with this story?
