A day of transition for everyone but the Irishman
Remco and Tadej, Tadej and Remco. In this sense, the Caen time trial held no major surprises, with the two elite world champions outperforming all competition and ending the day as the main winners. On the one hand, Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) flew to victory in his specialty and, despite gaining only 16 seconds on the Slovenian, moved up to second place overall. On the other hand, Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) once again demonstrated his quality on any type of terrain, battling the Belgian, finishing the fifth stage atop the overall standings, and gaining over a minute on Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who was the day's main loser. João Almeida (Emirates) rode a consistent race—in his signature style—and moved up another place overall, to seventh.
"You can never say you won the Tour after the 5th stage, in the first week. But, honestly, I didn't expect to gain time on Jonas. I'm very happy to have gained time on Jonas and the other riders in the general classification, losing a little to Remco, but overall, I can be very happy, and we'll continue to defend this gap. I needed to gain confidence. I did some good time trial training and simulated the race a few times. I believed in myself more today [Wednesday]. I started faster than in the Dauphiné, where I started very slowly and pushed too hard on the climb. I managed to maintain a very good pace and gave my best," Pogacar explained to reporters, at a time when his return to the Vuelta a España is practically certain.
“I just didn't have the legs. I lost a bit of time, but my legs weren't feeling well. The result reflects how my legs felt. I fought against my legs and my bike. I was surprised by my legs, but sometimes that's part of cycling. Fortunately, the Tour is still long. I still believe in myself and my plan. I still believe we can win. The gap now is about a minute. It seems like a lot at first glance, but we know from recent years that the Tour has been won by a bigger gap than that,” shared Vingegaard, with Grischa Niermann, Visma's sports director, assuring that the team will have to “attack more.”
???? 3,550 m of D+ await the peloton on a day that will be no stroll in Normandy!
???? 3,550 m of D+ attendent the peloton for this journée that on the river on a Normandy promenade! #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/S96gBtulTg
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 10, 2025
For their farewell to Normandy, the peloton faced a 201.5-kilometer link between Bayeux and Vire-Normandie, towns just 51 kilometers apart. With 3,550 meters of accumulated elevation gain, the sixth stage was perfect for the baroudeurs , with six mountain passes, two of them in the last 30 kilometers. Furthermore, the finish featured a tough 700-meter climb at 10.2%, with the gradient reaching 14%. For the first time since 2011, a cyclist led the overall, points, and mountains in a Tour stage, with Pogacar joining Philippe Gilbert.
Even so, the Slovenian's lead in the green jersey was short-lived, as Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was fastest in the intermediate sprint , which appeared after just 22 kilometers, and virtually returned to first place. Further ahead, it was Tim Wellens' turn to "stole" the polka dot jersey from his teammate, taking first on the Côte de la Rançonnière. With the pace high, the breakaway struggled, settling midway through the stage with Simon Yates (Visma), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Michael Storer (Tudor), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla), Will Barta (Movistar), and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana). It was there that the former world champion virtually regained the yellow jersey he had lost in the time trial.
47.4 km/h
…
for the last 2 hours / last 2 hours.
Cycling. ???? #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/h5T8yt9OOY
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 10, 2025
With 40 kilometers to go, Healy decided to split the lead group and attacked solo, with only Simmons and Storer leading the chase further ahead. The lead of the Englishman, who became an Irish citizen at 16, continued to grow until the end, ensuring his victory. Thus, Ben Healy secured his first-ever Tour victory and added to his triumph at the 2023 Giro, thus moving him one victory at the Vuelta to complete the trilogy. Furthermore, the EF Education rider achieved his 10th victory and 50th top-10 finish in his career at the age of 24. In the battle for second place, Simmons overtook Storer. Van der Poel crossed the line 3.58 minutes behind Healy. In the peloton, which entered the field 5.27 minutes behind, Pogacar still tried to gain time on his direct rival, but Vingegaard held his wheel well and prevented any cutback. Still, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Enric Mas (Movistar), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and João Almeida lost five seconds.
????????????. ????????????. HEALY.
Ben Healy shows off in the sixth stage, his first victory in the Tour, and Mathieu van der Poel gets dressed up in the yellow jersey.
????♂️ You have seen it on @Eurosport_ES and @Eurosport_ES . #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/2j3NMQ6YF3
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) July 10, 2025
In the overall standings, the peloton's final recovery nearly kept the yellow jersey on Tadej Pogacar, who dropped to second place, one second behind Mathieu van der Poel. Remco Evenepoel is in third place, 48 seconds back. João Almeida remains in seventh place by just two seconds, as Ben Healy's victory allowed him to move up to eighth place, 2.01 minutes behind the Portuguese rider's 1.59. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), one minute back, Jonas Vingegaard, 1.14 seconds back, and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma), 1.23 minutes back, complete the top eight.
#TDF2025 – GC after Stage 6 pic.twitter.com/AsAK0YRral
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 10, 2025
observador
