{"id":45754,"date":"2025-07-11T06:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=45754"},"modified":"2025-07-11T10:31:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:31:46","slug":"tdf-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=45754","title":{"rendered":"TDF 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Our continuing coverage of the other big event going on this month<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Irishman Healy Breaks Away 42km Out, Wins Stage 6, While Van de Poel Reclaims Yellow by 1 Second<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<style>\n  body, table, h2, h3, p, ul, li {\n    font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;\n  }\n<\/style>\n\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n  <thead style=\"background-color: #4CAF50; color: white;\">\n    <tr>\n      <th>Stage<\/th>\n      <th>Date<\/th>\n      <th>Start > Finish<\/th>\n      <th>Type<\/th>\n      <th>Distance (km)<\/th>\n      <th>Distance (mi)<\/th>\n      <th>Winner<\/th>\n    <\/tr>\n  <\/thead>\n  <tbody>\n    <tr style=\"background-color: #f2f2f2;\">\n      <td>6<\/td>\n      <td>Thu 07\/10<\/td>\n      <td>Bayeux > Vire Normandie<\/td>\n      <td>Hilly<\/td>\n      <td>201.5<\/td>\n      <td>125.2<\/td>\n      <td><b>Ben Healy<\/b> (EF Education-EasyPost)<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n  <\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<br><br>\n\n<h2>Tour de France 2025: Stage 6 Recap<\/h2>\n<br>\n<h3><b>Healy<\/b>\u2019s Solo Masterclass as <b>Van der Poel<\/b> Reclaims Yellow<\/h3>\n<br>\n\n<p>Stage 6 of the 2025 Tour de France, a grueling 201.5-kilometer hilly stage from Bayeux to Vire Normandie, delivered a thrilling display of breakaway racing and strategic maneuvering, with significant implications for the general classification.<\/p>\n<br>\n\n<p>The longest stage of the 2025 Tour, featuring six categorized climbs and 3,500 meters of elevation gain, culminated in a punishing 700-meter ramp averaging 9.3% to the finish line. The rolling Normandy terrain set the stage for aggressive racing and favored attackers with climbing prowess.<\/p>\n<br>\n\n<p><b>Ben Healy<\/b> (EF Education-EasyPost) showcased his trademark attacking style, launching a decisive solo move 40 kilometers from the finish to claim his first Tour de France stage victory. The Irishman\u2019s relentless pace in the breakaway group, which included <b>Mathieu van der Poel<\/b> (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and <b>Simon Yates<\/b> (Jayco AlUla), saw him go clear with 42 kilometers remaining, holding off the peloton to win solo. <b>Mathieu van der Poel<\/b> finished in the breakaway group, doing enough to reclaim the yellow jersey from <b>Tadej Pogadar<\/b> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) by a slim one-second margin. <b>Pogacar<\/b>, alongside GC rivals <b>Jonas Vingegaard<\/b> (Visma-Lease a Bike) and <b>Remco Evenepoel<\/b> (Soudal Quick-Step), finished in the main peloton, conserving energy for upcoming challenges.<\/p>\n<br>\n\n\n<br>\n\n<p>In the general classification, <b>Mathieu van der Poel<\/b> now leads by one second over <b>Tadej Pogacar<\/b>, with <b>Remco Evenepoel<\/b> in third (+43s), <b>K\u00e9vin Vauquelin<\/b> (Ark\u00e9a-B&#038;B Hotels) in fourth (+1:00), and <b>Jonas Vingegaard<\/b> in fifth (+1:14). <b>Jonathan Milan<\/b> (Lidl-Trek) inherited the green jersey after Philipsen\u2019s withdrawal, while <b>Tadej Pogacar<\/b> retained the polka-dot jersey. <b>K\u00e9vin Vauquelin<\/b> held onto the white jersey, and <b>Ben Healy<\/b> was awarded the combativity award for his audacious solo effort.<\/p>\n<br>\n\n<p>As the Tour heads into Stage 7, featuring the iconic M\u00fbr-de-Bretagne, the GC battle remains tight, with <b>Van der Poel<\/b>\u2019s lead precarious and <b>Pogacar<\/b> poised to strike on the punchy climbs ahead.<\/p>\n<br>\n\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n  <thead style=\"background-color: #4CAF50; color: white;\">\n    <tr>\n      <th>Stage<\/th>\n      <th>Date<\/th>\n      <th>Yellow Jersey<\/th>\n      <th>Green Jersey<\/th>\n      <th>Polka Dot Jersey<\/th>\n      <th>White Jersey<\/th>\n      <th>Combativity Award<\/th>\n    <\/tr>\n  <\/thead>\n  <tbody>\n    <tr style=\"background-color: #f2f2f2;\">\n      <td>1<\/td>\n      <td>Sat 07\/05<\/td>\n      <td><b>Jasper Philipsen<\/b> (Alpecin-Deceuninck)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Jasper Philipsen<\/b> (Alpecin-Deceuninck)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Benjamin Thomas<\/b> (Cofidis)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Biniam Girmay<\/b> (Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Matt\u00e9o Vercher<\/b> (TotalEnergies)<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n      <td>2<\/td>\n      <td>Sun 07\/06<\/td>\n      <td><b>Mathieu van der Poel<\/b> (Alpecin-Deceuninck)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Anthony Turgis<\/b> (TotalEnergies)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Benjamin Thomas<\/b> (Cofidis)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Biniam Girmay<\/b> (Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Brent van Moer<\/b> (Lotto Dstny)<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr style=\"background-color: #f2f2f2;\">\n      <td>3<\/td>\n      <td>Mon 07\/07<\/td>\n      <td><b>Mathieu van der Poel<\/b> (Alpecin-Deceuninck)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Anthony Turgis<\/b> (TotalEnergies)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Benjamin Thomas<\/b> (Cofidis)<\/td>\n      <td><b>K\u00e9vin Vauquelin<\/b> (Ark\u00e9a-B&#038;B Hotels)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Valentin Madouas<\/b> (Groupama-FDJ)<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n      <td>4<\/td>\n      <td>Tue 07\/08<\/td>\n      <td><b>Mathieu van der Poel<\/b> (Alpecin-Deceuninck)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Jonathan Milan<\/b> (Lidl-Trek)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Tadej Poga?ar<\/b> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)<\/td>\n      <td><b>K\u00e9vin Vauquelin<\/b> (Ark\u00e9a-B&#038;B Hotels)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Matteo Jorgenson<\/b> (Visma-Lease a Bike)<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr style=\"background-color: #f2f2f2;\">\n      <td>5<\/td>\n      <td>Wed 07\/09<\/td>\n      <td><b>Tadej Pogacar<\/b> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Tadej Pogacar<\/b> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Tadej Pogacar<\/b> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)<\/td>\n      <td><b>K\u00e9vin Vauquelin<\/b> (Ark\u00e9a-B&#038;B Hotels)<\/td>\n      <td>N\/A<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n      <td>6<\/td>\n      <td>Thu 07\/10<\/td>\n      <td><b>Mathieu van der Poel<\/b> (Alpecin-Deceuninck)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Jonathan Milan<\/b> (Lidl-Trek)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Tadej Pogacar<\/b> (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)<\/td>\n      <td><b>K\u00e9vin Vauquelin<\/b> (Ark\u00e9a-B&#038;B Hotels)<\/td>\n      <td><b>Ben Healy<\/b> (EF Education-EasyPost)<\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n  <\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<br><br>\n\n<h3>Jersey and Award Definitions<\/h3>\n<br>\n<ul>\n  <li><b>Yellow Jersey (Maillot Jaune)<\/b>: Worn by the rider with the lowest overall time in the general classification (GC), the race leader and frontrunner for the Tour\u2019s overall victory.<\/li>\n  <li><b>Green Jersey (Maillot Vert)<\/b>: Awarded to the points classification leader, earned through stage finishes and intermediate sprints, typically favoring sprinters.<\/li>\n  <li><b>Polka Dot Jersey (Maillot \u00e0 Pois)<\/b>: Given to the mountains classification leader, based on points from categorized climbs, recognizing the best climber.<\/li>\n  <li><b>White Jersey (Maillot Blanc)<\/b>: Worn by the best young rider (under 26) with the lowest GC time, highlighting emerging talent.<\/li>\n  <li><b>Combativity Award<\/b>: Awarded daily to the rider showing the most aggressive or spirited effort, such as breakaways or attacks, as voted by a jury. Not typically awarded in time trials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n[](https:\/\/x.com\/FRANCE24\/status\/1943553105288675470)[](https:\/\/www.olympics.com\/en\/news\/tour-de-france-2025-full-schedule-all-stage-results-standings-daily-updates)[](https:\/\/www.cyclingstage.com\/tour-de-france-2025-route\/)\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Phil Liggett and Bob Roll react to another stellar day at the Tour de France and seeing Ben Healy flying past the commentary booth! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TDF2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TDF2025<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PhilLiggett?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PhilLiggett<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6Nw9Iw8Sea\">pic.twitter.com\/6Nw9Iw8Sea<\/a><\/p>&mdash; NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBCSCycling\/status\/1943362331444170753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 10, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis is the kilometre of your life\u201d ??<br><br>EF Education-EasyPost Sports Director Tom Southam urges Ben Healy on to victory on Stage 6 of the Tour de France. Charly Wegelius and Andreas Klier celebrate the win in the second team car.<br>______<br>?? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TDF2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TDF2025<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Arc2zTTZQd\">pic.twitter.com\/Arc2zTTZQd<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Velon CC (@VelonCC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VelonCC\/status\/1943388930830680294?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 10, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">MVDP deserve even more respect from cycling fans after how deep he went and what he showed in today\u2019s stage. <br><br>He could\u2019ve arrived in a grupetto taking it easy, he already wore yellow at this Tour, but he wanted to get that yellow again for all his fans, for his teammates and for\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qKdXvUygjv\">pic.twitter.com\/qKdXvUygjv<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Luk\u00e1\u0161 Ronald Luk\u00e1cs (@lucasaganronald) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lucasaganronald\/status\/1943428717415379240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 10, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Explainer on what the poster meant about &#8220;Grupetto&#8221;:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">In cycling, particularly in races like the Tour de France, a <strong>grupetto<\/strong> (also known as the autobus or laughing group) is a group of riders, typically sprinters, domestiques, or non-climbers, who band together during mountainous stages to finish within the stage\u2019s time limit. These riders, less adept at climbing, work collaboratively to maintain a steady pace, conserve energy, and avoid being eliminated for missing the cutoff time, which is calculated as a percentage of the stage winner\u2019s time (usually 15-25%, depending on the stage\u2019s difficulty).The grupetto forms organically as riders drop from the main peloton on tough climbs, focusing on pacing themselves to stay within the time limit rather than competing for the stage win. It\u2019s a strategic and social effort, often led by experienced riders who calculate the necessary pace to ensure the group finishes safely. The term originates from Italian, meaning &#8220;small group,&#8221; and reflects the camaraderie among riders who share the goal of surviving the stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our continuing coverage of the other big event going on this month. Irishman Healy Breaks Away 42km Out, Wins Stage 6, While Van de Poel Reclaims Yellow by 1 Second Stage Date Start > Finish Type Distance (km) Distance (mi) Winner 6 Thu 07\/10 Bayeux > Vire Normandie Hilly 201.5 125.2 Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,8],"tags":[1622,1623],"class_list":{"0":"post-45754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-featured","7":"category-general","8":"tag-tdf","9":"tag-tdf2025","10":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45754"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45774,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45754\/revisions\/45774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}