Key events
Tour de France 2025 stage six race report:
Stage six did not disappoint. There were plenty of breakaways and attacks, not to mention a lot of climbing for the riders. It was relentless. However, it was EF Education-EasyPost’s Ben Healy who stole the show with an impressive solo attack at 42km to go. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) gave chase, fighting to get to Healy, and ended the day with a second and third place respectively.
Meanwhile, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who was in a decisive breakaway for a big chunk of the day, ended stage six taking the yellow jersey off Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) by one second. It was a gripping day. Thank you for keeping me company, emailing in and reading the blog.
A full race report of today’s stage will be posted here shortly.
Here are some pictures from the today’s podiums:
KOM classification: top five after stage six
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Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates), 7pts
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), 5pts
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Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), 4pts
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Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-Alula), 3pts
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Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), 3pts
Points classification: top five after stage six
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Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), 112pts
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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 108pts
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), 106pts
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Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), 102pts
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Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) 72pts
The green jersey group are just rolling in now to the finish. They’re almost 30mins down.
Ben Healy has just spoke to reporters after his win. He said:
It’s just unbelievable. It’s what I worked all for, not just this year but the whole time.
The EF Education-EasyPost rider praises his team and everyone involved in the “hours and hours of hard work” he’s put in over the past months and years. He says he hopes he’s “paid the team back today”.
Healy says his achievements in last year’s Tour de France, which included a fifth place in Troyes, was a “real eye-opener” and made him believe he could get a stage win.
Asked if the day had played out how he thought it would, the 24-year-old replied:
I switched on from the start. Once I was in the break we had to really work for it.
I knew I had to get away from the group. I picked my moment and hopefully surprised them. And then I knew what I had to do: head down.
General classification: top 10 after stage six
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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 21hrs 52mins 34secs
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) +1sec
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Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step) +43secs
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Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +1min
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Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 14secs
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Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 23secs
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João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +1min 59secs
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Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +2mins 1sec
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Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +2min 32secs
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Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +2min 36secs
Van der Poel takes the yellow jersey from Pogačar by one second
Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has taken the yellow jersey off Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) by one second. Although it seemed certain that Van der Poel would have the maillot jaune after gaining time on Pogačar, it looks as if while we had our eyes on Ben Healy, the UAE Team Emirates was bringing that time gap down.
Top five on stage six
1. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost)
2. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) +2mins 44secs
3. Michael Storer (Tudor) +2mins 51secs
4. Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla) +3mins 21secs
5. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +3mins 24secs
Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) are doing a cat and mouse chase to the finish line, but Simmons has it and takes second in today’s stage.
Eddie Dunbar (Jayco Alula) takes fourth, beating Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Ben Healy wins stage six!
What a move! What a show! Well done Ben Healy, that was truly impressive. He rides over the finish line with his arms in the air.
450m to go: Ben Healy has it. He’s riding to the finish line on a steep gradient and massive cheers from the crowds.
2.6km to go: Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) tried to push ahead to the summit of that last climb, but Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) was firmly on his wheel.
Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has been dropped, along with Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), from the chasing group behind Simmons and Storer.
5km to go: Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) is not flagging as he rides up the steep slope at the start of the category four Côte de Vaudry. It’s a 1.2km climb with an average gradient of 7.2% but the start really kicks up. What a move from Healy.
7km to go: Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) just tried to shake off Michael Storer but the Tudor Pro Cycling rider has stayed with him.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will be in the yellow jersey at the end of this stage, bar anything going wrong, as he has gained time on Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) today.
11km to go: It sounds as if Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) might get the most combative rider during today’s stage. But he wants more. He wants a stage win. Healy is smashing it, riding at 52km/h to the finish. Let’s not forget though that there’s a category four climb and an uphill finish to come.
13km to go: Here’s how it looks out there:
16km to go: These kms are being absolutely obliterated. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) has a 1min 23secs lead on Quinn Simmons and Michael Storer. I didn’t think Healy would stay away but he’s proved me wrong. That’s what we like!
Kristina could win an award for the loveliest email – I’ll have to share it with my sports desk colleagues. She writes:
Just wanted to say thank you to you & all of the Guardian team doing the live TDF coverage!
I’ve just finished my last exam of the year today but I’ve been following the tour with your updates throughout my revision period leading to today! It’s honestly so nice to have these updates that are so easy to access during the working day. So thank you, you’re doing an amazing job.
That’s very kind. Well done on finishing your exams. Best of luck with the results and I hope you can enjoy the summer and Tour even more now your work is done.
22km to go: To provide some context, when I mentioned that Ben Healy is not a stranger to a solo ride resulting in success, I meant his 2023 Giro d’Italia stage win when he won with a 50km solo attack.
Tudor Pro Cycling have radioed Michael Storer with shouts of encouragement.
KOM results at Côte de Saint-Michel-de-Montjoie
1. Healy, 2pts
2. Storer, 1pt (45secs later than Healy)
27km to go: Ben Healy looks strong as he reaches the summit of Côte de Saint-Michel-de-Montjoie. There’s a roaring crowd cheering him on. He picks up two KOM points. Quinn Simmons and Michael Storer are trying to close the gap to the Irish rider.
30km to go: The final category three climb is the 3.7km Côte de Saint-Michel-de-Montjoie – it has an average gradient of 4.5 %.
Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) has made a break for it and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) has followed. The pair are getting away!
33km to go: Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) has the Côte de Saint-Michel-de-Montjoie in sight. He has a gap of 48secs on the seven riders chasing him.
As Peter pointed out Simon Yates would have been given the green light by his team, Visma-Lease a Bike not UAE Team Emirates as I said earlier. My bad. Apologies.
Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) tells his team he’s “done for the day” and pulls off the front.
37km to go: Wow. EF Education-EasyPost’s Ben Healy is determined. He does have experience in a solo getaway. Healy’s now got 28secs on the seven riders behind him. In that group everyone takes turns behind him to organise the chase but no one is going to want to do more work than they have to.
Ben Healy attacks and goes on a solo breakaway!
42km to go: We’re inside the last hour of racing now and the breakaway’s gap is nearing 4mins. Hang on a second, Ben Healy has decided to attack. Surely, he doesn’t think the group will let him go? Mathieu Van der Poel chases.
47km to go: Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) got out of the saddle there to go ahead and grab a couple of KOM points. Eddie Dunbar (Jayco Alula) spotted him and followed to take the other point.
KOM results at Côte de Juvigny-le-Tertre
1. Storer, 2 pts
2. Dunbar, 1 pt
48km to go: Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco Alula), Will Barta (Movistar) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) have started climbing the category three Côte de Juvigny-le-Tertre (2.2km with an avergae gradient of 7.3%). Who’ll go for the KOM points at the top?
Paul would like to share his experience on the beard-cycling-aero topic:
Just to add some real-life data to the beard issue, I found that when sporting facial hair, quite a fancy bike, and in a good weather with negligible wind, my normaliaed power (NP) – a weighted average that accounts for variations and surges, and my functional threshold power (FTP), a measure of sustainable full-gas effort, were disappointingly poor.
When clean shaven, in the same conditions, my NP and FTP were also disappointingly poor. I trust this is helpful.
52km to go: On ITV4 Ned Boulting says that Simon Yates has been given the green light by Visma-Lease a Bike to go for the stage win. The eight riders in the breakaway are heading towards the penultimate catgeory three climb of the day. The final climb into the finish is a category four.
58km to go: An interesting fact, via Le Tour race centre:
Eddie Dunbar climbed the Côte de Mortain Cote 314 at 18.3 km/h (1.6 km at 9.5%). This is the first time in his career that he has scored points in the best climber classification!
The breakaway is firmly established and they have grown their lead to 3mins 11secs.
More pictures from the Tour’s stage six as the peloton head towards Vire Normandie:
63km to go: The riders in the break have just tackled the Côte de Mortain – 1.6km of ascent at 9.5% – and Jayco-Alula’s Eddie Dunbar is first over the summit.
KOM results at Côte de Mortain Cote 314
1. Dunbar, 2 pts
2. Healy, 1 pt
Well, well, well. Neil’s question about Quinn Simmon’s hair and beard (see 2.24pm BST) caused a flurry of correspondence in my inbox.
Tim emailed in to say:
I’d just like to congratulate Neil on raising his very valid concerns on the watts per follicle of Simmons’ mullet.
I don’t think the official data is in the public domain yet but I think, as the breakaway powers toward the finish, all our minds turn to the possibility that Laurent Fignon’s ponytail cost him around 10 vital seconds on theChamps-Élysées in 1989.
Alan from Cupar in Scotland says:
Hi Amy, in response to the query about Quinn Simmons beard, as a fellow beardy I often wondered about this and luckily Specialized [has] done some testing and found that the difference between having a beard and sporting a clean shave were negligible, certainly over 40km.
He’s shared this video:
Roland’s shared his thoughts:
To answer Neil, I’d imagine that Simmons face furniture and flowing mane might add a little drag in terms of cutting through the air but given that he isn’t a sprinter it’s probably much of a muchness. Better to be a hirsute hero than just another humdrum domestique …
68km to go: The breakaway has upped their gap to almost 3mins. UAE Team Emirates on the radio have just said to keep the pace as it is and that they don’t need to push at the moment.
77km to go: The breakaway are whizzing along at 65km/h down a slight descent in aero tucks. They have more than 2mins on the peloton now. The next climb is the category three 1.7km Côte de Mortain Cote 314 (average gradient of 9.6%).
Neil has a burning question:
Quinn Simmons has a luxuriant head of hair and a decent beard. If he removed both, any idea how many watts he’d gain?
I have no idea but his magnificent hair, beard and the US jersey makes him very easy for me to spot in the TV coverage, so I hope he’s not tempted to find out. Anyone else have any thoughts?
84km to go: There’s a 1min 38ec gap for the breakaway. Tim has got in touch from Amsterdam and he asks: “Where’s Wout?”
I’m in Amsterdam at the moment. It’s great. Very mellow. But I don’t have access to a TV.
I saw from your feed that Wout went out the back? Where is he now?
Frankly, Visma’s erratic performance is causing me no little angst. If you see any of them after today’s stage I’d be very grateful if you could convey my concerns to them? Thanks.
Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) is about 5mins behind the breakaway and 3mins 36sec behind the peloton. He’s in a group of 26 riders with Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility).
The green jersey group of 32 riders are 5mins 26sec behind Van Aert’s group.
Andy from Herne Hill in south London has emailed in:
I’m very much enjoying the live updates. Sat in an open plan office with colleagues who sadly don’t appreciate the level of pure theatre that the Tour is.
I’m glued to your updates rather than listening to Ned’s dulcet tones on ITV4. If this were football, we’d have it on a telly or something and no one would blink twice.
Keep up the great work!
That is a shame. Your colleagues don’t know what they’re missing.
Mathieu van der Poel in breakaway halfway through stage six
100km to go: We’re halfway through the stage and the breakaway has increased its gap to 1min 13secs. Just as a reminder, here are the eight riders in that group: Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Will Barta (Movistar), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco Alula), Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling).
107km to go: Tim Wellens, Marc Soler and Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) have been trying to control the peloton. Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) initiates another counterattack.