Tour de France Femmes 2026: stage six, Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhône – live

Key events15m agoRacing on stage six35m agoPreamble139km to go: Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL) – who hails from Lichfield in Staffordshire – has attacked solo approaching the first climb.141km to go: The bunch is all together.ICYMI (a vintage internet acronym for you there) here is Jeremy Whittle’s piece about alleged use of chest padding for aerodynamic benefit in the time trial on Tuesday:143km to go: The official feed on the TdF Femmes website says 134 riders started. But on the live tracker, it says 133 in the bunch, and there are no dropped riders that I can see. It’s certainly in the ball park of 130, anyway.144km to go: If you are somewhere on the race route, waiting to cheer on the riders, send me an email and a photo.If you are not somewhere on the race route, waiting to cheer on the riders, send me an email.145km to go: Today’s first climb is the Côte de Périgneux, a cheeky little 1.4km affair, category-four, average gradient 6.2%.Note: It’s obviously not cheeky in any way.Barbara Malcotti (Human Powered Health) and Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv-Alula-Jayco) are withdrawals as of stage six. Meaning 134 riders started today.The official withdrawals page can be found here.Racing on stage sixNeutralised rollout complete, flag waved, and they’re off.Sadly there is AFL on my telly (nothing against AFL) – but live coverage on TNT Sports begins at 2.30pm UK time, AKA BST.Stage five was a doozy. Don’t miss Jeremy Whittle’s report:PreambleMont Ventoux looms ever closer – one of the hardest climbs in cycling will be tackled by the peloton on Friday – but today’s 153km trip from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhône is much more than a transitional stage en route to the Giant of Provence.Six categorised climbs await – 2,600m of vertical ascent – as the race winds its way through some stunning (if parched and wildfire-threatened) French countryside, finishing on the banks of the Rhône river in the Ardéche department.Yesterday’s stage, when the trio of Demi Vollering, Marlen Reusser and Kasia Niewiadoma struck out together to fight for victory, was a draining, enthralling affair and especially challenging straight after Tuesday’s individual time trial. It would be little surprise if a suitably-constituted breakaway is allowed up the road today, allowing the GC riders a bit of respite before the gruelling test of tomorrow.This being the Tour de France Femmes, though, confident predictions are a fool’s game. Whatever happens it will be fun.Neutralised start: 13.35 CET/12.35 BST