Preview. Stage 6 of the 2024
Tour Down Under sees the race brought to what should be an exciting finale. With just thirteen seconds separating the top-7 in the general classification, who would secure overall victory?
The race ultimately ends in Mount Lofty. After it's success of 2023 the race organizers decided to repeat the formula. On the menu is an interesting finale, with an explosive start to the stage and then a three-lap circuit which ends atop the ascent each time. It's one with slight gradients, but the hilltop finish provides opportunities for attacks and for the ochre jersey to change hands right in the race's end.
Stage 6: Unley - Mount Lofty, 128.2 kilometers
Two 3-kilometer climbs provide space for attacks early in the day. A rolling day in the hills, it's not too difficult to image a big breakaway trying to establish itself and threatening the overall classification. A three-lap circuit around Mount Lofty will take place. In total, it's around 14 kilometers of false-flat climbing with a couple of small downhill sections. However as we've been able to observe last year, everything is in preparation for the final 1.6 kilometers.
The gradients here average 6.5%, but at the base of it the grades do go higher. A finale for puncheurs and climbers simultaneously, it's an explosive one. Not a climb to make big differences, but every second matters in such a race.
The Weather
Map Tour Down Under 2024 stage 6
Prediction Tour Down Under 2024 stage 6:
Pick: Simon Yates
Preview written by Kieran Wood