“The fireworks for the GC will definitely start tomorrow” - Alex Baudin braces for yellow jersey battle on home roads at Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Wout van Aert took the stage 5 headlines in Villars-les-Dombes, but Alex Baudin left the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with the Maillot Jaune still on his shoulders and the most important day of his race waiting on home roads.

Baudin safely retained yellow after one of the calmest days of his spell in the race lead, with Kevin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley still just 12 seconds behind and Matteo Jorgenson at 15 seconds. After a controlled sprint stage, the road now tilts towards Crest-Voland.

Speaking to Cycling Pro Net after the stage, Baudin admitted the day had brought a welcome drop in tension after a demanding opening half of the race.

“Yes, as we said this morning, it was a bit calmer, a bit less stressful,” said Baudin. “The team did a great job again at the end to position me, so everything went well.”

Baudin has led the race since winning the opening stage from the break, but stage 6 will take him back towards familiar terrain. The route passes through Albertville before finishing at Crest-Voland, where his narrow lead will face a very different test.

The EF Education-EasyPost rider did not hide the fatigue building after five days in yellow. “A little bit tired,” he said. “The legs are a bit hard. They are not the best sensations I have had these last few days, but I think today will also have helped me recover a little. It was not very, very hard, so I hope to have legs of fire tomorrow to defend this jersey.”

The final climb gives him some encouragement. Baudin described it as an effort that should suit him if his legs respond, with the decisive section expected to last under 20 minutes.

“Yes, for sure,” he said when asked about trying to defend yellow against Vauquelin. “The final climb is not very long, so it is still the kind of effort I like. It will be less than 20 minutes. So if I have good legs, there is a way to keep it.”

Baudin does not expect the race to split apart completely at the first mountain test, but he knows the fight for yellow is entering a new phase. “I think tomorrow there will not be huge gaps between the favourites,” he said. “As I said, the final climb is not super long, but the fireworks for the GC will definitely start tomorrow.”

The next stage brings an extra pull for Baudin. “At home,” he said when asked about defending yellow on familiar roads. “We go through Albertville and the finish at Crest-Voland, I know it well. So I’m going to give everything.”

Baudin said he was not yet sure whether his whole family would be roadside because some of them would still be working, but he expected support along the route. The final climb is already fixed clearly in his mind.

“Yes, I know it well,” he said. “It is not very long, but it is still straight and quite steep for a while. So I will have to suffer as much as possible for 15 or 20 minutes and see the result.”

Baudin has already carried yellow through a long breakaway stage, a team time trial and a controlled sprint day. Crest-Voland brings Vauquelin, Onley, Jorgenson and the rest of the GC contenders onto terrain where 12 seconds can disappear quickly.