Stage 6 Preview: 226.5km Dinan to Lisieux

Today's the Tour's longest stage, with riders making their way into Normandy. Prevailing winds are expected to be from the west, making today's stage a fast one.

We've got three categorized climbs on the day, two 3rd Category at 99.5km/62 miles and 156.5km/97 miles and a 4th Category at 197km/132 miles ridden. With a maximum of 5 pts on offer over the 3 climbs, it's likely a rider in a long breakaway might take over the polka-dot jersey from Cadel Evans, currently leading the competition with 2 pts.

The intermediate sprint is in Vassy at 131 kms/82 miles ridden. Philippe Gilbert leads the category after José Rojas had his points from yesterday's intermediate sprint nullified.

With Gilbert showing interest in the green jersey competition, today is another day where he might be able to gain points on Cavendish, with the finish profile (below) featuring a healthy climb from 3k down to 1k to the line that might take a bite out of the pure sprinters' legs, tilting things to Gilbert or Hushovd. We might also see a gap in the field at the finish, so the GC hopefuls will have to be attentive to these last few kilometers.