Stage 6: Tarbes > Cauterets-Cambasque (July 6)

2023 TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 6: Mountain Stage #2 (Summit Finish; Pyrenees)

145 km (90 mi)  / 3,778m (12,395’’)

TARBES > CAUTERETS-CAMBASQUE (JULY 6)

See our 2023 Tour de France page for the best way to view, analyze and filter Tour de France stage routes and climbs.

KOM CORNER

Official post-race summary for Stage 6  (July 6):

TBD

STAGE 6 DETAILS AND STATISTICS

• Location: Pyrenees. 
• Distance: 145 kilometers / 90 miles
• Altitude Gained: 3,778 meters / 12,395’’
• Percentage Grade:

• 42% (62 kilometers / 39 miles) descent
• 33% (48 kilometers / 30 miles) 0-5%
• 22.5% (33 kilometers / 20.5 miles) 5-10%
• 2.5% (3.4 kilometers / 2.1 miles) 11-15%

• Steepest (at km 146):

• 500 meters 14.4% / ¼ mile 14.2%  (Cauterets-Cambasque)
• 1 Kilometer 11.6% / 1 mile 10.4% (Cauterets-Cambasque)

• Highest Point on the Route:  2,101 meters / 6,892’
• Lowest Point on the Route:  241 meters / 790’

COMMENTS FROM RACE DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN PRUDHOMME - STAGE 6:

“The Pyrenean challenge continues on a route where those with ambitions of overall success will have to deal with the Aspin and Tourmalet passes. However, the course through the mountains will also pique the interest of other riders. Those puncheurs who are in good form could still take aim at the Yellow Jersey, as the climb to the Plateau du Cambasque isn’t an insurmountable obstacle, its gradient averaging 5.4% over 16km” (Tour de France Stage 6).

THE CLIMBS OF STAGE 6 OF THE 2023 TOUR DE FRANCE

 letour.com - Stage 6.

Col D'aspin - featured in TdF 76 times from 1910 - 2023

PJAMM Cycling Interactive Profile Tool

Col d’Aspin has been featured in more TdFs (76) than all but Tourmalet (89).

Col Du Tourmalet - Saint Marie De Campan - Featured in TdF 89 times from 1910-2023

PJAMM Cycling Interactive Profile Tool

The mighty Col du Tourmalet - Featured in more Tour de France editions than any other climb.

Col du Tourmalet is the most difficult of all the climbs of the 2023 Tour de France.  It is the steepest 10-kilometer segment of climbing on the 2023 Tour de France.

Eugène Christophe poster at kilometer 10

Christophe welded his own forks on a forge in Campan in the 1913 TdF (see story on our Tourmalet page)

Cauterets-Cambasque - featured in TdF four times as of 2023

PJAMM Cycling Interactive Profile Tool

Stage 6 summit finish on Cambasque

Stage 6 steepest 500m, quarter-mile, kilometer, and mile are all on this climb.

EXPLANATION OF KING OF MOUNTAIN, KOM POINTS AND BONUS POINTS

FOR THE 2023 TOUR DE FRANCE

KOM DEFINED: Climb-related points are accumulated during the race and the rider with the most accumulated points at the beginning of the stage wears the red polka dot jersey that day and the rider with the most points at the end of the race is crowned that year’s Tour de France King of the Mountains.

“Category”:  When the mountain classification (King of the Mountains) was introduced in 1933, there were points given to the first 10 riders over the summit (10 for first, 1 for 10th).  In 1947, the Tour introduced two climb “categories” with a certain amount of points for the second category and twice as many as for the first category.  Over the years “categories” were added, in addition to an “Above” category (Hors or HC) and since 1979 there have been an HC (hardest), Category 1 (second hardest) on down to Category 4 (least difficult climb).

The category of the climb is significant for two reasons:

• The points awarded for the TdF KOM for each climb is based upon the category of climb - thus, “category” is the basis for the points that are used to determine each year’s King of the Mountains.
• Most cycling fans, particularly Grand Tour fans, are very interested in the climb “category” because that tells them how hard each climb on a stage is and where the riders will struggle more and the point in a stage where that day, or even the entire tour, will be won or lost.

KOM HISTORY:  King of the Mountains -- Mountain Classification victories (first recognized in 1933; jersey introduced 1975)

• TdF:

• Richard Virenque: 7 - 1994-1997, 1999, 2003, 2004 (best tour finish #2 1997)
• Frederico Bahamontes (six: 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964; nine in Grand Tours)  

• Triples (none ever in the same year):  Frederico Bahamontes and Louis Herrera.
• Doubles same year (TdF+Giro):  Fausto Coppi, Charly Gaul, Lucien Van Impe, Claudio Chaippucci

POINTS:  KOM points are awarded in two ways on the Tour de France:

•  To riders first over the summit of categorized climbs (in descending order HC, 1-4).  

• The higher the category the more riders receive points (HC points are awarded to 8 riders while CAT 4 points are awarded to only 1 rider).

• Bonus point (see below).

TDF POINTS FORMULA:

Wikipedia has the best summary and graph we’ve seen for TdF KOM points distribution:

he points gained by consecutive riders reaching a mountain top are distributed according to the following classification:

Wikipedia - Mountains Classification - Tour de France

BONUS POINTS:  These points go towards the King of the Mountain designation and are awarded to the first (8 points), second (5) and third (2) riders reaching designated summits in the race.  

• There are no KOM bonuses in the 2022 Tour de France.

MONEY PRIZES FOR KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

• Prize for first to eighth place:

• Winner = €25,000
• 2nd = €15,000
• 3rd = €10,000
• 4th = €4,000
• 5th = €3,500
• 6th = €3,000
• 7th = €2,500
• 8th = €2,000

• Daily prize for wearing the Polka Dot jersey = €6,000
• Per category climb:

• HC

• 1st = €800
• 2nd = €450
• 3rd = €300

• Cat 1

• 1st = €650
• 2nd = €400
• 3rd = €150

• Cat 2

• 1st = €500
• 2nd = €250

• Cat 3

• 1st = €300

• Cat 4

• 1st = €200

• Sourvenir Henri Desgrange €5000 first to Col du Galibier pass Stage 11.

The maximum amount the KOM winner could earn if he won every stage and wore the jersey from Stage 2 to the finish is $60,300 Euros (62,773 USD)