[On second thought, the stage was entirely cancelled.]
Climbing begins virtually from the start, although it’s on the easiest hill of the six. The Côte de Roquebrussanne is 3.6 kilometres long and rises at 4% before the route continues on rolling terrain to the next uphill test. The Côte des Tuilières is shorter – 2.3 kilometres -, but almost twice as steep: 7.8%.
The riders enter the more challenging second part of the race when they tackle the Côte de Caillan, a 2 kilometres climb at 6.9%, which begins roughly 30 kilometres after the Côte des Tuilières. The average gradient is distorted by a section at 17% and that’s also the story with the fourth climb of the day, the Côte de Cabris. It rises for 5.3 kilometres with an average gradients of 5.8%, while the steepest bit ramps up to 20%.
There are still 64 kilometres remaining after the Côte de Cabris. The first 3 kilometres of which run on the flat to Grasse. The descent – with a false flat interlude halfway – leads to the first passage on the line. Moments later the shortest but also the steepest climb of the day appears.
The Côte de La Colle-sur-Loup is a wall-like climb of 1.8 kilometres at 10%. A neglectible descent continues on an upward rolling false flat and, eventually, a 900 metres climb at 7.9% into Tourrettes-sur-Loup. This is where the intermediate sprint happens.
It’s 19 kilometres from Tourrettes-sur-Loup back to La Colle-sur-Loup. The riders fly downhill until the route goes up again after the flamme rouge, with approximately 4%.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprint comes with 6, 4 and 2 seconds.
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Paris-Nice 2023 stage 6: route, profiles, more
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