Course: There’s some initial fun with a visit to Camembert cheese country and a Cat. 3 hill at Vimoutiers that has a 13-percent pitch, but then the shorter (189km) stage settles into a series of long, straight, sometimes hilly highways across the open farmland of Normandy. Rolling hills precede the entry into Vitré, where the course loops around and through town to reach a slightly uphill finishing straight almost 2km long.

History: There have been three stage finishes at Vitré, all won by sprinters: Belgian Rudy Matthijs in 1985, Italian Mario Cipollini in 1995 and German Marcel Wüst in 2000. That most recent finish here saw a few still-active sprinters involved: Zabel was second, McEwen sixth and O’Grady eighth.

Stage 6: Lisieux to Vitré - 189km

Favorites: Crosswinds may be a factor in splitting the peloton over the final hour of racing and could result in a different kind of finish, albeit a group sprint. This could be good for Hushovd or even Zabel, but McEwen and Boonen are again the favorites to win.