"I suffered the first 50 km... and the last 130"

July 9, Stage 6: Girona - Barcelone 181.5km

1 .Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team .4:21:33 .

2 .Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank . .

3 .Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne . .

4 .Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram

111- Chris Anker Sorensen @1:55

Stage 6 of the Tour de France was a tough day in the saddle for Chris Anker Sorensen, and tomorrow's stage 7 should prove to be even harsher. Today Chris finished in the second group, 1:55 behind the winner Thor Hushovd, but he entered the final two-kilometer climb with the front group.

New 5-minute Power Record 

The final categorized climb, the Cote de La Conrerie, topped out at 14 miles from the finish. This climb is classified as a Cat 4 climb and Chris Anker averaged 394w for 10', which was his maximum 10-minute power value of the stage.  It is also interesting to note that if we take a look at Chris's maximum 5-minute power value for the stage, he set a new record at 420w. His previous record was 412w set on stage 5. This is a good indicator of the power he can produce when riding at his Vo2Max, a crucial indicator of cycling performance.

Stage 6 was also where Chris has set his highest Training stress Score value at 303 TSS points. He equaled the previous high overall average watts for a stage at 238w, however his normalized power was a whopping 311w.

More to come tomorrow as the Tour enters the high mountains leading into Andorra.