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Stage 6 starts in Epernay, a town surrounded by 30,000 acres of vineyards making it the champagne capital (photo credit: gasdub)
The stage 6 finish host, Metz, is an ancient city with a new modern and contemporary art museum, Centre Pompidou Metz (photo credit: Julian Pierre)
July 5 update: The third straight rolling/flat stage in a row for the sprinters; the last one until stage 12. Starting from the champagne capital, Epernay, surrounded by 30,000 acres of vineyards, the stage will head east for 208 km with only one categorized climb, a cat 4 two-thirds into the stage.
The stage finishes in Metz which has a long history with the Tour and is hosting its 41st Tour stage. In fact, Metz is an ancient city and its history goes back over 3000 years.
There are few twists and turns before we get into town so we could have another roller derby finish, but the last km of Stage 6 is straight and flat setting up, in theory, for a mass sprint. After this stage, the sprinters will have to wait another week to get another opportunity so it's unlikely a break will get away. — Steve