The race goes into the Alps with the first of three summit finishes.Un Flamand au Parc des Oiseaux: the sprint win for Wout van Aert. Visma-LAB and Cofidis led the chase all stage when a move of six got way on the first climbs and never gave them much more than two minutes. In the final stages more teams joined in and the break was finished.The finishing straight was three kilometres long and felt almost as wide until the finish came into sight. Helped by lead-out from Matteo Jorgenson and then a 600m turn from Edoardo Affini, Van Aert launched with 200m to go and held off Hugo Hofstetter and Phil Bauhaus. For a rider saying hes searching for form there might be some way to go but all the same this was a solid long sprint. For all his talk of poor form right now hes now got two stage wins to his name and was second on Stage 4 too.The Route: 181km, 2,850m of vertical gain and a day of dja-vu. The start is in Saint-Vulbas, home of Mark Cavendishs final Tour stage win in 2024 although today in the town itself rather than outside by the logistics park that hosted the finish last time.The mid-stage climb of the Col du Granier sees the race traverse the Chartreuse Alps via a scenic road with steep cliffs and balcony sections cut into the hillside; and where Bernard Hinault once stopped to pee. More importantly today its got a lot of 6-7% gradients. The descent is steep and twisty, but used by the race recently in 2024. Theres a long valley road via Albertville to Ugine, Alex Baudins home roads as it happens.The climb to Hry sounds gentle with the 5% average on the profile but its 7% most of the way, the average is reduced because of a descent mid-way so this is a selective climb, and all on a small, twisting road including on the way down. The Tour de France was supposed to come here last year but a last-minute change because of a bovine disease and angry farmers prompted a change.The Finish: the Dauphin came here in 2023 where Georg Zimmerman won but for once theres no dj vu as that time they took the main Col des Saisies route up, then cut across to Crest Voland. This time its just the road up from the valley floor, a climb all the way.Its a steady main road up and one of those climbs where you ride thinking Im not feeling good today but then realise its 8-9% a lot of the way.The Contenders: with 100 riders over six minutes down the breakaway has a good chance today, the teams with GC ambitions dont need to lock down the stage, especially as there are two more mountain stages to come.Georg Zimmerman (Lotto-Intermarch) won here last time but this finish is more suited to someone at ease on an Alpine climb. Marco Frigo (NSN), Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-Quickstep), Yannis Voisard (Tudor), Gal Glivar (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) fit the bill but they have seven wins between them and nothing in the World Tour yet.Ben Healy (EF) does win from the breakaway but will he be retained to help Alex Baudin defend yellow, or if hes going to lose it then why not try to take the stage? Pello Bilbao (Bahrain) can win but the form is a question today, while team mate Santiago Buitrago isnt far down on GC but could try a move on the final descent.Otherwise to extrapolate from the opening stage glimpses, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM) and Isaac Del Toro (UAE) are suited here with Ayuso being the most experienced but also not prolific in summit finishes.Netcompany-Ineos dont have to launch moves and this suits both Oscar Onley and Kvin Vauquelin who only have to match rivals to stay ahead on GC. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-LAB) looks in great form but he doesnt finish so well out of group sprint, its solo or bust.Del Toro, SeixasAyuso, OnleyJorgenson, Vauquelin, Bilbao, Tejada, Buitrago, HealyWeather: sunny and 26CTV: KM0 is at 12.45pm and the finish is forecast for 5.00pm.Postcard from Mont GranierChartreux, Chartreuse anyone? Play word association in France and its a monastic order, an alcoholic liqueur, a colour and a breed of cat. Its also range of mountains in the Alps and the race crosses it today via the Col du Granier.Nearby sits Mont Granier, a big table-like mountain whose steep flanks were revealed by a vast landslide in 1248 where half a billion cubic metres fell away, including blocks several hundred metres long, some of which rolled down the valley and came to halt several kilometres later.The Charteuse Alps range runs north-south, bookended by the cities of Chambry and Grenoble. Only today the race crosses from west to east: up, over and down. This is the wrong way as the Chartreuse Alps have been spectacular in races before when the route has gone along over the top via the Col du Granier, the Col du Cucheron and Col the Porte, sometimes referred to as the trilogie Chartreuse.In 1947 Jean Robic would win the Tour thanks to an attack on the final stage but he was within touching distance of yellow in part because of his win in Grenoble after romping across the trilogy of climbs. In 1958 the race took the reverse direction and Charly Gaul started the Col de Porte with a two minute advantage on the chasing bunch. With cold rain pouring down he took time on each of the climbs to win solo by 14 minutes, defrocking yellow jersey Louison Bobet by 19 minutes, Jacques Anquetil even further back.Action-packed short stages in the Tour arent new. The 1989 Tour de France used the trilogy during a 125km stage. Pedro Delgado, third overall, attacked after just 50km and was later joined by Greg LeMond, Laurent Fignon, Gert-Jan Theunisse and Marino Lejarreta, a breakaway royale that stayed away with LeMond winning the sprint.Today the Chartreuse trilogy is largely forgotten. It makes you wonder what race-winning terrain today could vanish from the collective conscience in the future too.The post Aura Tour Stage 6 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.