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| Friday, March 12th, 2004 |
| Stage 6 - Rasteau > Gap - 173,5 km |
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| Menchov, opportunist and strong |
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 The Spaniard Osa mainly dominated the stage but the fighter of the day and the new polka dot jersey winner is Jaksche who stole the glory of the day by consolidating his yellow jersey and, at the same time, seizing Davide Rebellin's green jersey. The winner of the stage is Denis Menchov who claimed victory after staging a quality finale. |
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 Slowed down by the wind
The favourable wind in the first few kilometres changed into a very strong headwind just before the Col de Fontaube. In this second category climb Aïtor Osa, then second in the climbers classification, escaped to pick up the points. Ziegler, wearing the polka dot jersey, overcame the hill forty seconds later at the front of the peloton. Contador was the third rider to reach the first summit of the day.
A successful partnership
On the descent, Nicolas Portal broke away from the peloton to rejoin the front rider. A partnership formed between the young Frenchman of AG2R Prévoyance and the Illes Balears Spanish team.  Osa let Portal take maximum points in the intermediary sprint of Montbrun-les-Bains (Jaksche 3 rd , at the front
of the peloton), and Portal repaid him at the top of the Col de Macuègne. The points taken by Osa enabled him to join Ziegler in the climbers classification. Nearly eight minutes later, the polka dot jersey in jeopardy took the 3 rd place at the top of the hill. The understanding was perfect between the two escapees, who created a margin that reached 10'20'' through the village of Monêtier
(km 109).
End
of the adventure for Portal
Just before the ascent of the Col de la Sentinelle, while the progress of the two riders was reduced, Osa accelerated away from Portal. The Frenchman was caught by Kashechkin and Landaluze, initiators of a vain escape attempt on the Col , then by the peloton. After reaching the summit in front, which enabled him to seize the polka dot jersey, Osa was caught by a group of five riders (Menchov, Gonzalez, Julich, Kirchen and Contador).
Attacks from all sides
Following the descent of the Col de la Sentinelle, the attacks increased. During the sprint bonus points coming into Gap (first passage), Jaksche, Julich and Pereiro picked up the seconds and the points, but failed to consolidate their advantage. Around ten kilometres from the finish, during the climb up the Col de Manse, a group of three riders (Sanchez, Landis and Bruylandts) broke away. Menchov put in a solo effort to break from the first peloton and rejoin the trio.
Rebellin,
heir apparent to two tables
After an escape attempt from Sanchez three kilometres from the line, the Spaniard fought back at the flamme rouge. The sprint unfolded, Menchov was the strongest and took the stage victory. Behind, Jaksche, who still remained in the first group of chasers in the company of his heir apparent Davide Rebellin, kept the yellow and white jersey and also seized the green jersey with one extra point. |
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 Denis Menchov (winner of the stage)
At what point did you realise that it was going to be possible to win this stage?
One of the things that helped me achieve this was the fact that I hadn't really worked that hard for most of the day. I quietly stayed in the peloton so that I could approach the end of the stage in a relatively fresh state. As I felt good and I remembered the course a bit from the Tour de France last year I thought I'd try my luck. But there was only one moment during the whole race when I really realised that I could win! You made a huge effort to get back into the three leading riders during the final climb. Is this the sort of trick that you enjoy pulling off?
Yes it's true that today I did manage to pull away from the peloton and that wasn't easy on this very short pass, it took a real boost of power. As a general rule, I prefer uphill slopes that are longer and more even like on the Tour de France. I was also especially happy with the way I handled the sprint, very calmly even when it got particularly difficult. What does this victory represent?
Firstly,
I would like to dedicate this victory to all the victims of the attacks that took place yesterday morning at Madrid station, and to their families. As far as sport is concerned, this success has salvaged my Paris-Nice race and that of the team overall, since we have not had any rider well positioned in the general classification. |
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| Stage winner: |
MENCHOV Denis |
 (yellow / white jersey) |
JAKSCHE Jorg |
 (green / white jersey) |
JAKSCHE Jorg |
 (red polka dotted jersey) |
OSA Aitor |
 (blue / white jersey) |
ROGERS Michael |
 (red dossard) |
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| Riders list | Time schedule |
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| Stage |
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| Overall |
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| 1 |
Sunday, March 7th |
13,2 km |
| Chaville > Issy-les-Moulineaux / Vanves |
| 2 |
Monday, March 8th |
166,5 km |
| Chaville > Montargis |
| 3 |
Tuesday, March 9th |
229 km |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin > Roanne |
| 4 |
Wednesday, March 10th |
179 km |
| Roanne > Le Puy-en-Velay |
| 5 |
Thursday, March 11th |
215 km |
| Le Puy-en-Velay > Rasteau |
| 6 |
Friday, March 12th |
173,5 km |
| Rasteau > Gap |
| 7 |
Saturday, March 13th |
185,5 km |
| Digne-les-Bains > Cannes |
| 8 |
Sunday, March 14th |
144 km |
| Nice > Nice |
| Total |
1 305,7 km |
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