Tour de France stage 10 analysis: Teamwork works

Tour de France stage 10 winner Mark Cavendish
Tour de France stage 10 winner Mark Cavendish (Image credit: Getty Images)

Cycling is a team sport in a strange way. Unlike football, a casual observer cannot necessarily immediately discern the tactics on show. One cannot look at a team sheet and work out a formation, like one could by seeing Italy playing a 4-3-3 with their full-backs pushing forwards. In cycling, only one rider can cross the line in first position, or wear the leader’s jersey, but it takes a whole organisation to ensure that victory happens, to pull the whole affair off. Races need to be controlled in order for there not to be total chaos on the road, and so plans can be put into action. 

On some days, the role of a team is less important, such as when Tadej Pogačar has been able to fly away whenever the Tour de France has entered the mountains in this year’s race. This has allowed the Slovenian to cleverly disguise a few weaknesses in his UAE Emirates team. But a lot of the time, the team is central, and stage 10 was the perfect opportunity for Deceuninck-Quick Step to prove that they are the best squad at this year’s race, with the most coherent plans and clear objectives.

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Adam Becket is the staff writer for Procycling magazine. Prior to covering the sport of cycling, he wrote about ecclesiastical matters for the Church Times and politics for Business Insider. He has degrees in history and journalism. A keen cyclist himself, Adam’s favourite race is the Tour of Flanders or Strade Bianche, and he can't wait to go to the Piazza del Campo for the end of the race one day.