As it happened: GC race explodes into life on the climbs of the Massif Central during stage 10 of the Tour de France

Bonjour and welcome to stage 10 of the Tour de France!

We’re back from the rest day, and with a stern test of climbing as the peloton heads into the Massif Central for what promises to be a thriller.

This very same finale was the host for one of the most memorable Tour stages in recent years, when, in at the 2024 race, a rare thing happened: Pogačar was unsuccessful with an attack, being clawed back by a patient Jonas Vingegaard before the finish, and pipped to the line. Pogačar’s rivals are in real need of a boost like this to restore hope that he can be defeated. Given the history here, could today be the day?

Tour de France stage 10 preview: UAE set to use scene of Tadej Pogačar's 2024 defeat at Le Lioran as 'source of extra motivation'

It's Bastille Day! This is the big day at the Tour de France for the French riders, the one that everyone representing the host nation wants to make an impression. The nation has not yet won a stage at this year's race - now would be a perfect time to do so.

The star French rider so far at this race has, as hoped, been Paul Seixas, who has lived up to the hype and remains right up there on GC, in 6th overall. The parcours is tough enough for this to be contested by the GC riders - what a story it would be if the teenager can claim his first ever Tour stage on this day of all days.

The riders are on the move in Aurillac for the neutralised start. Brace yourself - given the nature of the parcours, this is going to be a huge fight to get into the breakaway, possibly the most hotly contested of the Tour so far. It's going to be a lot of fun!

It's another scorcher of a day in France, continuing what has been a relentlessly hot Tour de France. Alongside the parcours and the incentive to get into the break, that will be another factor that makes this a very gruelling, demanding stage, and a rude awakening from yesterday's rest.

OFFICIAL START

After a bit of a delay, we're off! Cofidis and Lotto are the first teams to try attacks.

Mads Pedersen has had to stop briefly for a mechanical. These first 25km of the stage are the most important of the day for him, as there’s an intermediate sprint coming up around then that he and those after his green jersey will be after - unlike at the end of the stage, where the climbers and GC riders will take over.

Thankfully for Pedersen, it was a quick change and he’s in the convoy making his way back.

A group of five (Josh Tarling, Javier Romo, José Félix Parra, Mathis Le Berre and Felix Engelhardt) have been caught, and now Ben O'Connor has counter-attacked.

The Australian is still clearly in the mood to take something from this Tour, despite falling well out of GC contention. Despite his difficulties so far, he told Cyclingnews that he's enjoying his time at this race, and is the kind of rider who could triumph on a stage like today from a breakaway if he can get up the road.

'Initially I called it love-hate but I can walk back on that now' – Ben O'Connor at peace with Tour de France after years of mixed fortunes

The peloton is back to how it was at the start of the day - all together. O'Connor has been caught, and no other attacks have gone clear for now. With the intermediate sprint coming up in just over 10km, it appears many stage hopefuls are waiting for it to be done before making their committed moves.

Lidl-Trek are using a short unclassified uphill (of which there are many in this region) to put the pressure on, with Simmons leading the peloton and Pedersen a few wheels behind. It looks like they’re trying to make matters hard for his green jersey rivals, and potentially take them out of contention before the intermediate sprint.

There was a split in the peloton, under Lidl’s fast pace, and of all people Tadej Pogačar was caught the wrong side of it. The Slovenian looked very untroubled bridging it, but did so by himself, with no teammates around him - not an ideal start to the day on such tricky terrain.

Other GC riders are still in a group a few seconds behind, including Jonas Vingegaard.

Vingegaard and the other GC riders all appear to be back in the peloton - but Tim Merlier is not. Lidl-Trek are still pushing on at the front with Vacek and Simmons, and the sprint is only a few kilometres away. Girmay is also up there, but it's unclear where the other green jersey rivals are, but Merlier won't be competing for any points.

INTERMEDIATE SPRINT

Pedersen wins the intermediate sprint, after a lead out from his teammate Simmons. He was nearly defeated by Kanter, who made his move early, but just about dragged him back before the lines. Behind those two,Girmay, Philipsen and Matthews also earned points as the next riders over the line.

Now, attention shifts back to the riders trying get into the day’s break.

The attacks are coming out of the peloton again, and we have a group of eleven gone clear by a few seconds - Movistar (Castrillo, Hessmann, Oliveira) and Netcompany (Foss, Kwiatkowski, Tarling) have three each, and are joined by Costiou, Aranburu, Bennett, Devolve and, interesting, Richard Carapaz. The peloton aren't happy with the group though and chasing hard.

The first rest day of a Tour often sees casualties, and this year we have one abandoned to report - Matteo Trentin, who was struck by a fever last night. His Tudor team has been one who have been active in trying to make the break, but so far nothing yet has stuck.

Tour de France abandons – Matteo Trentin drops out after first rest day

120KM TO GO

Here was the group that tried to get away earlier, but didn't succeed. More moves are going now, with multiple small groups ahead of the peloton but only by a few seconds each. It's messy, but no sign of a break sticking yet.

A big group of over 20 riders has a gap over about 10 seconds, and it’s full of big names - Van der Poel, Ganna are the headliners, but are also joined by Vauquelin, Abrahamsen, Baudin, Wellens, Jegat and Valentin Paret-Peintre, to name a few. It’s far from settled though as more are trying to join from behind.

The battle continues to rage! That group was was brought back, and now another fresh group of attackers are trying their luck. This could go on for a long time yet, especially with so many home riders wanting to have a big day on the national holiday; and some will be hating it - notably Tim Merlier, who's over five minutes adrift of the peloton now.

We might have our day’s break - a big group of about 30 riders has got the biggest lead of the day so far, of just over 30 seconds. It’s full of stellar names - Van der Poel, Healy, Baudin, Jegat, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Romo, Ion Izagirre, O’Connor, Abrahamsen, Tejada, Arensman and Vauquelin are all present. Will the peloton let this one go?

CRASH

A few riders have gone down in the peloton. They're all back on their feet, but Lennert Van Eetvelt has yet to get riding again. The Belgian has looked strong all Tour, and might have been a candidate to get into the breakaway today.

The break of about 30 riders (pictures) now lead by just under a minute, but are being chased by a peloton being paced by UAE Team Emirates XRG. A big question of the day is whether or not their leader Tadej Pogačar wants the stage today, or if he's happy to let the break take it. Based on the way they're riding now, it seems the former is true.

100KM TO GO

Although they’ve taken on lots of elevation gain already today, the riders are now on the first categorised climb of the day - the category three Côte de Pailherols.

The Astana riders are using it to try to up the pace in the break for their men Higuita, Tejada and Velasco, but the UAE-led peloton are still just under a minute behind.

KOM - COTE DE PAILHEROLS

Paret-Peintre is allowed to take the two points on offer at the top of the climb uncontested, with his teammate Vervaeke taking the other point. The Frenchman has stated his intention to target he polka-dot jersey.

'Without Remco going for the overall, you feel more free' – Valentin Paret-Peintre enjoys extra liberty to aim high in the mountains of the Tour de France

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90KM TO GO

Tejada and Romo have clipped off the front of the breakaway group and there's a lack of a chase to bring them back. They lead by 45 seconds to that group, which is now closer to the peloton, which is just less than 40 seconds behind them. Cohesion has broken down, and they may be caught, even as UAE set a modest tempo with Nils Politt.

There's some action in the chase group, as Healy, Higuita and Vervaeke attack and set off in pursuit of Tejada and Romo.

Meanwhile in the peloton, UAE continue to set tempo to control things, without going too deep just yet. As things are going, it appears they want the stage win for Pog.

80KM TO GO

Romo and Tejada still lead the race, but are being chased by Healy, Higuita and Vervaeke, who are now just 30 seconds behind. The chasing group behind them are beginning to get their act together, and are only a further 10 seconds behind, with the peloton at 1:27.

From bad nights at a dodgy hotels, to more excessive heat, there’s a lot to discomfort the riders on top of the terrain today. Here’s what Matteo Jorgenson had to say about how the heat is affecting him at this race.

'I can't immediately remember a tougher edition' – Matteo Jorgenson suffers in the Tour de France heat

The riders are on the second official climb of the day, the cat 2 Col de la Griffoul, and the race is breaking up. Romo has dropped Tejada at the front, Healy has gone clear of Vervaeke and Higuita behind, while the larger chasing group is thinning.

70KM TO GO

Healy has been brought back into the chase group, which is a lot smaller than it was with those lacking the climbing legs having dropped back into the peloton. KOM hopefuls Baudin and Paret-Peintre are still present, but they all trail Romo by 50 seconds as they near the summit.

KOM - COL DE LA CRIFFOUL

Romo takes the five points at the top, while in the group behind, Paret-Peintre, Baudin and Debruyne went clear of the rest. The other two let the former take the three points at the line.

Meanwhile the peloton closed the gap to the leaders since Wellens started working on the climb, to just one minute. They're giving the breakaway very let hope at this rate.

The peloton have really upped the pace now, as they climb the category three Col de Prat de Bouc, which began almost immediately after the previous one. Paret-Peintre, Baudin and Debruyne are struggling to remain out front before the summit.

KOM - COL DE PRAT DE BOUC

Romo takes the points at the top of the climb, while Paret-Peintre just about holds on for the final point.

The peloton are now within a minute of Romo, while every rider other than him, Paret-Peintre, Baudin and Debruyne have been caught.

Paret-Peintre, Baudin and Debruyne have all been caught by the peloton, leaving Romo as the sole man out front. With more climbs to come, starting with the category three Côte de Murat, will we see fresh new attacks?

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50KM TO GO

Romo still has just under a minute on the peloton, but UAE Team Emirates XRG have made their intentions clear - they want the stage win. While they're work today is more understandable, the ride a couple of days ago was harder to explain - have a read of how Sean Kelly tried to make sense of it.

I can't understand why UAE Team Emirates-XRG are riding so much, but Pogačar is so good that he will correct any mistakes in the Alps - Sean Kelly's Tour column

COTE DE MURAT

Romo leads the race over yet another climb, while the peloton reach the summit 45 seconds later, with Baudin quietly moving to the front to take the final remaining point.

The climbing has been hard so far, but it's about to get even harder. We're about to take on a double-header of cat 1 climbs, starting with the Puy Mary-Pas de Peyrol (7.7km at 5.9%).

It seems clear from the way UAE are riding that Pogačar is planning an attack. The question is when? On this climb perhaps? It might seem a little early, but from the way he's been riding you can envision him soloing all the way to finish and gaining a lot of time.

That said, he might be a little cautious based on what happened here two years ago, when he attacked on this very same climb, only to be caught and outsprinted by Jonas Vingegaard at the finish.

Tour de France: Jonas Vingegaard charges ahead of Tadej Pogačar to win gripping finale on stage 11

Today will be a big test for the GC ambitions of Paul Seixas, one of the riders who will hope to challenge Pogačar and Vingegaard on their rematch from two years ago.

The enormous pressure on his to perform has been alleviated somewhat by the stage win from his teammate, Olav Kooij, but the French public are still willing him to fight for the GC and light up the Tour - especially on Bastille Day.

Early sprint stage win for Decathlon 'takes a huge amount of pressure off' teenage leader Paul Seixas in second half of Tour de France

Romo’s day out in front is over, as he’s brought back by the peloton.

Wellens is done riding at the front, and now the next UAE rider takes over- but his pace isn’t fast enough to prevent Carapaz from attacking and gaining a few seconds.

Felix Großschartner is the rider pacing for UAE, and they still have McNulty, Yates and Del Toro to come after for Pogačar. Richard Carapaz is going quicker for now though, and has opened up a lead of 25 seconds.

The riders are onto the final 2km of the climb now, which a UAE DS reminds his team on race radio is steeper than the rest of the climb. Even though Großschartner is done and Yates taken over, Pogačar still has lots of teammates to use up, so an attack doesn't seem forthcoming yet, and Carapaz looks good to take the KOM points at the top.

KOM - PAS DE PEYROL / LE PUY MARY

Carapaz leads the race over the climb, about 15 ahead of the peloton, which only has about 15 riders left in it - even Sepp Kuss is struggling to hold on.

The stage win might be a huge long shot, but Carapaz has at least laid the foundations for a potential polka-dot jersey.

CRASH - PIDCOCK AND HARPER

The riders are on the descent; it's a tricky one, and has already claimed two victims - Harper, and the notoriously great descender Tom Pidcock. They're back up and riding, thankfully.

20KM TO GO

Pogačar is looking comfortable on this descent, avoiding the crash that it turns out Jorgenson, as well as Pidcock and Harper, was involved in.

For now Carapaz is still going quicker than Pogačar in the peloton, and has built his lead to one minute.

Adam Yates has just led the peloton onto the Col du Perthus, about 1:15 behind Carapaz. This one rises at a steep 8.3% for 4.5km, steep enough for Pogačar’ to explode the race. Brace yourselves.

Nicolas Prodhomme takes over with the pace-setting, a little to enthusiastically, as he has to slow down after a gap opened up between himself and the rest of the group, including his teammate Paul Seixas. The group is down again to about 15 riders.

Adam Yates has taken over the pace-setting again, but isn't pressing on too hard. As a result, Carapaz is managing to hold a lead of one minute, with 2.5km left to climb.

Yates is finished, and Visma's Piganzoli takes over from him, despite having been dropped earlier on the climb. The pace is down, and there anticipated Pogačar attacks is yet to materialise.

Piganzoli has upped the pace, and the only riders left in the group with 1km left to climb are the top ten on GC, plus Pidcock. Johannessen has been dropped.

POGACAR ATTACKS

He's made his move, just over 1km from the top, and has dropped everyone in no time! Vingegaard is alone behind him, but already several seconds behind.

15KM TO GO

Pogačar is nearing the summit, already 20 seconds up on Vingegaard - and he's just passed and dropped Carapaz!

KOM - COL DU PERTHUS

Pogačar reaches the summit, Carapaz is second over the top, then a group containing Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Lipowitz, Ayuso Skjelmose and Seixas at 18 seconds, then a group containing Del Toro, about 10 seconds behind.

10KM TO GO

Pogačar receives a word of warning on this descent. He's not going too hard, but still increasing his lead on Carapaz, who had come to within five seconds of him but is now at 10 seconds. The Vingegaard group is at 17 seconds, while Del Toro is at 28 seconds.

Carapaz has been caught by, and already dropped out of, the Vingegaard group, who are still 16 seconds behind Pogačar. They have the numbers, with 6 riders in this group, but do they have the will to work together and try to bring him back?

Pogačar is using the 5.5% slopes of the final, 3.5km climb they are currently riding up to solidify his lead. He has 20 seconds on the chasers - and is looking good for the stage win, albeit not a massive gain on GC.

Evenepoel is struggling to hold on to the wheels of Vingegaard, Seixas, Ayuso, Skjelmose and his teammate Lipowitz, and is being dropped.

5KM TO GO

Having attacked on the climb, Pogačar now has a lead of 25 seconds, and is closing in on yet another Tour de France stage win.

KOM - COL DE FONT-DE CERE

As he reaches the summit of the climb, Pogačar continues to increase his lead, to 35 seconds ahead of the five-man chase being led by Vingegaard. Meanwhile Evenepoel is visibly digging deep to limit his losses, keeping the gap between himself and the Vingegaard group to under 10 seconds, while Del Toro is losing ground, almost a minute down on the Vingegaard group.

1KM TO GO

Pogačar is nearly home, going under the flamme rouge with a lead of just under 40 seconds on the Vingegaard group.

POGACAR WINS

Another win for Pogačar, who rides hard right to the line to maximise his time gain. That's win number three at this year's race, and win number 24 of his career.

Evenepoel made it back into the main chase group on the descent, and had the legs to win the sprint for second, ahead of Seixas, then Lipowitz, then the two Lidl-Trek riders.

Vingegaard was dropped by them in the final metres, and loses a few seconds. He might have been burned out by doing so much of the chasing on the climb.

Del Toro finishes alone, and has lost some ground in the fight for the podium. He arrives at the line about 1:30 after Pogačar.

His team may not have looked quite so imperious as in previous stages, with both Yates and McNulty being out-climbed by Visma’s Piganzoli, and Del Toro dropped in the final. But it hardly mattered as Pogačar was as unstoppable as ever, flying away in the final and gaining yet more time in his quest for a record-equalling fifth Tour de France. Still, at least his rivals can take heart that some weaknesses have been exposed in his team.

That was a rough day for Jonas Vingegaard. He spent the finale pulling at the front of the chase group, having failed to drop the other GC contenders in his chase of Pogačar, as he usually does. Then he was punished for his efforts at the line, where the other podium contenders accelerated and put a few seconds into him. Not only did he lose 44 seconds to Pogačar, but also 12 seconds to Evenepoel. On GC, he’s now much closer to those fighting for the podium spots, than he is to Pogačar at the top of the rankings.

Thanks for joining us today for another display of sublime brilliance by Tadej Pogačar. He didn’t quite manage to put the Tour to bed today, but appears well on the way to doing so.

Tomorrow sees the sprinters come back to the fore, for a flat stage that should see a bunch finish. Which of them have recovered best from today’s gruelling efforts? Be sure to follow along again tomorrow to find out.