Tour de France stage 10 LIVE: Battle rages to get into the breakaway after Mads Pedersen extends lead in points classification
The peloton returns from the first rest day for a serious climbing test for stage 10 on Bastille Day, 166 kilometres from Aurillac through the volcanic mountains of the Cantal, in the heart of the Massif Central, to the summit finish at Le Lioran
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
OFFICIAL START
After a bit of a delay, we're off! Cofidis and Lotto are the first teams to try attacks.
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.
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 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.
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?
Bonjour and welcome to stage 10 of the Tour de France!
