Tour de France: Tadej Pogačar shreds challengers with solo climbing charge on stage 10 and adds more time to his advantage with victory

As if there would be any doubt on the sawtooth profile through the Massif Central to Le Lioran – when the road goes uphill, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) wins. Few doubted the yellow jersey would repeat what he did on stages 3 and 6, and he duly launched himself clear for a third stage victory on stage 10 at the Tour de France, 15km from the line.

When Pogačar went, former king of the mountains Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) was 50 seconds up the road, nearing the top of the Col de Pertus, the penultimate climb of the 166.6km stage. But that advantage melted away in less than a kilometre in the 30°C-plus heat, and he was dropped even before the summit.

Then, the four-time champion was away, 10 seconds clear of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and those GC pretenders already further adrift, a time gap that only grew as he soloed up the finale of the Col de Font de Cère.

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With 5km to run, he was 25 seconds clear, and with another 2km of riding he added 15 more. At the line he celebrated a 24th career Tour de France stage triumph and an extension of what already looks an unassailable lead.

Further back, Vingegaard hauled a chase group of France's great hope Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), FLorian Lipowitz minus his Red Bull-Bora-Hasngrohe co-leader Remco Evenepoel, and the Lidl-Trek pairing of Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose. He took one long turn, but his companions had no help to offer.

Two years ago, this finish hosted a two-man sprint showdown between Pogačar and Vingegaard, but there was no chance of a repeat this Bastille Day. Instead, Pogačar sprinted away 26 minutes early, and barely let up before crossing the line.

Some time later, there was a sprint. A resurgent Evenepoel lived to fight another day and led the best of the rest home, 32 seconds in arrears. The Belgian nabbed two seconds on Seixas and Lipowitz, while Ayuso and Skjelmose trailed home at 38 seconds down.

It wasn't Vingegaard's day, either. He was clad in the polka dot jersey, but he's far from the top climber this July. He had nothing for the final dash, fading to seventh place, 44 seconds adrift and a distinct second-best in the great Tour rivalry of our time.

Recharge from rest day

The first stage back after the Tour's first rest day, a 166.6km trek through the Massif Central, would take in 3,800 metres of elevation and seven classified climbs on the road to Le Lioran.

The peloton faced four third-category hills and one second-category hill during the stage, though the biggest tests would come 30.9km from the end at the Pas de Peyrol (7.8km at 6%) and the penultimate climb, the Col de Pertus (4.4km at 8.5%). Last up was the Col de Font de Cère (3.1km at 5.8%), just 2.7km from the line.

The battle for the breakaway began right away as dozens of riders fought to get out front. Groups ebbed and flowed at the front, and a split in the peloton after 15km was quickly undone.

Green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) extended his overall points lead after 45km of racing. The Dane beat Max Kanter (XDS-Astana), Biniam Girmay (NSN), and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) to the line for the maximum 25 points, while fellow contender Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) had already been dropped.

A large group got away shortly afterwards, but once, again, things were brought back, only to lead into more attacks and counters. Finally, after 46km of fast-paced racing, a large group managed to break clear.

Almost 30 riders made the move, though the numbers dwindled a little over the first third-category hill of the day. Still, plenty of major names were present, including stage 9 winner Mathieu van der Poel, Ramsses Debruyne(Alpecin-Premier Tech), Ben Healy, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Sergio Higuita (XDS-Astana), Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep), Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), and Marc Hirschi (Tudor).

The gap back to the peloton, led, of course, by UAE Team Emirates-XRG, was slim, only 1:30, but it held through the midpoint of the stage and onto the second-category Col de la Griffoul (5.9km at 6.7%). On the way up, there were more attacks out front, with Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) leading the charge.

Javier Romo (Movistar) led over the summit, however, the Spaniard leading Baudin, Paret-Peintre, and Debruyne by 30 seconds. The peloton, led by the charging UAE squad, lay a further 30 seconds back.

Romo would forge a sole lead over the next two climbs, grabbing a total of nine mountain points, as those behind were brought back.

Final climbs

Romo's own adventure ended on the way up the Pas de Peyrol, 38km from the line as Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) jumped from the peloton.

The ascent, and the pace of UAE and Decathlon CMA CGM, shredded the main group, leaving around 20 men behind the Ecuadorian at the top. He'd the descent with 23 seconds in hand, a slim lead to hold still a long way from the line.

2024 king of the mountains Carapaz flew down the descent, unbothered by any riders around him. Some of those chasing weren't so lucky, however, as Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), and even demon descender and Harper's teammate, Tom Pidcock, hit the deck.

Those who stayed upright seemed to err on the side of caution, meanwhile, as Carapaz pushed on to extend his advantage to a minute with 20km to run. He hit the Col du Pertus 1:15 clear as UAE and Decathlon got to work once more.

17km out, and 2.5km from the top, it was Visma's Davide Piganzoli who took over, pushing the pace further as the likes of Skjelmose and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) slid backwards.

It was the indomitable Pogačar who made the first big GC move, though, launching his acceleration just over a kilometre from the top. Of course, nobody could react, and the blur of yellow flew up the remainder of the Pertus, across the 48-second gap to Carapaz, and past the escapee before the summit.

Vingegaard was the best of the GC men behind, the Dane starting the descent with a 10-second deficit as the podium squabblers trailed in his wake. Pogačar pounded 16 seconds clear at the base of the Col de Font de Cère as Vingegaard settled in at the head of the chase.

Carapaz was caught and dropped and then, as the road tilted skywards, so did the diesel Evenepoel. Barring a disaster on the short final descent, the stage was over at the summit, with 40 seconds separating the reigning champion and the pretenders to his crown.

He took no chances sliding down into Le Lioran, shedding a handful of seconds which hardly matter in this game of minutes. Up the hill, Evenepoel had seemingly taken far more, reconnecting with the Vingegaard train under the flamme rouge for one last rush uphill.

As Pogačar savoured career victory 124, behind him there was real competition as the podium melee erupted. Pogačar's lieutenant, the podium sitter Isaac Del Toro, had long detached from the chase group, and so third was for the taking.

Evenepoel, harnessing his second wind, enjoyed a rather rare sprint success to leapfrog the Mexican on GC and to within half a minute of Vingegaard.

Seconds separated those in the Belgian's wake, and now, with a relatively slim 92 seconds separating second from Del Toro's new spot of seventh, it appears as though the battle for the podium is on, even if top spot may already be long gone less than halfway through the Tour.

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