After a wild start to the 2025 Tour de France, which has seen crashes and crosswinds cause havoc in the peloton to go with some sensation racing and memorable wins, the race finally reaches the mountains – or at least some very big hills.
Today’s stage 10 is a brute, with no singular monstrous climb but eight categorised ascents that will sap the legs in searing heat in France’s Massif Central, concluding atop the Pud de Sancy, the highest peak in the region. There are 4,450m of elevation gain in total, packed into 165km of racing.
The French riders in the peloton will be desperate to triumph on Bastille Day, France’s national holiday, and the roads will be jam-packed with fans and flags hoping for a home win. A breakaway is bound to form and may well escape all the way to the finish, but there will be plenty of action among the GC contenders, with Tadej Pogacar looking to tighten his grip on the yellow jersey and Jonas Vingegaard searching for a place to hurt his rival.
Follow all the updates from stage 10 of the Tour de France below.
Tour de France 2025 – stage 10 live
- Tour enters the the Massif hills on gruelling stage 10 as France celebrates Bastille Day
- Ben Healy rides into yellow with gritty ride on stage 10 as Simon Yates takes victory
- Stage 10: 165km from Ennezat to le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy | Live on TNT Sports and ITV4
Stage 11 preview
18:44
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Flo Clifford
Finally we’ve got to a rest day... the action resumes on Wednesday 16 July with Stage 11, a 154km run starting and finishing in Toulouse.
The sprinters could return to prominence on a flat route, but Tim Merlier and the rest of the power riders might be put off by the finale: a loop around the city with a few short, sharp climbs including the Cote de Pech David (800m at 12.4%) with 9km to go. The final 6km is flat, so will we see the sprinters there for a showdown or will it be a puncheur breaking clear over the hills who steals the stage?
Ben Healy dethrones Tadej Pogacar to take yellow jersey as Simon Yates wins stage 10 at Tour de France
18:15
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Flo Clifford
Irishman Ben Healy rode himself into the yellow jersey with an outstanding display of grit and power as Simon Yates won stage 10 of the Tour de France from a breakaway on the Puy de Sancy.
A monster Bastille Day stage through the Massif Central delivered the fireworks as Healy put in a huge shift in the break to maintain a sizeable gap over the chasing peloton, fighting his way to third on the stage and then counting the seconds until Tadej Pogacar finished.
Pogacar put in a late dig as he traded blows with rival Jonas Vingegaard, but when the world champion came in four minutes 51 seconds behind Yates, 4:20 behind Healy, the yellow jersey swapped shoulders with Healy 29 seconds better off going into Tuesday’s rest day.
Ben Healy leads the Tour de France
18:00
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Flo Clifford
Ben Healy is the first Irishman to wear yellow since Stephen Roche, and has just written himself into pub quiz history forever. TNT Sports has a chat with him.
Has it sunk in yet? “Honestly no, that was such a tough stage. I’m pretty emotionless right now just because I’m so tired! But it’s really beyond belief, if someone had told me I’d be in yellow and have won a stage of the Tour, by the first rest day as well, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
He thanks his teammates, saying, “If it wasn’t for them guys I wouldn’t be in yellow today, I’ve got to say a massive, massive thank you to those guys: Harry Sweeny, absolute truck, and Alex Baudin just really finished it off. They could have fought for the stage themselves on another day.
He confirms that he was going for yellow and that his incredible turn, pulling the breakaway for the last 40km until the final climb, was all-in for the jersey. “I knew they [the other breakaway riders] would play for the stage and take advantage of that, I just had to get my head down and go.” Sounds easy!
Who is leading the Tour de France? Yellow jersey and general classification standings
17:52
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Flo Clifford
Ben Healy’s teammates have gathered at the podium ceremony to watch the 24-year-old pull on the yellow jersey, which is lovely.
Here are the full standings at the end of an extra long and very dramatic week:
Ben Healy leads best young rider classification
17:45
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Flo Clifford
- Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) in 37:41:49
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) +1’29”
- Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +2’26”
- Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) +3’24”
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3’34”
Ben Healy has two jerseys to his name now, not just one, as he displaces Evenepoel in the white jersey standings too. The Belgian will however wear it on his behalf on Wednesday.
Broom wagon rolls in
17:40
,
Flo Clifford
Nearly 37 minutes down, the sprinters have made it safely home. Jonathan Milan gets off his back and is now doubt relieved to have got that one out the way.
Martinez leads KOM standings
17:34
,
Flo Clifford
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) 27 pts
- Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) 16 pts
- Michael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) 11 pts
- Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates XRG) 8 pts
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) 8 pts
So the French have something to cheer about today, as Martinez moves into the polka-dot jersey, and will wear it on stage 11 on Wednesday.
Adam Yates weighs in
17:25
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Flo Clifford
Adam Yates has a quick word with TNT Sports, he’s asked about his twin brother’s stage win. “Obviously happy for him, not sure what happened in the front,” he says. “We survived ourselves as well, we lost Joao, Pavel’s a little bit sick, but we survived, so good day today. It’s more that we’ve done nine stages on the flat, you go into the mountains and you don’t really know your level or the level of the competition.
“You’d hope so!” he says, when asked whether Ben Healy going into yellow helps UAE out. “With Tadej it doesn’t matter if he’s in yellow, white, he’s got press conferences, he’s got stuff going on. We’ll try to rest as much as possible but it won’t be easy.”
Jonas Vingegaard speaks
17:20
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Flo Clifford
A gaggle of reporters surround Jonas Vingegaard, who is asked about the plan for today. “We wanted to have a good man in the breakaway, we had Simon there, I’m extremely happy for Simon. Was an incredible day for us, winning the stage, also for me personally with the legs, happy with how I felt today.
“Of course UAE had a very strong team and Pogacar had to do a bit of work himself, they were very good at defending today. Hats off for them.”
Were Visma attacking to keep Pogacar in yellow? “That’s not the reason we were attacking, we were attacking to put some pressure on. If he would stay in yellow he would have to do the podium ceremony every day, that takes some energy, but we don’t think about that, we were just sticking to our own plan, to put pressure on UAE today.”
What did the team learn today? “that we have a strong team and that my legs are good.” Was it hard today? “Nahhh... of course it was,” he laughs. “I have to take time at one point, but so far this Tour de France I’ve been able to follow all his attacks, which I couldn’t do in Dauphine, so that shows I have a better level now than I had in Dauphine.” Relaxed and smiley from the Dane.
General classification after stage 10
17:17
,
Flo Clifford
- Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) in 37:41:49
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), +29”
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), +1'29”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), +1'46”
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), +2'06”
- Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels), +2’26”
- Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), +3’24”
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), +3’34”
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), +3’41”
- Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), +5’03”
Stage 10 results
17:10
,
Flo Clifford
- Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) in 4:20:05
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), +9”
- Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), +31”
- Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), +49”
- Michael Storer (Tudor), +1’23”
- Joe Blackmore (Israel-PremierTech), +3’57”
- Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), +4’38”
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), +4’51”
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG),
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), all at same time
Simon Yates: 'I cracked on and went for the stage'
17:04
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Flo Clifford
Simon Yates looks rather relieved to have won. “I didn’t feel like it all day, it was a really hard start to be there and a lot of strong guys,” he says. “That’s why I took advantage into the final corners at the bottom of the descent before the [final] climb started because I was looking for a bit of a head start!
Six years on from his final Tour stage win, he laughs and says, “It’s been a long time, but actually I was not really expecting any opportunities here, we came here filly focused on Jonas and the GC. The stage played out in a way where I could be there for the stage and took it with both hands. The main plan was to be there just in case there was something happening from behind, but the gap was too big, so cracked on and went for the stage. I’m still a bit tired from [the Giro] but I’ve been getting better every day, I was rusty at the start.”
Simon Yates wins stage 10
16:59
,
Flo Clifford
Did UAE get their tactics wrong?
16:59
,
Flo Clifford
It seems unlikely that UAE wanted to lose yellow today, and this felt like a stage Pogacar would have wanted to win too. But their depleted squad couldn’t control proceedings and ultimately Pogacar was isolated while Vingegaard still had Kuss, Jorgenson, and even the satellite rider of Campenaerts around him - plus Simon Yates up the road.
Healy into yellow!
16:53
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Flo Clifford
Over 4’22” and that’s Ben Healy into yellow, the fourth Irishman to do so in history!
He looks absolutely delighted.
Martinez leads Pogacar and Vingegaard over the finish line, and the two rivals shake hands. That’s a nice moment.
Jorgenson leads the remaining GC stragglers over the line. Rodriguez and Gall are slightly further back, having lost more time.
16:52
,
Flo Clifford
Ben Healy needs 4’22”. The line is approaching and the clock has ticked over four minutes...
Pogacar and Vingegaard locked together
16:51
,
Flo Clifford
Healy crossed the line 30 seconds down on Yates. Now the clock is ticking to see whether he’ll move into yellow or not. Healy watches and waits at the finish line.
Lenny Martinez has been caught and now Pogacar and Vingegaard sit on his wheel. 1km to go for this trio.
Evenepoel is further back, losing time on Pogacar and Vingegaard. Kevin Vauquelin has been dropped too.
Pogacar attacks!
16:49
,
Flo Clifford
Order has been restored in the GC group with Pogacar now on the front... now Lipowitz has a dig... and Pogacar himself decides the best form of defence is attack!
He flies away from everyone except Vingegaard - and accelerates again to open up a gap on the Dane!
Evenepoel attacks!
16:48
,
Flo Clifford
Evenepoel attacks, Pogacar doesn’t react, but Oscar Onley moves to chase him down!
Up ahead, Simon Yates, fresh off his Giro d’Italia overall victory, has daylight between him and Arensman and wins his third Tour de France stage!
Healy drops O'Connor
16:47
,
Flo Clifford
400m to go: Healy is clearly suffering but leaves O’Connor behind and the Irishman keeps digging... meanwhile Carlos Rodriguez, who has shelled some serious time in a disappointing opening week, comes onto the front.
His teammate Thymen Arensman is four seconds off Yates but looks like he’s not got enough left in the tank... or has he?
Yates riding to victory
16:45
,
Flo Clifford
900m to go: Victor Campenaerts is now on the front for Visma, teeth gritted as he hauls the very reduced peloton up this climb.
Arensman is trying to gain on Yates as the pair go under the flamme rouge...
Yates attacks again
16:42
,
Flo Clifford
2.1km to go: Arensman has bridged across to O’Connor and Yates but the Visma man goes again... Arensman is having more luck than O’Connor in getting across.
Healy is 15 seconds down now, Storer 21 seconds back, and it looks like this is between Yates and Arensman now.
Simon Yates attacks
16:40
,
Flo Clifford
2.9km to go: And now Healy pays for all his efforts as Yates attacks as they head onto the Puy de Dome. Healy is dropped, O’Connor is first to attack and rides himself back onto his wheel. The Irishman will try to time-trial his way onto this leading pair.
Pogacar isolated
16:39
,
Flo Clifford
3.8km to go: Healy, incidentally, is up to second in the KOM classification - behind Lenny Martinez, who is now four minutes back - and leads the best young rider classification over Evenepoel too.
Jorgenson goes again and Pogacar comfortably comes back on, Vingegaard easily following and Evenepoel needing a little bit more of a dig but making it too. Likewise Lipowitz, Onley, Kuss puts in a dig to get back on too... then stops, because Narvaez and Yates have been dropped in Kuss’ group, and that’s Pogacar isolated for the first time in this Tour.
One climb to go
16:35
,
Flo Clifford
7.0km to go: Healy takes maximum points over the top of the penultimate climb, followed by Arensman, O’Connor, and Storer, in that order.
Sepp Kuss comes to the front for Visma, with Jorgenson and Vingegaard and then Pogacar in line behind him. Sean Kelly on TNT Sports comms thinks this is a mistake, simply doing UAE’s job for them, and I’m inclined to agree. UAE’s Adam Yates and Narvaez can have a bit of a breather now.
One climb to go: Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy. What it lacks in catchiness of name it makes up for in toughness: 3.3km at an average of 8%.
Another attack by Jorgenson
16:31
,
Flo Clifford
10km to go: “You have ridden like bosses,” Decathlon tell their riders on race radio.
Ben Healy now has a 2’06” lead in the overall standings, as things stand, and is still powering up this climb. The Irishman absolutely deserves another stage win today. He’s been an absolute machine... and he’s been awarded the combativity prize at least for his efforts, so will feature on the podium and the front row of the start line tomorrow.
500m to go to the top of the Col de la Crois Saint-Robert.
Back in the bunch, Jorgenson attacks again, immediately closed down by Pogacar. Vingegaard is on his wheel, then Onley, Gall and Evenepoel are close by too. Mattias Skjelmose is distanced, if only temporarily.
As you were
16:23
,
Flo Clifford
14km to go: Ben Healy still looks supremely cool but he has been doing all the work for about the last 10km, the other five riders just sitting on his wheel.
Behind them, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale come to the front of the peloton. Are they teeing things up for their GC hopeful, Felix Gall? The Austrian was 14th, 4’49” behind Pogacar at the start of the day.
Quinn Simmons is distanced and Healy is winding things up now. The breakaway is onto the penultimate climb, the cat-two Col de la Croix Saint-Robert: 5.1km at 6.3%, one of the longer ones today.
Still 5’30” to the bunch.
Jorgenson goes again
16:15
,
Flo Clifford
19km to go: Visma are clearly enjoying this. Jorgenson attacks with Kuss, Adam Yates eventually closes it down with Pogacar on his wheel, immediately followed by Vingegaard and Evenepoel. Narvaez comes to the front slowly after being dropped.
Visma (then Jumbo-Visma) did this successfully the last time Vingegaard won the Tour, death by a thousand cuts for Pogacar. The terrain is tough today, but not as tough as it’s going to get later this week and next.
The breakaway still has 5’30” on the bunch: it’s now down to Healy, O’Connor, Simmons, Storer, Arensman, and Simon Yates. Martinez and co are 1’30” behind and going backwards.
Jorgenson attacks for Visma
16:11
,
Flo Clifford
21km to go: “We are not losing,” Bahrain-Victorious insist over the radio, but try telling that to poor Lenny Martinez.
Florian Lipowitz has bridged across to Onley and Kuss, with Adam Yates coming to the front for UAE. Was that Visma’s intention? Pogacar only has Yates and Jhonatan Narvaez left now, Marc Soler was suffering with Benoot’s pace there.
And now Matteo Jorgenson attacks! Pogacar himself closes the move down, the American is too close on GC to be allowed to go. Vingegaard himself hops on Pogacar’s wheel next. Cat and mouse here by Visma.
Kuss attacks again but UAE, quite amusingly, are not bothered by that, he’s miles down on GC.
French hopes disappearing
16:08
,
Flo Clifford
23km to go: Lenny Martinez has lost 40 seconds and it looks like there will not be a French winner on Bastille Day, unless he can engender a miraculous comeback.
Change in the peloton now too as Tiesj Benoot hits the front for Visma-Lease a Bike. How will UAE respond? It looks like Visma want to keep Pogacar in yellow, but what else are they planning?
Benoot is putting in such a pace that he and Sepp Kuss right behind him are causing a split in the bunch. Tim Wellens is dropped and Kuss is on the attack; Oscar Onley jumps on his wheel.
Vingegaard, Evenepoel and Pogacar are safely in the front of this bunch.
Simmons attacks
16:03
,
Flo Clifford
25km to go: Arensman latches on and immediately puts in a half-hearted dig. Alex Baudin has come back and he catches him... now Quinn Simmons goes. This is a recipe for disaster as far as the breakaway is concerned, with all this stop-start attacking eroding their advantage. They’re down to 5’26” now from nearly six minutes not long ago.
Simmons has five seconds on the chasers, led by Healy, of course. That pace is spitting riders out the back; Martinez is still fighting to get on, blood all over his left hand from a nosebleed, the poor bloke.
O'Connor attacks
15:58
,
Flo Clifford
27km to go: Chaos at the front now as O’Connor springs an attack and catches some of this break by surprise. Healy, Simmons, Yates, Woods, and Storer bridge across, with Johannessen right behind. Lenny Martinez has been distanced and is now struggling to get onto the chasing group, some nine-ten seconds back, elbows flared out and fatigue setting in.
Healy wants to push on and hits the front, but his companions start messing around and the pursuers are coming back on.
Ben Healy in virtual yellow
15:53
33km to go: The gap is up to nearly six minutes, time to start dreaming? That gives Healy a two minute lead on GC, give or take.
Campenaerts and Blackmore have made it back on this descent.
Attacks coming
15:46
,
Flo Clifford
40km to go: Israel-PremierTech tell their breakaway riders Michael Woods and young Briton Joe Blackmore, “when Healy goes, we can’t miss” the move.
Campenaerts attacks now with around 700m left to go up this climb, the move shut down by Quinn Simmons with Healy on the wheel. He has, however, got rid of Alex Baudin, and the breakaway is now down to 13 men.
Campenaerts drops off, with Healy now driving things up this climb... where’s Martinez? He doesn’t take any this time, Healy taking two and Simmons one.
Quinn Simmons now attacks over the top and onto the descent as Joe Blackmore is distanced too.
Healy attacks
15:38
,
Flo Clifford
44km to go: Ben O’Connor attacks again but his acceleration is quickly matched by his namesake Healy.
And now Healy attacks! O’Connor replies in kind, hopping onto the wheel, and the breakaway are all lined up now, strung out behind the Irishman.
They’re onto the Col de la Croix Morand, 3.4km at an average gradient of 5.7%. It’s a cat-three for a change.
Martinez leads over the climb again
15:32
,
Flo Clifford
49km to go: Nils Politt drops off the front for the second time again and he’s replaced by the engine of Tim Wellens, in head to toe polka dots, although Lenny Martinez will be taking that outfit off him at the end of the day. Not literally, because the little Frenchman would be absolutely swamped in it. Wellens has knocked around 10 seconds off already.
Alex Baudin takes it up on the front of the breakaway for Ben Healy. When will the Irishman make a bid for glory? He went for 40km to go on stage six and we’re approaching that marker now.
Martinez moves to the front with around 250m to go on the Col de Guery, he and Healy marking each other, and accelerates to take another five points ahead of the Irishman.
Nearly five minutes' advantage
15:26
,
Flo Clifford
52km to go: The gap to the breakaway is up to 5’05” now. Have UAE given up? Surely not. There’s still a significant amount of climbing to do, of course.
The breakaway are on the long approach to our next cat-two climb, the Col de Guery, a 3.4km climb averaging 6.7%. Five points are again available at the top, will Lenny Martinez go for them again?
Harry Sweeny has finally been dropped after a heroic effort.
Breakaway flying
15:12
,
Flo Clifford
59km to go: Harry Sweeny surely deserves the combativity award, or at the very least teammate of the day award for his work for Ben Healy. He’s absolutely piling the pressure on the breakaway, which again splits behind him, and the gap has swung out to 4’20” with Nils Politt back on the front for UAE. Ben Healy is tucked in his wheels with Alex Baudin delivering sustenance to the pair. A masterclass by EF so far, and that gap is expanding a little bit more to 4’27”. What’s going on with UAE?
“The peloton is really slowing down now,” Lidl-Trek inform Quinn Simmons in the front group, “you’re looking super good.”
Ben Healy into virtual yellow
15:03
,
Flo Clifford
65km to go: As it stands Ben Healy, who was 3’55” down at the start of the day, is into the virtual yellow jersey, with the peloton around 3’58” back. That presumably is why UAE are burning through their squad to chase, which feels utterly pointless, given Healy is unlikely to be a threat in the toughest stages, and is much more of a stage-hunter than a GC rider.
Luke Plapp has dropped all the way back and allows himself to be hoovered up by the peloton.
'Firework day' - Adam Yates
14:56
,
Flo Clifford
Matt Stephens of TNT Sports quizzes Adam Yates at the start line. “Should be a hard stage, a lot of people waiting for today, I think today’s the first big test,” the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider says. “Without Joao it’s going to be a little bit harder to control, he was in super shape and a key piece of the puzzle. I think it’ll be a big firework day, it’s every man for himself. We’ll stay calm and hopefully we can control the race well.”
Breakaway splintering again
14:48
,
Flo Clifford
76km to go: The breakaway, led by Harry Sweeny, is onto another uncategorised rise and the pace is too much for several riders. Alaphilippe, Powless, Garcia Pierna, Armirail, Schmid and Plapp are dropped, falling 2’20” and counting behind.
The peloton remains 3’40” or so behind the break, not giving them any leeway whatsoever, which no doubt feels tiresome for the escapees. It also feels odd for UAE to bring Tim Wellens to the front now to chase, considering Almeida has abandoned and Sivakov is clearly out of action today, and they’ve got fewer domestiques than Visma do.
How Visma-Lease a Bike can solve Tadej Pogacar problem to boost Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour de France hopes
14:42
,
Flo Clifford
Between them, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard have won the last five Tours de France. Pogacar looked near-invincible last year as he romped to victory with a six-minute margin; Vingegaard was a clear second, a mere three months after sustaining a litany of injuries, including a punctured lung, in a horrific racing crash.
The year prior, Vingegaard came out on top, with Pogacar the only rider to trouble him; that came with the Slovenian still nursing a wrist fracture sustained in the spring. Even handicapped, the pair remain a league above the rest of the peloton.
Vingegaard has looked vulnerable since a concussion in Paris-Nice in March, and is lacking racing mileage in the legs, having trimmed his calendar as a result. But the Dane is a wily and calculating racer and will draw on his wealth of experience to take the fight to Pogacar – and if things go to plan, emerge victorious.
18 riders in the breakaway
14:35
,
Flo Clifford
86km to go: Onto the next cat-two, the Cote de Berzet, 3.4km at an average 7.4% gradient, after which there’s a fair bit more lumpy uncategorised up and down before the next categorised climb.
Here’s the race situation as it stands: a 10-man breakaway has just been joined by another eight riders. They have 42” seconds on the others in the breakaway, 3’49” on the peloton, and nearly 11 minutes on the yellow jersey group.
The breakaway:
- Simon Yates, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike)
- Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step)
- Alex Baudin, Ben Healy, Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost)
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious)
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek)
- Ben O’Connor, Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla)
- Michael Woods, Joe Blackmore
- Mauro Schmid, Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling)
- Quentin Pacher (Groupama FDJ)
- Pablo Castrillo (Movistar)
- Raul Garcia Pierna (Arkea B&B Hotels)
- Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno X-Mobility)
Martinez attacks again and no-one can keep pace with that kick. He takes the maximum five points again.
Trouble in paradise?
14:28
,
Flo Clifford
Carlton Kirby on TNT Sports comms has resorted to psychoanalysing Pogacar’s demeanour in the wake of all this (frankly massively overblown) speculation about beef between Visma and UAE, and suggests Jonas Vingegaard has a “bully’s smile” at the moment, which feels rather unfair on the Dane.
I think both team leaders have been looking pretty relaxed so far. Pogacar has the disadvantage of losing Almeida and now Sivakov looking far from his best, but he’s already got two stage wins to his name, a healthy lead, and has kept himself out of trouble on the stages he hasn’t targeted. Visma meanwhile have got their full-strength team and aside from a bad time trial have been in all the right places.
Ben O'Connor attacks
14:16
,
Flo Clifford
96km to go: Jayco-AlUla team leader Ben O’Connor crashed on stage one and has looked subpar since then, but the Australian is clearly feeling good today. He unzips his jersey a fraction, looks around a few times, ups the pace slightly before powering away from his breakaway companions. And he’s off on the cat-two Cote de Charade.
He gets 20 seconds or so on the chasers but now there’s a response from behind, a group of six riders distancing the rest of the large breakaway, and they eventually catch their man. The gap to the peloton has gone out to over three minutes now.
Martinez takes off from that smaller group in pursuit of O’Connor and cementing his lead in the polka-dot jersey, reaching the top first to take maximum points before dropping back to his companions.
Romain Bardet weighs in
14:07
,
Flo Clifford
TNT Sports has a chat with everyone’s favourite Romain Bardet, who’s actually quite an odd sight out of racing gear - in his civvies and a Picnic PostNL cap. The Frenchman was born in Brioude, with today’s parcours traversing roads he knows very well indeed.
“It’s quite a privilege sitting on the side of the road, it’s quite special,” he says. “The course today is on my training roads when I want to have the most possible motivation on a training ride. On Bastille Day I think it’s the best [route] to make a difference.”
Lenny Martinez takes KOM points
14:00
,
Flo Clifford
107km to go: Anders Halland Johannessen - twin brother of Tobias Halland, also in this race - opens up a sprint for the KOM points. Lenny Martinez is caught out of position but he absolutely powers up the climb to nick the maximum five points at the top of the day’s second cat-two.
The lightweight Frenchman has a real kick to him and that move has taken him four points clear of current KOM leader Tim Wellens at the top of the standings (the Belgian did say beforehand that he expected to lose it today).
UAE have trimmed the gap to this powerhouse breakaway to around 1’47”.
Problems for Pavel Sivakov?
13:53
,
Flo Clifford
110km to go: Is there more bad news to come for Tadej Pogacar and UAE? Pavel Sivakov has been dropped, has gone back to the team cars to collect some bottles, which he pours over himself. That’s not a good day as well for the talented French climber. On commentary the suggestion is that maybe he’s ill, but this is not a good sign on a very tough day.
Mechanical for Oscar Onley
13:47
,
Flo Clifford
112km to go: Young Scot Oscar Onley needs a rear wheel change just before they get onto the next categorised climb, the cat-two Cote de la Baraque.
This one is 4.8km in length and with a tougher gradient, averaging 7.4%.
The large frame of Nils Politt leads the peloton onto the climb, two minutes behind the breakaway. 3’15” off the pace is a group containing Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert - no surprise after their 170km in the breakaway yesterday. 4’15” back is the green jersey group, also containing the suffering Santiago Buitrago, Bahrain-Victorious’ leader.
Breakaway fragmenting
13:40
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Flo Clifford
115km to go: The breakaway is already splintering, with a couple of waves of attacks: Ben O’Connor and Harry Sweeny had a dig, but were hauled back in before the intermediate sprint. Anders Johannessen takes the intermediate sprint points at Durtol, ahead of Bruno Armirail and Sweeny, but without much competition.
Larry Warbasse, on TNT Sports comms, makes the point that in a very chaotic start like this one and with a huge breakaway group going, it can take up to 20 minutes for both the break and the peloton to actually know who’s got up the road, which can affect how furiously both pace things.
Soren Waerenskjold abandons
13:33
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Flo Clifford
At the other end of the spectrum, the sprinters are suffering. Uno X-Mobility’s Norwegian sprinter Soren Waerenskjold, the surprise winner of Omloop Nieuwsblad earlier this year, has abandoned, after being caught up in a crash yesterday.
Stage 10 'can cause a lot of chaos' - Oscar Onley
13:27
TNT Sports have a quick catch-up with seventh-placed Oscar Onley, who has reconned this stage with much-loved French climber Romain Bardet, who has now retired from road racing.
“It’s a really hard stage, there’s no specific time where you can say the race is really going to start from, but it’s just up and down all day,” Onley says. “And if a team like Visma really want to light it up, it can cause a lot of chaos, I think.” That’s what we like to hear.