As if there would be any doubt, given 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 so he duly launched himself clear for a third stage victory on stage 10 at the Tour de France, 15.5km from the line.

When Pogačar went, he began pursuing solo escapee Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), a former king of the mountains and certainly no slouch in the mountains. The Ecuadorian lay 50 seconds up the road, nearing the top of the Col de Pertus, the penultimate climb of the 166.6km stage.

However, that advantage melted away in less than a kilometre in the 30°C-plus heat, and Carapaz was soon alone again – this time watching a yellow figure getting ever smaller in the distance.

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

With 5km to run, he was 25 seconds clear, while another 2km saw 15 more seconds piled on. 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 made up of France’s great hope Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Florian Lipowitz minus his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe co-leader Remco Evenepoel, and the Lidl-Trek pairing, Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose. He took what turned out to be an unending turn, but his companions were spent, or at least gave that impression to their temporary pilot.

Two summers ago, this finish hosted a two-man sprint showdown between Pogačar and Vingegaard, the former edging to glory, but there was no chance of a repeat this Bastille Day. Few had anticipated as such, and Pogačar sprinted away 26 minutes early, barely letting up before crossing the line.

Some time later, there was a sprint. A resurgent Evenepoel found his way back on, and, having lived to fight another day, led the best of the rest home. The clock stopped 32 seconds after the victor, the Belgian’s final burst nabbing him two seconds on Seixas and Lipowitz, while Ayuso and Skjelmose trailed home at 38 seconds down.

It hardly needs elucidating, but this wasn’t Vingegaard’s day, either. The man in polka dots has won the jersey once before, but that title patently belongs to Pogačar this July. Come the sprint, his tank had run dry, and so he faded to seventh. That was another 44 seconds to add to the pile, and he looks a distinct second-best in the great Tour rivalry of our time.

“Today was an incredible day,” Pogačar said, both a weathered platitude and severe understatement at once.

“The team did a super good job. We targeted this stage since a long time ago, and it also happens that two years ago Jonas beat me in the sprint fair and square. Today I had a similar legacy; to finish completely destroyed.

“But yeah, I enjoyed the day, and in the final I didn’t know if I was gonna win until the last kilometre. Then I remembered this festive day and tried to honour the yellow jersey.

“Thanks to all the fans that came today to the road. It was an amazing atmosphere, even though [there was] some booing. To all the guys that were booing, they give us more power. Thank you, thank you.”

Pogačar rode much of the final run with little idea of his advantage, he said. It turned out his UAE team had picked this day to test new radios. Evidently, they didn’t pass, drowned out by the crowd noise, be it booing or cheering.

“In the last 10km, I didn’t know what was the gap, who is doing what, and all I had in my mind is try to keep pushing to the top,” he said.

“I knew it very well. We also did recon yesterday. But also there was a little bit of doubt in my head since two years ago, Jonas came, and then I was empty to the sprint. So for sure, I had this in my head until the final few hundred metres.”

The 27-year-old’s 60th day as Tour de France leader ended with him extending his overall lead to a yawning 3:36. And remember, the peloton has, to date, tackled just one real mountain stage.

Vingegaard, who headed to the Grand Départ with a Giro d’Italia title in the bag and appeared in with a real shout of Tour number three, is now already looking furtively over his shoulder. He’ll see a narrowing gap, now just 30 seconds, to third-placed Evenepoel. Further back, Ayuso (at 4:22), Seixas (at 4:33), and Del Toro (down four places at 5:08) all have eyes for the podium.

Beyond them all and an age ahead, the leader described the Tour so far as “perfect for me, for the team. It suited us really well, and today, for example, the perfect climbs for each one of the riders in the team, so everybody could do their job and, in the end, I could finish it off.

“Like I said, you never know how long it lasts,” Pogačar, already boasting a trophy cabinet more packed than – almost – every other bike racer in history, concluded.

“We just need to be grateful for this moment to be riding on here, the biggest race in the world. It’s in France, not so far from our homes, and I see Slovenian flags. We just need to enjoy this moment and enjoy the race.”

Who knows how many of the 175 riders accompanying his coronation this month have the same capacity to soak in the moment and enjoy the battle, but at least the man in yellow can.

Breaking away after the rest day

The first stage back after the Tour’s first rest day, a 166.6km trek through France’s ‘third mountain range’, the Massif Central, would take in 3,800 metres of elevation gain 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 led Baudin, Paret-Peintre, and Debruyne by 30 seconds, while the peloton, led by the already 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.

The battle erupts over the final three ascents

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 start the descent with 23 seconds in hand, a slim lead to hold still a long way from the line.

Carapaz flew down the descent, picking his own lines unbothered by any riders around him. He could focus on the road with few distractions, but those in the chase weren’t so lucky. Among those to fall were demon descender Tom Pidcock and his Pinarello-Q36.5 teammate Chris Harper, plus Vingegaard’s lieutenant, Matteo Jorgenson.

Those who stayed upright seemed to err on the side of caution, meanwhile, enabling Carapaz to push, extending his advantage to the minute-mark as he reached the final 20km. He hit the Col du Pertus 1:15 clear, but there were ominous portents behind as UAE and Decathlon got to work once more.

17km out, 2.5km from the top, it was Visma’s Davide Piganzoli who took over, pushing the pace further as the likes of Skjelmose, Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos), 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 – all 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, the diesel Evenepoel joined him out the back. Barring a disaster on the short final descent, the stage was already over at the summit, with 40 seconds separating the reigning Tour 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. As the chase reached the last rise to the line, Evenepoel had seemingly taken far more, reconnecting with the Vingegaard train under the flamme rouge.

As Pogačar savoured career victory 124, behind him there was a flavour of real competition as the podium melee erupted. Pogačar’s lieutenant and podium sitter, Isaac del Toro, having put in the work for his leader, had long been detached, and so his third place was for the taking.

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

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

Stage Results

General Classification after stage 10

Points Classification

Mountains Classification

Youth Classification

Teams Classification

As if there would be any doubt, given 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 so he duly launched himself clear for a third stage victory on stage 10 at the Tour de France, 15.5km from the line.

When Pogačar went, he began pursuing solo escapee Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), a former king of the mountains and certainly no slouch in the mountains. The Ecuadorian lay 50 seconds up the road, nearing the top of the Col de Pertus, the penultimate climb of the 166.6km stage.

However, that advantage melted away in less than a kilometre in the 30°C-plus heat, and Carapaz was soon alone again – this time watching a yellow figure getting ever smaller in the distance.

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

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

With 5km to run, he was 25 seconds clear, while another 2km saw 15 more seconds piled on. 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 made up of France’s great hope Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Florian Lipowitz minus his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe co-leader Remco Evenepoel, and the Lidl-Trek pairing, Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose. He took what turned out to be an unending turn, but his companions were spent, or at least gave that impression to their temporary pilot.

Two summers ago, this finish hosted a two-man sprint showdown between Pogačar and Vingegaard, the former edging to glory, but there was no chance of a repeat this Bastille Day. Few had anticipated as such, and Pogačar sprinted away 26 minutes early, barely letting up before crossing the line.

Some time later, there was a sprint. A resurgent Evenepoel found his way back on, and, having lived to fight another day, led the best of the rest home. The clock stopped 32 seconds after the victor, the Belgian’s final burst nabbing him two seconds on Seixas and Lipowitz, while Ayuso and Skjelmose trailed home at 38 seconds down.

It hardly needs elucidating, but this wasn’t Vingegaard’s day, either. The man in polka dots has won the jersey once before, but that title patently belongs to Pogačar this July. Come the sprint, his tank had run dry, and so he faded to seventh. That was another 44 seconds to add to the pile, and he looks a distinct second-best in the great Tour rivalry of our time.

“Today was an incredible day,” Pogačar said, both a weathered platitude and severe understatement at once.

“The team did a super good job. We targeted this stage since a long time ago, and it also happens that two years ago Jonas beat me in the sprint fair and square. Today I had a similar legacy; to finish completely destroyed.

“But yeah, I enjoyed the day, and in the final I didn’t know if I was gonna win until the last kilometre. Then I remembered this festive day and tried to honour the yellow jersey.

“Thanks to all the fans that came today to the road. It was an amazing atmosphere, even though [there was] some booing. To all the guys that were booing, they give us more power. Thank you, thank you.”

Pogačar rode much of the final run with little idea of his advantage, he said. It turned out his UAE team had picked this day to test new radios. Evidently, they didn’t pass, drowned out by the crowd noise, be it booing or cheering.

“In the last 10km, I didn’t know what was the gap, who is doing what, and all I had in my mind is try to keep pushing to the top,” he said.

“I knew it very well. We also did recon yesterday. But also there was a little bit of doubt in my head since two years ago, Jonas came, and then I was empty to the sprint. So for sure, I had this in my head until the final few hundred metres.”

The 27-year-old’s 60th day as Tour de France leader ended with him extending his overall lead to a yawning 3:36. And remember, the peloton has, to date, tackled just one real mountain stage.

Vingegaard, who headed to the Grand Départ with a Giro d’Italia title in the bag and appeared in with a real shout of Tour number three, is now already looking furtively over his shoulder. He’ll see a narrowing gap, now just 30 seconds, to third-placed Evenepoel. Further back, Ayuso (at 4:22), Seixas (at 4:33), and Del Toro (down four places at 5:08) all have eyes for the podium.

Beyond them all and an age ahead, the leader described the Tour so far as “perfect for me, for the team. It suited us really well, and today, for example, the perfect climbs for each one of the riders in the team, so everybody could do their job and, in the end, I could finish it off.

“Like I said, you never know how long it lasts,” Pogačar, already boasting a trophy cabinet more packed than – almost – every other bike racer in history, concluded.

“We just need to be grateful for this moment to be riding on here, the biggest race in the world. It’s in France, not so far from our homes, and I see Slovenian flags. We just need to enjoy this moment and enjoy the race.”

Who knows how many of the 175 riders accompanying his coronation this month have the same capacity to soak in the moment and enjoy the battle, but at least the man in yellow can.

Breaking away after the rest day

The first stage back after the Tour’s first rest day, a 166.6km trek through France’s ‘third mountain range’, the Massif Central, would take in 3,800 metres of elevation gain 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 led Baudin, Paret-Peintre, and Debruyne by 30 seconds, while the peloton, led by the already 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.

The battle erupts over the final three ascents

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 start the descent with 23 seconds in hand, a slim lead to hold still a long way from the line.

Carapaz flew down the descent, picking his own lines unbothered by any riders around him. He could focus on the road with few distractions, but those in the chase weren’t so lucky. Among those to fall were demon descender Tom Pidcock and his Pinarello-Q36.5 teammate Chris Harper, plus Vingegaard’s lieutenant, Matteo Jorgenson.

Those who stayed upright seemed to err on the side of caution, meanwhile, enabling Carapaz to push, extending his advantage to the minute-mark as he reached the final 20km. He hit the Col du Pertus 1:15 clear, but there were ominous portents behind as UAE and Decathlon got to work once more.

17km out, 2.5km from the top, it was Visma’s Davide Piganzoli who took over, pushing the pace further as the likes of Skjelmose, Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos), 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 – all 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, the diesel Evenepoel joined him out the back. Barring a disaster on the short final descent, the stage was already over at the summit, with 40 seconds separating the reigning Tour 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. As the chase reached the last rise to the line, Evenepoel had seemingly taken far more, reconnecting with the Vingegaard train under the flamme rouge.

As Pogačar savoured career victory 124, behind him there was a flavour of real competition as the podium melee erupted. Pogačar’s lieutenant and podium sitter, Isaac del Toro, having put in the work for his leader, had long been detached, and so his third place was for the taking.

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

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

Stage Results

General Classification after stage 10

Points Classification