Tour de France stage 10 - Live coverage

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Can Mark Cavendish win a third stage in this year's Tour de France or will crosswinds blow the race apart?

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Live coverage from stage 11 of the Tour de France.

We are in Albertville for the start of stage 10 and we're off to Valence for a predicted sprint finish that could see Mark Cavendish take his third stage win in this year's race. 

There are number of other strong sprinters still in the race but there's also a possibility of showers and cross-winds later on, so we could be in for some real drama yet again in this year's race.

Here are the standing coming into today's stage.

General classification
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 34:11:10
2 Ben O'Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team 00:02:01
3 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education-Nippo 00:05:18
4 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 00:05:32
5 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers 00:05:33
6 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 00:05:47
7 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:05:58
8 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 00:06:12
9 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 00:07:02
10 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 00:07:22

We're about an hour or out from the start of the stage. ASO have said that Pierre-Alexis Bizot will be at the start. I haven't been this nervous since I met Lee from Blue. 

It should be interesting to see how the points competition pans out today. We have an intermediate sprint at the top of a climb today and given that Sonny Colbrelli is climbing like Lucien Van Impe these days he might try and get in the break in order to narrow the gap to Mark Cavendish who currently leads the competition. Will QuickStep chase all day, and who will help them? 

Nacer Bouhanni and his team will probably chip in, and possibly Bora too if they want to put Peter Sagan in the mix. I can see Bora putting a rider in the break though, or at least trying to. Alpecin Fenix will probably help with the chase too as they hunt another stage win, this time for Jasper Philipsen, who has been close on a few occasions. 

For a really good overview of the stage profile and what might happen on the route, check out Stephen Farrand's wonderful stage preview. 

While yesterday wouldn't have been a rest day at the Tour de France without Andy Schleck talking to us about his top ten contenders. We talked to the 2010 winner at the start of the race and this latest version of the top-ten is very different from the first one. Check it out.

On Jonas Vingegaard, the Danish sensation in this year's Tour de France, this is what his team boss Merijn Zeeman told us about their plans for him for the rest of the race.

“He’s the guy that we’re working for now but he’s come along way with us already so we’re not putting too much pressure on him. We’re going to help him and support him but our plans for him are about the future. This is an experience that will help, and it will accelerate his learning but really we’re not putting pressure on him. It doesn’t matter how it ends, it’s all about his education. We want him to learn how to be up there every day for three weeks, on the flat stages and of course in the mountains and the time trial. If we succeed in that then I’m confident that he can keep his level. We’ll fight for it and just see how it ends in Paris.”

Vingegaard will be wearing the white jersey today, with Pogacar in yellow.

On the subject of the yellow jersey, we should probably address his comments yesterday when the subject of doping came up in his press conference. I wasn't in the press con but Barry Ryan wrote up this accurate account of what happened and the tone of the situation.

Just under an hour from the roll out on stage 10 of the 2021 Tour de France.

In other news stage 9 winner, Ben O'Connor has written another blog for us. He sent this in late last night, thank you, and it's a really good insight into the highs and lows of a young rider in the Tour de France. He's second on GC now and is going to go all-in on trying to hold his place all the way to Paris.

He had that great Giro in 2018 until he got taken out by that crash. He had a cycling sticker album in the race and was completing it as the race went on and he's really blossomed as a rider in the last twelve months. AG2R has shown faith in the rider and he's really paid them back. 

Back to Jumbo Visma, here's more from Zeeman, this time on Primoz Roglic.

There are some hefty crowds here at the start this morning as we see BikeExchange sign on. It's a bit overcast, but not much wind at the moment. There's a Slovenian flag and then someone with a sign that just says 'I feel Slovenia'. 

Groupama FDJ have just rocked up for the sign in. 

Can't see e-sports influence Pierre-Alexis Bizot anywhere though. He must be doing some influencing somewhere else. 

If you could be an influencer for anything in the world what would it be? Let me know on Twitter at https://twitter.com/dnlbenson. 

The latest weather report is in from ASO.

All eight Bora riders are on the stage now. They've not won a stage yet but is today too flat for Peter Sagan? He did win in Valence back in 2018 though. We started off in Bourg d'Oisans that year and he held off Demare and Kristoff at the line - both of whom aren't here. Demare missed the time cut and Kristoff wasn't selected. 

EF Education First has just arrived on stage for their sign-on. Their very own Rigoberto Uran is flying high in the top ten and we spoke to Tom Southam on the rest day about the Colombian's chances for a podium place in Paris. Here's the story.

Quintana has just arrived for the sign-on. He leads the KOM competition at the moment and has made it his main aim for the rest of the race.

One bit of news to report ahead of the start of stage 10 and that's that Jonas Koch (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) is not going to be here. He felt sick and has pulled out of the race.

We're about 10 minutes away from the official rollout for stage 10 of the 2021 Tour de France. 

Fighting talk from Richie Porte at the start of stage 10 with the Australian reminding us that the Tour de France is far from over. 

Before we start today's stage there's still time to check out our coverage from the Giro d'Italia Donne. The coverage really is second to none, with reports, photos, results, news, and reactions each day. We've also created a section for the race high up on the homepage too but you can find everything right here. 

The incredible news from yesterday's Giro stage was that Anna van der Breggen's TT was so good she eliminated 12 riders from the race after they missed the time cut. Here's the story. 

And we're off, slowly for now as we roll through the start line. The neutrazilzed zone is just over 7km in length. 

A few spots of rain have landed on the CN blimp. 

Tim Declercq is on the front and on the radio. He'll be very active in the start as he and his team decide on which riders who can go up the road.

A few bike Exchange riders are on the front too. Surely they won't be allowed to send Michael Matthews up the road for that intermediate sprint. 

De Gendt is also on the front but I'm not sure today is a day for him but he looks prepared to at least try.

2km to go until the flag will drop.

Christian Prudhomme stands up in the Skoda, gets on the radio, waves a flag and now we're racing on stage 10 of the Tour de France.

No one wants to attack, the stage is flat for the first 40km or so but Cabot makes a move before Tim Declercq brings it all back together.

A rider from Lotto Soudal kicks off and goes clear but he's all alone for now.

Houle from Astana has gone up the road too so we have two leaders clear with 187km to go. This might be the break. 

Tosh Van der Sande and Hugo Houle have 26 seconds. For now there's no interest from the main field.

The two leaders have 50 seconds now. This is perfect for Cavendish and his green jersey hopes. 

Haller is on the front and he seems to asking what's going on as a few riders stop for comfort breaks. The break have 1'15 on the main field. 183km to go.

Done. The gap is at 2'52 with 178km to go. 

177km to go

The rain is holding off for now but we could have a few showers later in the race.

169km to go on the stage and Cavendish has just dropped back for a brief moment. He can make it 33 stage wins in the Tour de France today and close that gap to Eddy Merckx to just one stage.

The break meanwhile have a gap of 5'59 with 168km to go. UAE Team Emirates have come to the front and started to just tap out a gentle pace.

Colbrelli is on the move it seems and he's marked by QuickStep right away. A group have six are in that counter attack. Two Quickstep riders are on the case. 

Cavendish is the fastest sprinter. He can let Colbrelli use his energy here and on the intermediate and then look to smoke him at the finish. The intermediate sprint makes is really interesting though. DSM are now leading the peloton.

The work from DSM and UAE is just holding the break at under six minutes.

DSM are looking to set up Cees Bol for the sprint today. He's been sixth twice in the Tour de France so far but is still hunting his first Tour de France stage win - his first Grand Tour stage win in fact. He did win earlier in Paris-Nice.

Cavendish is still at the back of the bunch as we see Uran being brought back by his teammates. 156km to go and the gap is at 4'57.

Through Chambery now with around 153km to go. The two leaders are holding the gap at just under five minutes as the white jersey and Quintana settle in at the back of the main field.

Quintana is deep in conversation with Sergio Luis Henao who currently sits just outside of the top twenty on GC.

We've covered 40km to so far as Tim Declercq hits the front for the first time today. He's going to be there for the next few hours one suspects. 

Breaking news: Soudal set to switch sponsorship from Lotto to QuickStep for 2023

Jumbo Visma have moved up too and they've got numbers as the road starts to climb. The Col de Couz is only a fourth cat ascent but it's 7.5km in length. Will Bahrain and Jumbo try and put Cavendish under pressure?

140km to go

It's still Tim Declercq on the front of the bunch right now, so no moves in order to try and put Cavendish under pressure. They will come though, it's just a matter of time.

Away from the pro race Jack Thompson is aiming to ride the entire Tour de France in just ten days, and on his own. We'll be following his efforts each day. Here's the blog.

Bad timing and Bouhanni has a mechanical at just the wrong time. That's going to be tough chase for the Akrea sprinter. 

The tension is high now and the gap to the break is down to 3'40. 

We're onto the climb proper now. The average gradient is just 2.8 per cent but it all depends on how the bunch take it. Cavendish should be okay, but a lot depends on the pace and how he feels after the rest day.

The two leaders are just about holding their own with the gap at 3'24. They have 5km left on the climb but the length of time they have out in front all rests on what the bunch do on this climb. Riders to watch are Colbrelli and Matthews. 

Tim Declercq is on the front still and he's just tapping out a steady pace with no accelerations. He'll want to keep Cavendish working hard but never have his sprinter go into the red.

Cavendish is near the front right now in about 8th wheel. So far, so good for the Manxman.

2.8km to go for the two leaders on the climb. 134km to go on this stage but the road does kick up again at the intermediate sprint.

DSM and Jumbo Visma have moved up. No sign from Bahrain Victorious though, who could make this very tough for Cavendish if they wanted to.

The road kicks up to 4 percent for our two leaders who close in on the top of the climb. The gap is at 3'36.

Hugo Houle takes the point at the top of the climb. 131km to go.

Cavendish is talking to his teammates. He looks comfortable. 

Jumbo have picked up drinks and food, while Matthews is at the back of the peloton. Cavendish has a big smile on his face.

128km to go

Breaking news: Giro d'Italia Donne: Lorena Wiebes sprints to stage 5 win

Back to the 2021 Tour de France and there's still some real pace in the main field. It's not an easy day at this point, even if we are a bit behind the schedule. 

It's another 10km of flat road before things kick up again towards the intermediate sprint. 117km to go.

Tim Declercq is back on the front right now. He has most of the Jumbo team behind him, including Wout Van Aert. There's still a slight headwind out there though, and that plays into the hands of Cavendish and his team. The gap to the two leaders is at 3'32.

Onto the uncategorized climb for the two leaders and this is just as hard as the 4th cat climb we've already covered. The two leaders have 3'40 over the peloton with 115km to go. The climb is just over 3km in length as we see Van Avermaet is bringing up his teammates. 

Now the GC teams are moving up because they want the best position leading into the climb. 

Gaudu is bringing himself to the front it seems. There's Thomas, Uran, and there's a crash.

Mads Pedersen has hit the deck with two other riders. Yates is down and Simon too for Direct Energie. 

Thankfully they're all back on their bikes and able to chase but Simon needs a bit more time to just steady himself. 

And now BikeExchange have hit the front with birthday boy Christopher Juul-Jensen leading the peloton. He's taken 30 seconds off the break's lead already. 

It's 8 per cent right now so this climb really is a toughie. The gap is down to 2'52 and Sagan has moved up too. He needs a good day today.

The two leaders are close to the top and they'll pick up 20 and 18 points. It's the Lotto rider who takes the maximum amount with the bunch at 2'19.

The pace is really high and Colbrelli is there but Cavendish has been distanced.

Ballerini is there for Cavendish though.

Colbrelli hits out and he takes third with Matthews in fourth. Sagan is a few places back but no points for Cavendish it seems.

Colbrelli has taken a big chunk out of Cavendish's lead but he sits up and takes on some fuel from a very small bottle he's been carrying. That's not a typical bidon or a gel by the looks of it. 

It looks like Sagan was sixth but the race is coming back together. That was well managed by Quickstep as we see FDJ hit the front with Cavendish back in the main field.

The two leaders have 1'54 on the bunch with 102km to go.

We're just waiting on the tally for all those points. We'll have them soon. 

Deceuninck-QuickStep are back on the front of the peloton again. The main threat now could come from crosswinds and storms in the final 60km or so. The roads are dry for now though.

Here are though points from ASO.

1. Tosh Van der Sande, 20 pts
2. Houle, 17 pts
3. Colbrelli, 15 pts
4. Matthews, 13 pts
5. Philipsen, 11 pts
6. Sagan, 10 pts
7. Ballerini, 9 pts
8. Asgreen, 8 pts
9. Sweeny, 7 pts
10. Dillier, 6 pts
11. Küng, 5 pts
12. Oss, 4 pts
13. Formolo, 3 pts
14. Herrada, 2 pts
15. Hirschi, 1 pt

That all means that Colbrelli is 32 points behind Cavendish in the race for green. Matthews is even closer, at 25 points. 

The bunch has eased up just slightly as a few riders take a few comfort breaks. With 90km to go the gap to the break is hold at 1'40.

All of that means we're about 30km from possible crosswinds. 

Cavendish has made it back to the peloton after dropping back through the cars. He's the main favourite for the predicted sprint at the end of the stage and victory here would bring him to within one of Eddy Merckx. 

We've 85km to go and all the GC riders have been brought to the front. AG2R, Ineos, UAE, they're all there because the weather can change, and so can the wind direction. This could be a sprint finish but the rest of the stage is going to be a really nervous affair. 

The bunch head through the feed and with 83km to go the gap is at 1'13.

And the gap to the two-rider break is down to just 56 seconds. 

The two leaders are in deep conversation but they know that their time out front is going to be down to the chase and what happens with the weather. The gap has gone out again slightly to 1'20 with 78km to go.

Breaking news: Van der Poel's early Tour de France exit not good for cycling, says Eddy Merckx

75km to go

There are some dark clouds gathering. 

Near the front of the bunch Colbrellli is all smiles. He looks so confident at the moment, as we see Arkea have put a rider on the front for Bouhanni.

The help from Arkea is just keeping the gap at under two minutes with 68km to go. No sign of any crosswinds. 

Crash!

Wout van Aert has been held up but it's Richie Porte who is down.

A few Ineos riders were involved but it looks like Porte was the slowest to get up. They're all back up and chasing.

Porte has a bike change before he slips in behind the car. He has a cut on his left elbow but he's working hard to come back. 

The rest of the Ineos fallers are about to make contact with the back of the main field but Porte has a bit more of chase. Up front and a few more of the sprinters' teams have joined the chase with the break at 1'24.

60km to go

Porte and Yates have made it back to the bunch as Arkea and DSM set the pace. Pogacar is well protected by his teammates near the front. 

Porte seems fine. He's back with Thomas, who also came down in that incident. 

Those clouds are getting a little darker as we see the bunch head through a town with plenty of road furniture. We do have another uncategorized uphill section coming up as the gap to the break drops to 1'09 again.

50km to go on stage 10 of the Tour de France. It really does look like the rain is coming. 

Right now Pogacar and Cavendish are at the front but Jumbo and Bora both have numbers. 

Just 36 seconds for our two leaders with 46km to go.

22 seconds. These two could be caught in the next couple of kilometers. 

McNulty is at the back of the peloton and seems to be dropping back to the team car. 

The two leaders aren't waiting to be caught, they're giving it everything they can as more and more sprint teams control the front. 38 seconds is the gap. 

The bunch ease up again and the gap is back out to 56 seconds as Cavendish is surrounded by his entire team. Bora and BikeExchange are on the other side.

Thankfully it's still dry out there as we see Philipsen move up towards the front with his Alpecin Fenix team.

Cavendish, Philipsen, Bol, Bouhanni, Matthews, Colbrelli, Sagan - they're all there. 

37km to go

It's all BikeExchange on the front now as a few riders are dropped. We're on a short climb and Cavendish has drifted back just a tad.

Cavendish still looks really comfortable, even with BikeExchange setting the pace. Pogacar is about 9th wheel right now.

The yellow jersey is up to fourth wheel now.

Cavendish has a teammate with him all the time. 

He's slipping back just a little but he's riding his own pace as Houle is caught with 36km to go by Ineos and UAE.

Cavendish has been brought closer to the front, and he's about 30th. 

All of QuickStep have moved up with the world champion taking a long pull. We've 355km to go.

There's a cross-tailwind at the moment. 

Long shot but we could have some echelons in the next few kilometers. 

Cavendish is just following Colbrelli for now.

On a downhill section right now but once the road flattens out we could have some action. 

The wind really has picked up and they're all watching each other.

UAE, Bora, QuickStep and Astana are on the front with 32km to go.

Tim Declercq is back on the front and setting the pace with all of his team following him.

30km to go and Arkea and QuickStep have put the hammer down with the world champion setting the pace.

Full gas now but no splits just yet.

Another section of open roads and Colbrelli has a flat. That's a terrible time for a mechanical. 

The Bahrain rider is going to waste so much energy as he takes another bike. Haller is waiting for him. 27km to go.

The FDJ car doesn't give him any shelter and he's not happy as QuickStep continue to lead.

Colbrelli is furious as he finally finds a teammate but he goes right by him. 

Colbrelli is racing through the cars with Haller for company as Luke Rowe hits the front with 24km to go.

Colbrelli is at 37 seconds according to race radio. I think he will come back but it's a long chase.

It's 23 seconds for Colbrelli. 

Colbelli makes contact with about 22km to go. At least he'll be fired up for the sprint, I guess? 

The pace has eased a bit with 22km to go as Pogacar moves up on the left-hand side.

Jumbo Visma, BikeExchange and Bora are sharing the front of the bunch ahead of this technical run in.

Donovan and Thomas are at the back and having a chat as Van Avermaet brings O'Connor to the front with 18km to go.

It's all about the mix of the sprinters' teams and the GC candidates fighting for position. 

Cavendish and his leadout train aren't on the front but they're well positioned but we've got some splits. Pogacar has some work to do with 15.7km to go.

Now QuickStep hit the front and Cavendish is third wheel as Pogacar comes back to the peloton. 

Alaphilippe is protecting Cavendish as we hit another possible crosswind section.

Oss is sprinting on the front before EF takes over. This is truly frantic. 

Alaphilippe takes over again with help from EF and Van Aert. Even Uran takes a long turn. 

Pogacar has no teammates as a few more splits appear. 

The peloton is in one long line.

Pogacar has made this move but about 40 riders are clear with 12km to go.

About 50 riders have been caught out. It's flat out now. The top 4-5 riders on GC are all here I think.

Uran, Pogacar and Carapaz are all there.

There are three groups all over the road. The second group might come back but the third group are done for the day.

Gaudu is there in the front group with 9.6km to go.

Van Avermaet hits the front once more.

Pogacar follows O'Connnor with the second group at 14 seconds. Lopez has been dropped.

Bahrain and AG2R set the pace.

Bol has missed the split, he's in group two.

All of EF are on the front with 7.8km to go, and Bol might be able to come back.

Colbrelli is on Mohoric's wheel with 6.9km to go.

EF are doing all the front on the front because it might split again with 6.3km to go.

It might split here.

Ineos take the front and Pogacar is near the back.

Kwiatkowski has Carapaz on his wheel right at the front of the bunch.

5km to go and Ineos take the bunch over to the other side of the road.

Pogacar is back near the front with 4.5km to go.

The sprinters' team are taking over as ISN lead with QuickStep. Greipel is here by the way. 

We're inside the final 3.5km to as QuickStep take over. Alaphilippe on the front.

Colbrelli is glued to Cavendish's wheel.

Cavendish has his entire team on the front with 2.4km to go. Matthews is there, and Philipsen.

Bol made it back, and Sagan is there. Van Aert too. 2km to go!

DSM hit the front.

Asgreen takes over.

1.4km to go.

Here come BikeExchange.

900m to go.

Cavendish is fourth wheel.

Cavendish is well placed with 200m to go. He comes around with 100m to go but here comes Van Aert.

Can Cavendish hold on?

Mark Cavendish wins stage 10 of the Tour de France. That's 33 not out!

Van Aert was second and Philipsen third but Cavendish and Quickstep made that look easy.

The lead out there was perfect with riders sprinting just to be on Cavendish's wheel. 

If Cavendish can get through the mountains then the green jersey is surely his. By the time we get to Paris the stage win record could be his as well.

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 04:14:07
2 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma
3 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
4 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team BikeExchange
6 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
7 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation
8 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
9 Anthony Turgis (Fra) TotalEnergies
10 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM

No idea what happened to Colbrelli there. He didn't even feature.

Here's our top ten on GC:

General classification after stage 10
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 38:25:17
2 Ben O'Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team 00:02:01
3 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education-Nippo 00:05:18
4 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 00:05:32
5 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers 00:05:33
6 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 00:05:47
7 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:05:58
8 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 00:06:12
9 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 00:07:02
10 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 00:07:22

Here's our brief report from stage 10 of the Tour de France.

Lets hear from our winner Mark Cavendish:

"Old school, run of the mill, like you read in a cycling magazine, textbook lead-out," the grinning Cavendish said after the finish. "We just got the lads on the front and pulled as fast as they can so no one can come up and try to come past in the finish.

"We knew this finish - I didn't make it the last time we came to this finish – it was in 2015, I got dropped and nearly cried and Greipel won. I studied it – we knew if we took the last corner wide you can keep the speed. It split in the wind, but we didn't try to split it. We weren't bothered by it. We were confident we had the team for the sprint.

"Again, I'm just humbled. You got the winner of the Tour of Flanders, the world champion who's also worn the yellow jersey also here. You've got Michael Mørkøv who's gone to the Olympics for the Madison to try and win that. You've got the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner leaving everything on the road for me. I have to finish it off. I didn't really do anything – I did 150 metres – it was the team I have to thank for everything."

News: Mark Cavendish questions BikeExchange tactics after third Tour de France stage win

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