2019 Tour de France Stage 10 Results & Recap
Stage 10 of the 2019 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Van Aert impresses in Albi\nBy Clara Beard
Coming off fantastic form at the Dauphine, cyclocross star Wout van Aert took his first win at the Tour de France for the successful Jumbo Visma team after a frenetic finale on stage 10. Elia Viviani was a close second and Caleb Ewan finished third.
“I’m sorry, I can’t believe that I’ve won a stage of the Tour de France,” van Aert said after the stage. “It’s above anything else. I’ve discovered this race in the last ten days. Winning at my first attempt is incredible. It became quite nervous in the finale. Luckily we stayed at the front with Steven Kruijswijk and Dylan Groenewegen. I went 250 meters from the finish. It was close with Viviani at the end, but 1cm is enough as long as I won it.”
Julian Alaphilippe stayed out of trouble, and there was plenty of it in the latter part of the stage, to remain in the yellow jersey.
“We didn’t plan to split the bunch,” Alaphilippe said. “We only expected the stage to be nervous and tricky. Our intention was only to protect my yellow jersey and to focus on a sprint with Elia Viviani. We knew precisely at which kilometre there was a risk of crosswinds. All teams gave the same instructions. There was a lot of stress and pressure in the peloton and when it split, everyone expected it, then we did the maximum. It was not my goal to gain time over the favourites. My plans on GC haven’t changed. Anything that can happen from now is just bonus.”
It was another long day in the saddle for the 171 riders who took the start in Saint-Flour, 213 km over a lumpy profile, but that didn’t stop Tony Gallopin (AG2R-La Mondiale), Natnael Berhane (Cofidis), Anthony Turgis (Total Direct Energie), Mads Würtz Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin) and Odd Christian Eiking (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) from getting an early gap on the peloton. Michael Schär (CCC) was quick to join the party making it a group of six at the front of the race. The peloton allowed that combination a maximum of three minutes over the majority of the route, and the pace setting went to Deceuninck-Quick Step, Lotto-Soudal and Jumbo-Visma.
Over each KOM, Berhane slowly increased his lead in the KOM competition, moving up to fifth. His efforts were awarded with the combativity prize at the end of the stage. \n“It’s the second time I was motivated to ride for the combativity prize,” Berhane said. “Also on stage 6 I tried. I’m very happy to be awarded for the first time at the Tour de France today. It was very complicated for us to stay at the front as the peloton didn’t let us more than 2’30’’ of a time difference.”
Strong crosswinds played a major role in the latter part of the stage, with Team Ineos putting the hammer down and bringing the gap down quickly. Their pace also shredded the peloton, and many GC contenders were caught dozing and trapped in second and third groups along the road.
With 25 kilometres to go, the break was caught. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Richie Porte and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) were among the riders losing time due to Ineos’ pace at the front of the race. Eventually, Pinot and Fuglsang lost a total of a 1’40” on GC, while Landa lost a further 2’08”, their GC hopes essentially dashed on what would otherwise be a transitional stage on paper. \n
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