Belgian Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finally claimed victory in this years Tour de France when he won the 10th stage with a textbook sprint in Saint-Amand-Montrond.
Philipsen, who won four stages on the worlds biggest race last year, benefited from a perfect lead-out by his teammate and world champion Mathieu van der Poel to prevail after 187.3km from Orléans.
Eritrean Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), who has already won two stages in this edition, took second place with German Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) coming home third.
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) retained the overall leaders yellow jersey, 33 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step).
No changes to the top 10 but here are the standings:
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 40hrs 02mins 48secs
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +33secs
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15secs
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 36secs
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 16secs
Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 17secs
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 31secs
Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step) +3mins 35secs
Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +4mins 2secs
Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 3secs
GREY ATTACK! ️FIRST WIN FOR JASPER AND THE TEAM IN @LeTour #AlpecinDeceuninck #TDF2024 #JasperPhilipsen pic.twitter.com/ZLONWXfPto
Alpecin-Deceuninck Cycling Team (@AlpecinDCK) July 9, 2024
Having won four stages a year ago, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider has had to wait until stage 10 to claim a victory this year.
JOB DONE!LIBÉRÉ ! @JasperPhilipsen l @AlpecinDCK #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/BzTOL7B48M
Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2024
“We finally did what we came for”#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/KhV5WWBPKL
ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 9, 2024
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4hrs 20mins 06secs
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) Same time
Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech)
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Fernando Gaviria (Movistar)
Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
John Degenkolb (DSM-Firmenich PostNL)
Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious)
Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla)
Axel Zingle (Cofidis)
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 267pts
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 193
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 107
Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) 101
Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) 100
Enjoy!
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty)
Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech)
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Fernando Gaviria (Movistar)
Mathieu van der Poel gives Jasper Philipsen a good leadout and the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider who won four stages last year secures his first victory at this years Tour. Girmay comes home in second and Ackermann in third.
Alpecin-Deceuninck finally get it right and deliver Jasper Philipsen for his first Tour stage victory of 2024! #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/ZVVKam3B9G
ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 9, 2024
Cavendish is nowhere to be seen. This is going to be between Philipsen, Girmay, Gaviria and van Aert.
Under the flamme rouge we go and all the big hitters are there.
Astana Qazaqstan hit the front but Cavendish is further back.
Girmay is on the wheel of Philipsen with De Lie on Girmays wheel.
Cavendish has dropped back a bit but is in a similar position to the likes of Girmay and Philipsen.
Traffic islands are causing an issue for the riders with Philipsen dropping back a little. We hit the safe zone for all the GC riders.
Cavendish is well positioned near the front with three teammates in front of him.
We have got over the little uncategorised climb and now on a descent so the speed is very high.
The whole peloton is bunched up together as we hit 8km to go. The likes of Philipsen and De Lie are trying to make their way towards the front.
We have a small climb that should not be an issue for the sprinters but you never know what might happen.
We are now within 10km of the finish. The general classification teams are keeping their leaders safe at the front and the leadout trains for the sprinters are beginning to form.
Astana Qazaqstan Sport Director Mark Renshaw has told his team to move up to the front.
Currently on the front we have Visma-Lease a Bike, Team UAE Emirates, Lidl-Trek, Israel-Premier Tech and Ineos Grenadiers and Soudal-Quick Step. Those are mostly general classification teams looking after their leaders.
We are inside the final 20km on stage 10. Who will come out on top? Will anyone try an audacious one-man attack?
De Lie has made it easily back into the peloton.
In the final stages of todays stage we have three changes of direction so positioning will be pretty important for the sprinter leadouts.
Meanwhile one of the sprinters in contention for the victory, Arnaud De Lie, just had a mechanical so is making his way back into the peloton, which should not be an issue.
️ Puncture for @Arnaud_De_Lie inside the final 30km. The Belgian Champion returns quickly to the peloton. ️ Crevaison pour @Arnaud_De_Lie dans les 30 derniers kilomètres. Le champion de Belgique retrouve sa place dans le peloton.#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/GsGb7hUhAL
Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2024
We have had four bunch sprint finishes so far:
Stage three into Turin- Biniam Girmay
Stage five into Saint Vulbas- Mark Cavendish
Stage six into Dijon- Dylan Groenewegen
Stage eight into Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises- Biniam Girmay
Things have massively settled down from where they were 15-20km ago. The pace has dropped to around 40km/h and it is an almost guaranteed bunch sprint finish now.
Here is a snippet from our feature on Mark Cavendish which you can find here, where you can read about Cavendishs win into Saint-Amand-Montrond in 2013:
The vast majority of his wins have been a result of a lead-out train his HTC-Highroad squad perfected the art but Cavendish is a natural-born racer who has the ability to find gaps when most cannot see them, and opportunities when others do not. During the wind-battered 13th stage of the 2013 Tour, Cavendish spotted a chance and went for it. While his sprint rivals were caught out by echelons, Cavendish went toe-to-toe with Peter Sagan before pulling off what was, perhaps, the most impressive win of his career a victory a seasoned classics rider would be proud of.
Some interesting costumes on show:
We have under 50km left on todays stage and it looks like we are all set for a sprint finish in Saint-Amand-Montrond. Remember Mark Cavendish won the stage the last time the Tour finished there.
We have hit the exposed roads but with the winds not being too strong will the peloton break up?
It is looking unlikely as the pace has settled down.
Visma-Lease a Bike hit the front of the peloton as it is being strung out.
There is plenty of road furniture as we hit Issoudun which is only going to increase the tension in the peloton. It had been calm for so long but it is the complete opposite at the moment.
The pace is ramped up even further as Astana Qazaqstan and Ineos Grenadiers accelerate as we hit a roundabout and change direction.
Cavendish has four of his Astana Qazaqstan teammates lined up in front of him on the left-hand side of the road. Ineos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates are in the middle with Visma-Lease a Bike on the right. Our yellow jersey man Tadej Pogacar is situated in the middle of the road, around three or four rows back. The Lidl-Trek riders are being told over team radio that the peloton is going to be nervous.
The pace has certainly ramped up to just over 50km/h. We have a direction change coming up and the peloton is a lot more serious now than it was a couple of hours ago.
Meanwhile in Italy…
New Zealand joins the Giro dItalia Women roll of honour thanks to Niamh Fisher-Black, who took advantage of Team SD Worx – Protimes numerical superiority in Toano to claim her second win of the season. Fisher-Black answered an attack launched by Mavi Garcia with 2km to go. The New Zealander counterattacked on the toughest part of the final climb, the last 1000 metres with double-digit gradients, leaving Garcia behind and winning by 6 seconds over a trio made up of her team-mate and new Maglia Rossa Lotte Kopecky, Juliette Labous, and the Maglia Rosa Elisa Longo Borghini. In the general classification Kopecky (13) and Labous (25) moved up to second and third place respectively, with the top 5 completed by the Maglia Bianca Niedermayer (59) and the winner of the day, and new Maglia Azzurra, Fisher-Black (100).
The man in the green jersey, Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), has just stopped for a change to his back wheel.
Rear wheel change for @GrmayeBiniam. He is making his way back to the peloton Victime d’une crevaison, @GrmayeBiniam reprend sa place dans le peloton #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/9nEIWAhbXH
Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2024
The Astana Qazaqstan riders have been warned about the wind over their team radio and told to get themselves into a good position. That is why they are at the front of the peloton. The last time we finished in Saint-Amand-Montrond at the Tour, Mark Cavendish won and the stage got significantly impacted by crosswinds that day.
The roads ahead will be more exposed so crosswinds could prove problematic for the peloton.
We have had some changeable conditions so far. We had rain earlier but now the peloton is riding in beautiful sunshine. Remember we heard over the Lidl-Trek team radio that the longer they take to get to the finish the wetter they will get. Thunderstorms are forecast for later.
Darth Vader out supporting the Tour:
⭐️ May the force be with the peloton #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/WFUgjOKCAN
Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2024
The pace is just starting to step up as teams jostle for position at the front of the peloton with the threat of crosswinds coming up. You do not want to be near the back and get caught out by those winds.
We have just dipped below the 100km-to-go mark.
Today is not expected to have an impact on the general classification but with crosswinds expected later in the stage, who knows! We can now hear from the man in yellow, Tadej Pogacar, ahead of todays stage:
“Racing intelligently or not, it’s a nonsense”Tadej Pogačar says having the best legs matters more than racing intelligently #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/70lzI0GIMj
ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 9, 2024
A perfect picture to sum up the Tour de France:
Here is the updated points classification after that intermediate sprint:
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 237pts
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Deceuninck) 143
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 107
Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) 101
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) 98
Goossens is back with the peloton, which is now the front of the race. The roads are pretty wet!
@KobeGoossens is back in the peloton. @KobeGoossens est de retour dans le peloton.#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/ldlM28NtGc
Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2024
Here is the top five at the intermediate sprint:
Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty), 20pts
Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Dstny), 17
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 15
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), 13
Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), 11
Jonas Vingegaard had to use Jan Tratniks bike for a significant portion of stage nine on Sunday and he has had to change a wheel on his bike but nothing to panic about.
️ Mechanical problem for Jonas Vingegaard. Not to worry, he’s on the way back to the peloton. ️ Problème mécanique pour Jonas Vingegaard. Mais il reprend tranquillement sa place dans le peloton.#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/NLvyZwqLXz
Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2024
Goossens has sat up and about to come back to the peloton.
Goossens has left Vanhoucke behind and gone off on his own. Vanhoucke has dropped back now to the peloton.
Goossens was presumably being used by Intermarché-Wanty to take points of Biniam Girmays rivals for the green jersey.
The front duo hit the intermediate sprint first so the maximum 20 points and 17 for second are gone.
The peloton catch the second group before they hit the intermediate sprint. We nearly have a crash as we come towards the sprint line as Philipsen was looking over his shoulder. He looked over his left and did not know that Girmay was on his right. Girmay was so, so close to hitting the barriers as Philipsen did not know he was there. The Belgian has developed a reputation when it comes to these sprints. Philipsen comes across the line third overall.
We are coming to the intermediate sprint at Romorantin-Lanthenay but the big points will not available to the peloton. It looks like the maximum for anyone in the peloton will be 10 points.
The front duo of Goossens and Vanhoucke have a 25-second lead over Madouas, Geniets and Van Gils. It is then another 50 seconds back to the peloton.
Now we have two Groupama-FDJ riders attack; Valentin Madouas and Kevin Geniets. Maxim Van Gils had dropped back a little from the front two but accelerates again when he seems the Groupama-FDJ duo coming through.
We have an attack! Two riders from Lotto Dstny, Maxim Van Gils and Harm Vanhoucke, and one from Intermarché-Wanty, Kobe Goossens, have accelerated out of the front of the peloton.
The Lidl-Trek team have been told over their team radio that the later the stage finishes the wetter it will be as thunderstorms are coming.
We have around 10km until the intermediate sprint at Romorantin-Lanthenay.
A special milestone for Geraint Thomas today:
250 @GeraintThomas86 lines up for his 250th @LeTour stage start today in Orléans So many memorable moments, but which one was your favourite? pic.twitter.com/v3CC5Y6UYu
INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) July 9, 2024
More news! During the rest day Michael Morkov (Astana Qazaqstan) announced that he will retire at the end of this season. Morkov will be representing Denmark at the Olympics on the road and on the track.
VIDEO: @MichaelMorkov We are really proud and happy that the final year of your career you are spending with us, being part of the cycling history!You are great champion and great teammate, Michael!#AstanaQazaqstanTeam #AstanaIsMyTeam pic.twitter.com/DljVPGNCjJ
Astana Qazaqstan Team (@AstanaQazTeam) July 8, 2024
We have Olympics news! Nations have been announcing their teams for the Olympic Road Race. Julian Alaphilippe has been named in the French team alongside Kevin Vauquelin, who won stage two, Valentin Madouas and Christophe Laporte. Vauquelin will also compete in the individual time trial as Frances sole entrant.
Spain have also announced their team which includes Juan Ayuso, Oier Lazkano and and Alex Aranburu. Ayuso will also compete in the individual time trial.
We spoke about storms later in the stage but rain is already falling. It could be a little on and off.
Things are very steady in the peloton with no attacks so far. There is a risk of storms towards the end of the stage and we could have crosswinds later so it could very much be a case of the calm before the storm.
Biniam Grimay (Intermarché-Wanty) became the first black African to win a stage at the Tour on stage three in Turin but then made it two stage victories in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises on stage eight. He currently holds the green jersey (points classification) and here he is speaking ahead of todays stage:
“Mentally, physically, I’m ready”Biniam Girmay says been working for a long time to be in his best shape #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/dCRY46Tu1i
ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 9, 2024
Todays stage should not have an impact on the general classification but here is the top five:
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 35hrs 42mins 42secs
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) +33secs
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15secs
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 36secs
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +2min 16secs
Here is how the top five in the points classification (green jersey) looks after stage nine:
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 224pts
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 128
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 107
Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) 96
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) 92
We do have an intermediate sprint at Romorantin-Lanthenay with 130km left, which is in around 55km time.
Amidst the chaos of the gravel sections on stage nine on Sunday, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) had to ride a significant portion of the stage on his teammate Jan Tratniks bike. Vingegaard will be back on his own bike today!
#TDF2024Some big news from Jonas before stage 10. pic.twitter.com/xsyhIy5CQs
Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) July 9, 2024
The last time a Tour stage finished in Saint-Amand-Montrond, Mark Cavendish was victorious back in 2013. Here he is speaking ahead of todays stage:
“In those days it was just left to us (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) to control it for a bunch sprint. There was a little bit of wind, so we thought, ‘go’, we hadn’t planned it or anything”Mark Cavendish remembers his stage win in Saint-Amand-Montrond in 2013 #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/yjWi87WoGo
ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 9, 2024
We hit kilometre zero and off we go on stage 10!
No sign of anyone interested yet in forming a breakaway. A quiet start to stage 10.
Good afternoon and welcome to stage 10 of the 2024 Tour de France. We are coming off the first rest day of the 2024 Tour and it felt like everyone needed it. Before the rest day Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) claimed victory on stage nine on a dramatic day over 14 gravel sections to make it three French victories at the Tour this year. Turgis pipped Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) at the line as the riders had to negotiate all those gravel sections. Despite worrying moments for a few of the general classification contenders, all of them came in together with the same time.
Today is set to be a day for the sprinters as we have a 187.3km flat stage from Orléans to Saint-Amand-Montrond. Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) has one stage victory to his name, the historic 35th on stage five, whilst Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) already has two. He is currently in possession of the green jersey (points classification) and has a near 100-point advantage over Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who won four stages at the Tour last year but has yet to win a stage so far this year. Others to look our for include Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla).
Today should not have any ramifications on the general classification, where Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has a 33-second lead over Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and a one minute and 15 second-advantage over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Could Cavendish make it 36 stage victories today? Will Philipsen secure his first at this years Tour? Can Girmay continue his strong form with stage victory number three? All those questions will be answered in the next few hours. Stay with us for all the action from stage 10.
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