Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen powered to victory in a sprint finish on stage 10 of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar retained the leader’s yellow jersey.
Philipsen, who was led out superbly by his Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate, world champion Mathieu van der Poel, comfortably held off Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay and Germany’s Pascal Ackermann, who finished second and third.
Slovenia’s Pogacar finished safely in the main bunch, as the threat of crosswinds and echelons failed to materialise on an uneventful 187.3km run from Orleans to Saint-Amand-Montrond.
The UAE-Team Emirates rider leads Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step by 33 seconds, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike in third, one minute 15 seconds further back in the general classification.
More to follow
1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4hrs 20mins 06secs
2. Biniam Girmay (Eri/Intermarche-Wanty) Same time
3. Pascal Ackermann (Ger/Israel-Premier Tech) “
4. Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) “
5. Fernando Gaviria (Col/Movistar) “
6. Sam Bennett (Ire/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) “
7. John Degenkolb (Ger/DSM-firmenich PostNL) “
8.Phil Bauhaus (Ger/Bahrain Victorious) “
9. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/Team Jayco-AlUla) “
10. Axel Zingle (Fra/Cofidis) “
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 40hrs 02mins 48secs
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +33secs
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15secs
4. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 36secs
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 16secs
6. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 17secs
7. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 31secs
8. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +3mins 35secs
9. Derek Gee (Can/Israel-Premier Tech) +4mins 02secs
10. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) 4mins 03secs