Tour de France Stage Report: Rest day No.1 part 2. After Monday’s ‘day off’ for the peloton, the Tour riders thought they would have an easy ride on stage 10. It was always going to be s sprinter’s stage, but nobody tried to make a break into the head-wind. Alpecin-Deceuninck took control of the sprint and after World champion, Mathieu van der Poel gave Jasper Philipsen a perfect lead-out, the Belgian won by a bike length. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) was second, Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) third and Wout Van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) took fourth. There was no change on the GC.
The final kilometre
Finally, on the tenth stage of the 2024 Tour de France, finishing in Saint-Amand-Montrond, Jasper Philipsen took the stage win. The Belgian of Alpecin-Deceuninck didn’t win in the first bunch sprints, due to different reasons, but after a great lead-out from teammate and World champion Mathieu van der Poel he crossed the line first.
The stage win is Jasper Philipsen’s
Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France general director: “Heading through the Sologne forest, it’ll be difficult to predict the outcome of this stage, as the weather may play a significant role. After leaving Issoudun, the riders will find themselves on roads exposed to the crosswinds that scattered the peloton a decade ago. With three changes of direction in the last 30 kilometres, there’s a real chance of echelons forming.”
Stage 10 profile
The 10th stage from Orléans to Saint-Amand-Montrond is 187 kilometres long with no classified climbs. There could be a surprise as echelons are possible as the Tour turns south. If the sprinter’s teams can keep the race together there will be a sprint finish in Saint-Amand-Montrond.
Saint-Amand-Montrond – France – cycling – illustration – sfeer – illustratie start
The start of stage 10 was in Orleans – The finish in Saint-Amand-Montrond after 187.3km
Sprint king of a few years ago, Marcel Kittel was at the start in Orleans
The wind could be the biggest problem on the open plains to the finish in Saint-Amand-Montrond. With about 60 kilometres to go, the route turned to the southeast and the riders would be in open terrain. There you had to watch out for echelons. There could be a repeat of the stage to Saint-Amand-Montrond in the 2013 Tour, when the peloton was split by the cross-wind.
Remco Evenepoel looked happy enough before stage 10
Could it be a win for Alpecin-Deceuninck?
Absolutely nothing happened in the first kilometres. The peloton wanted another ‘rest day’ and so the first hour of was run at a tourist’s pace. After 40 kilometres, some riders thought they might try something. The attempt by Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty), Maxim Van Gils and Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Dstny) didn’t look serious, but Goossens and Vanhoucke wanted to do something.
Mark Cavendish has nothing to prove, but another stage win wouldn’t be a bad idea
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) will keep his KOM jersey for another day
Van Gils dropped back, but Goossens and Vanhoucke pushed on. This led to a counter-attack from the peloton. Groupama-FDJ sent Kevin Niets and Valentin Madouas after the leaders. The two Frenchmen picked up Van Gils, who managed to hang onto the Groupama-FDJ duo, but they failed to make the crossing and were caught.
Another stage win for Biniam Girmay in the green jersey?
It should be a quiet day for the GC men
Goossens and Vanhoucke rode off the front for a while, but they also saw it was pointless. After the intermediate sprint in Romorantin-Lanthenay there was a regrouping and calm returned to the peloton. Before it all came together, there was a close sprint between Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay for the points behind the two leaders. Philipsen managed to take the sprint, but there was some debate.
Astana took control early in the stage, but it wasn’t serious
Time for a long lunch
Everyone was now waiting for the build-up for the sprint, but maybe the wind could still cause a surprise. More than 60 kilometres from the finish, the riders were in open terrain near Issoudun, the wind turned and the nervousness in the peloton increased. For a moment it was all hands on deck, but UAE Team Emirates decided to abandon its attempt to form an echelon due to the wind dropping.
Crossing a bridge added a bit of excitement to the day
The peloton was occasionally put under pressure, but never split
The danger of echelons had disappeared and now the peloton could prepare for a battle between the fast-finishers. The last kilometres were at top speed as the sprint trains took over. Alpecin-Deceuninck had the best timing. After a huge pull from Robbe Ghys, it was up to World champion Van der Poel to pilot Philipsen to the victory.
With 15 kilometres to go there was no change
Van der Poel did a perfect job. The Dutchman led his sprinter to the front and then Philipsen sprinted clear of all the other fast men by a good bike length. Philipsen won in Saint-Amand-Montrond, ahead of Girmay and Pascal Ackermann. Wout van Aert and Fernando Gaviria completed the top 5.
Jasper Philipsen’s first Tour stage of 2024
Stage winner, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “I think we can speak of relief. Last week wasn’t great for us. Maybe we didn’t approach the Tour in our best condition, but we’re improving and we can finally show what we came for. Today we knew that the last corner could be tricky and we took it well. I was launched perfectly. I’m happy with the way we’re starting this second week. We are already on the tenth stage and we had done five sprints without winning, it was too many. But the whole team continued to believe in it and they deserve this victory. For the green jersey, Biniam Girmay started very strong. He is a lot of points ahead. Before thinking about the points classification, we first wanted a stage victory. Now that we have it, we will see what is still possible for the green jersey.”
The sprint plan worked perfectly for Alpecin-Deceuninck
Overall leader, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “It is never easy to get on the bike and race after the rest day. Luckily it was an easy stage, especially in the first part. We didn’t ride the whole time at the front because we found it a bit unnecessary. It’s good to be at the front when things are tricky, but otherwise you can get in stressful situations that can result in crashes for no reason. We all knew there was a point on which there could be crosswinds, and therefore all teams tried to hit the front at the same time. Then the wind was not strong enough, so there weren’t any splits. It’s better this way. Echelons are fun to watch on TV, yet they are the worst if you are caught on the wrong side of them. Today there was nothing to do GC-wise, yet tomorrow’s stage comes with a question mark. It is long and hard. I haven’t done any recon of the course, yet I remember the Pas de Peyrol from a 2020 stage on which I fought with Primoz [Roglič] to the line and it was one of the hardest finishes I’ve ever done.”
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Tour de France Stage 10 Result:
1. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck in 4:20:06
2. Biniam Girmay Hailu (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty
3. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Israel-Premier Tech
4. Wout Van Aert (Bel) Visma | Lease a Bike
5. Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) Movistar
6. Sam Bennett (Irl) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
7. John Degenkolb (Ger) dsm-firmenich-PostNL
8. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
9. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jayco AlUla
10. Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 10:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 40:02:48
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:33
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma | Lease a Bike at 1:15
4. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 1:36
5. Juan Ayuso Pesquera (Spa) UAE Team Emirates at 2:16
6. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates at 2:17
7. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Col) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:31
8. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 3:35
9. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 4:02
10. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma | Lease a Bike at 4:03.
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