Tour de France: Simon Yates storms to stage 10 victory as Ben Healy snatches yellow
It was an almighty battle on Bastille Day at the Tour de France with a super strong breakaway fighting for victory and a GC battle behind.
Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike) won stage 10 of the Tour de France on Bastille Day from the breakaway 9 seconds ahead of Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) in second, and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) in third at 31 seconds, with the Irishman moving into the yellow jersey as the new leader of the Tour de France.
It was an attritional breakaway battle on Bastille Day, with Yates riding to victory, making his race-winning move with 2.4km left, distancing Arensman, Healy and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) on the slopes of Le Mont-Dore.
It marks the third Tour de France stage win of Yates's career, and Healy becomes the first Irish rider to lead the Tour de France since Stephen Roche won the race back in 1987.
Behind in the GC group, Visma | Lease a Bike launched a flurry of attacks with the likes of Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson to whittle down the strength of the UAE Team Emirates and isolate the yellow jersey, Tadej Pogačar.
On the final climb, Pogačar and Vingegaard went clear of the rest, before a stalemate with both crossing the finish line together.
How it unfolded
The stage began with aggressive attacks, but none stuck until two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe broke clear. On the first categorized climb, sprinters like Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier struggled, dropping early.
A 29-man breakaway formed, with EF Education-EasyPost best represented, including Ben Healy, 11th in GC at 3:55. Early abandons included Søren Wærenskjold, Marijn van den Berg, and Georg Zimmermann due to prior crash injuries.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG controlled the peloton, keeping the breakaway’s gap under 2 minutes at the intermediate sprint in Durtol (120.6km to go), where Anders Halland Johannessen took maximum points.
On the Côte de Charade (102km remaining), Ben O’Connor attacked from the break, briefly gaining 20 seconds before being caught. The breakaway splintered, forming a new 19-rider lead group.
Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) targeted the mountains classification, sweeping maximum points on the first five climbs, becoming the virtual polka dot jersey leader.
EF Education-EasyPost drove the breakaway, with Harry Sweeny pushing the gap to 4 minutes (65km to go), making Healy the virtual race leader.
On the Col de Guéry (52km remaining), Nils Politt dropped from the peloton after pacing duties, leaving Marc Soler and Tim Wellens to take control.
O’Connor attacked again from the breakaway (31.3km to go), joined by Healy, Joe Blackmore, Quinn Simmons, Michael Storer, Simon Yates, and Anders Halland Johannessen, forming a seven-rider lead.
Lack of cooperation brought the group back together, but Simmons attacked on an uncategorized climb, with Healy, O’Connor, Yates, Storer, and Thymen Arensman responding.
In the peloton, Visma-Lease a Bike surged on the uncategorized climb, with Sepp Kuss, Tiesj Benoot, and Oscar Onley briefly breaking clear. UAE’s Adam Yates neutralized the move. Matteo Jorgenson attacked (22km to go), marked by Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. Kuss attacked again, aiming to isolate Pogačar, who was down to three teammates in a reduced GC group of about 25 riders.
Simmons was distanced from the lead group (14.1km to go), and Healy took maximum points over the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert, pushing the pace with the yellow jersey in sight.
Jorgenson attacked again from the GC (11km to go), with Pogačar and Vingegaard marking him tightly while Kévin Vauquelin was dropped from the GC group.
At the foot of the summit finish in Le Mont-Dore, Simon Yates attacked from the breakaway. O’Connor and Arensman briefly bridged but couldn’t follow when Yates made a decisive move with 2.4km to go, soloing to his third Tour stage win.
In the GC group, Remco Evenepoel attacked, followed by Onley, before Pogačar launched an explosive move with Vingegaard in tow. The duo eased up, crossing the line behind Martinez, who finished from the breakaway.
Lipowitz, Jorgenson, Evenepoel, Onley, Primož Roglič, and Tobias Halland Johannessen finished within 6 seconds of Pogačar and Vingegaard. Vauquelin lost 46 seconds, dropping off the podium.
