The tenth Stage of the Tour de France began today in blazing heat, with the pack riding the 179 km from Chambéry to Gap. Much of the early part was fairly flat, before the category 1 climb at 77 km, and a couple of less challenging climbs. It was a day for the majority of the riders to take a breather after a superb week and a half of racing, and despite a vigorous attack from the start, the peloton basically let them get away with much concern, as the main contenders for the GC had not attacked. The only real contest of the day was for the King of the Mountains cycling shirt.
On the flat early stages, multiple attacks were attempted, but all were pulled back, and with the first intermediate sprint points for Green Jersey prior to the 20 km mark, the specialists put their heads down and went for it; Petacchi took maximum points followed by Hushovd and McEwen. By the time the race had reached 37 km in, four riders had managed to escape: Aerts (OLO), Devenyns (QST), Kiryienka (GCE) and Paulinho (RSH). The peloton seemed to have very little interest in chasing them down, with Saxo Bank and RadioShack taking lead positions in the group and preventing further attacks.
(Photo of Sergio Paulinho, by Fanny Schertzer. Reproduced under Creative Commons licence.)
However, on Bastille Day, two French riders were determined to fly the flag, and broke free. The two Frenchmen, Bouet (ALM) and Rolland (BTL) tugged at the leading group for 20 km, before finally catching the four outriders at 63 km, with the peloton, led by Saxo Bank, now almost 9 minutes behind them.
The only outwardly aggressive move of the day saw Pineau fight Charteau for climbing points on the first hill, a fight that he won, and which gave him enough points to strip Charteau of the Polka Dot Jersey, and wear it himself for tomorrow’s Stage. Over the middle part of the stage, Saxo Bank led the peloton at a positively leisurely pace in temperatures which had soared to 40 celsius. It was at a point approaching the summit of the final climb that the next attack came; Moreau (GCE) put his foot down and took off, hunted by Popovych, who kept up and they formed a breakaway duo sandwiched between the leaders and the peloton.
The stage was then set for the sprint finish between the leading group riders, who by this stage knew there was no chance they were going to get caught by the peloton. It turned out to be a battle royale, when with 15 km to go, Aerts attacked the front group but could not get away and was chased down by Devenyns, who then launched off the front. He quickly broke down and was overtaken by Kiryienka and Paulinho, the duo pulling off a perfect escape to leave the other three riders 45 seconds behind by the 10 km to go stage. Both slugged it out, swapping to take on the pace making to ensure the following three were finished. Kiryienka was desperate to be the first Belorussian to win a stage of the Tour de France, and Paulinho was equally desperate to win back some pride for the RadioShack Team, after supreme bad luck in the tournament to date all but ended Armstrong’s Tour this year.
The Belorussian led in the last 1.5 km before Paulinho mounted a final decisive attack with 400 meters to go. Kiryienka reacted late to the sudden burst of speed and despite hurling himself at the line, was unable to grab the victory from the Portuguese rider, who won by half a wheel diameter!
The Stage 10 Results and GC Standings are as follows:
1. Schleck (SAX)
2. Contador (AST)
3. S.Sanchez (EUS)
4. Menchov (RAB)
5. Van Den Broeck (OLO)
6. Leipheimer (RSH)
7. Gesink (RAB)
8. LL.Sanchez (GCE)
9. Rodriguez Oliver (KAT)
10. Basso (LIQ)
1. Paulinho
2. Kiryienka
3. Devenyns
4. Rolland
5. Aerts
6. Bouet
7. Roche
8. Pauriol
9. Cavendish
10. Petacchi
The day saw one change of cycling shirts, with the Polka Dot transferring from Charteau to Pineau in the climbers classification. Tomorrow sees in Stage 11 from Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence, a ride of 184.5 km, which hails in flatter territory, with a solitary category 3 climb followed by a couple of cat. 5s.
