British rider Simon Yates won the first mountainous stage of the Tour de France on Monday while Irish rider Ben Healy was consoled by taking the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar.
Healy was nominated the most combative rider of the day after forcing the initiative on Stage 10, but Yates - who won the Giro d’Italia last month – timed his break perfectly on the final climb to win a stage for the third time.
“It’s been a long time, but actually I also was not really expecting any opportunities here,” said Yates, a teammate of two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard.
“We came here fully focused on Jonas and the GC, so the stage played out in a way that I could be there for the stage. I took it with both hands.”
Dutch rider Thymen Arensman was nine seconds behind, while Healy finished third, 31 seconds behind Yates.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and three-time Tour champion Pogacar finished further back alongside main rival Vingegaard and French rider Lenny Martinez with a gap of 4 minutes, 51 seconds.
It meant Healy, who claimed his first stage victory on Thursday, took the overall lead, 29 seconds ahead of Pogacar.
Remco Evenepoel was third, 1:29 behind, and Vingegaard 1:46 behind in fourth.
“I’m still behind and I have to take time at one point,” said Vingegaard, who remained positive that Pogacar wasn't too far ahead.
“So far I’ve been able to follow all his attacks which I couldn’t do in [Criterium du] Dauphine," Vingegaard said, referring to the traditional Tour curtain-raiser. “I think that that shows that I have a better level now than I had in Dauphine.”
Stage 10 took the riders on an arduous 165.3-kilometer route in the Massif Central — France’s south-central highland region — from Ennezat through seven category two climbs. It finished on the ascent of Puy de Sancy — the region’s highest peak — after 3.3 kilometers of an 8 per cent gradient climb.
French rider Julian Alaphilippe lived up to expectations with the first break on France’s national day, Bastille Day, carving out a 10-second lead before he was caught on the first climb up Cote de Loubeyrat.
Norwegian rider Soren Waerenskjold had to withdraw early as the tough start proved too much after his crash the day before.
German rider Georg Zimmermann withdrew before the start following his crash on Sunday. His team, Intermarche-Wanty, said he “developed signs of a concussion during the night”.
Dutch sprinter Marijn van den Berg also retired due to injuries from his crash on Stage 1, EF Education-Easypost said.
The riders can look forward to their first rest day on Tuesday.
