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The rest day at Clermont-Ferrand will have done the riders good and they are now ready to go and attack yet another hilly stage on July 11. Stage 10 is 167,2 kilometres from Vulcania to Issoire and we will cover it in more detail here, but first let’s do a short recap of stage 9.
Tour de France Stage 9 Results
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A brief recap of stage 9: a profile made for riders in a break away with good climbing abilities. And so it proved: A group of 14 riders got away early in the race and established a lead of over 14 minutes. This group was dispersed on the final climb with Jorgenson, Woods and Mohoric going in attack modus. It was Woods who prevailed. In the overall classification, Pogacar took 8 seconds off Vingegaard. His advantage is now down to 17 seconds.
Tour de France 2023: Stage 10 Profile, Map and Predictions
The profile is made for those with an appetite for long breakaways on a hilly course. There are five climbs in total stretched out fairly even across the course. The highest will be the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert after 66 kilometres, which comes right after the intermediate sprint.
There are no easy stages as the first climb awaits within the first half hour or riding, right after the departure in Vulcania, an amusement and theme park. It will be a first for the Tour here.
The four category 3 climbs are equally portioned: 2 come before and two after the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert. Towards the finish in Issoire the course flattens out and if there are any sprinters left or if the peloton arrives in a bunch, there will be a sprint royale. And it will feature the usual suspects: Mads Pedersen, Jasper Philipsen, Bryan Coquard.
It is more likely that one of those riders in the mould of Michael Woods or Matteo Jorgenson will attempt to establish a break away early and power on.
Since Tadej Pogacar is a great strategist, he might as well try to break up the peloton and go on a long solo ride or get into a group. He has the confidence to attack and seems to do so even if he is alone, while his rival in yellow, Jonas Vingegaard appears to be overreliant on his team mates. It will be interesting to see this battle fought out.
Stage 10 Prediction: Vingegaard and Pogačar in the duel for Yellow Jersey
Once again, we will see two races at once: one for the stage win, the other for the general classification. The least likely scenario will be that of a sprint as the profile might prove to exhaustive for those riders. There will be several groups and individuals stretched out along the course.
The biggest question of all, however, is: what will Tadej Pogačar do? Will he attack? If so, how? Taking a few seconds off Vingegaard or even take over the yellow Jersey? How will Vingegaard react? Has he got something to respond?
In the other race: who will be brave enough to stage a breakaway and even go it all alone? The profile of the stage offers plenty of opportunities.
Tour de France Standings – Top Ten After Stage 9
1. Jonas Vingegaard
2. Tadej Pogačar +17
3. Jai Hindley +2:40
4. Carlos Rodriguez +4:22
5. Adam Yates +4:39
6. Simon Yates +4:44
7. Thomas Pidcock +5:26
8. David Gaudu +6:01
9. Sepp Kuss +6:45
10. Pello Bilbao +7:37
The King of the Mountains Standings
1. Neilson Powless 46 points
2. Felix Gall 28 points
3. Tobias Johannessen 26 points
4. Ruben Guerreiro 22 points
5. Michael Woods 20 points
Since this is a hilly stage, Neilson Powless in the polka-dot jersey will try to establish his hold on this jersey and he has plenty of opportunities to do so.
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