Stage 10 Recap
Paulinho wins stage on breakaway, French denied Bastille Day win, Pineau reclaims polka-dots
The breakaway stayed together until the final climb (which was not categorized). Sergio Paulinho (Team RadioShack) and Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse D'Epargne) burst ahead and could not be matched by anybody. The two stayed together all the way to the end and had a comfortable gap over the others, and eventually Paulinho outsprinted Kiryienka by just a few inches. All the riders in the breakaway were well out of contention for the GC, so the peloton eased the pace, conceding the top six places in the stage to the breakaway riders. The huge gap between the peloton and the leaders discouraged counterattacks, and the very slow pace of the peloton also meant that the sprinters could stay with the group.
Nicolas Roche attacked the peloton late and crossed the line with enough of a lead to move himself from 17th to 13th in the GC. Rémi Pauriol also finished slightly ahead of the peloton (likely a Bastille Day-inspried attack), and Mark Cavendish eventually won the bunch sprint contested by the peloton for 9th place. Alessandro Petacchi also finished one spot ahead of Thor Hushovd, and all in all reduced Hushovd's advantage in the green jersey race from 10 points to 7. The peloton finished more or less intact, 14'19" behind Paulinho - so other than Roche's gain, there are no changes to the top of the GC ranks. Because of Paulinho's and Kiryienka's success today, Team RadioShack and Caisse D'Epargne now have a commanding lead over the rest of the field in the team classification, with Caisse D'Epargne in the lead by 31 seconds. Despite Team RadioShack's underwhelming performance so far, expect them to take control of the team classification in the Pyrenees.
The peloton thwarted all attacks in the beginning of the stage, keeping the group together long enough for the sprinters to contest the intermediate sprint. Alessandro Petacchi won the sprint, claiming 6 points, with Thor Hushovd getting 4 points and Robbie McEwen getting 2. After the sprint, a four-man breakaway formed, which, surprisingly, did not contain any Frenchmen on this Bastille Day stage. It was only several kilometers later when two Frenchmen would start a chase, eventually catching the leaders after around 20 km of chasing. The peloton eased up and committed to riding easy on the stage, to minimize risk and save energy. Since only six riders were in the breakaway, some mountains points were left up for grabs on the day's first climb. Jérôme Pineau and Anthony Charteau burst ahead of the peloton, with Pineau beating Charteau to the line to reclaim the polka-dot jersey.
The breakaway stayed together until the final climb (which was not categorized). Sergio Paulinho (Team RadioShack) and Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse D'Epargne) burst ahead and could not be matched by anybody. The two stayed together all the way to the end and had a comfortable gap over the others, and eventually Paulinho outsprinted Kiryienka by just a few inches. All the riders in the breakaway were well out of contention for the GC, so the peloton eased the pace, conceding the top six places in the stage to the breakaway riders. The huge gap between the peloton and the leaders discouraged counterattacks, and the very slow pace of the peloton also meant that the sprinters could stay with the group.Nicolas Roche attacked the peloton late and crossed the line with enough of a lead to move himself from 17th to 13th in the GC. Rémi Pauriol also finished slightly ahead of the peloton (likely a Bastille Day-inspried attack), and Mark Cavendish eventually won the bunch sprint contested by the peloton for 9th place. Alessandro Petacchi also finished one spot ahead of Thor Hushovd, and all in all reduced Hushovd's advantage in the green jersey race from 10 points to 7. The peloton finished more or less intact, 14'19" behind Paulinho - so other than Roche's gain, there are no changes to the top of the GC ranks. Because of Paulinho's and Kiryienka's success today, Team RadioShack and Caisse D'Epargne now have a commanding lead over the rest of the field in the team classification, with Caisse D'Epargne in the lead by 31 seconds. Despite Team RadioShack's underwhelming performance so far, expect them to take control of the team classification in the Pyrenees.
*****
Notable Stage Results
| 1 | Sergio Paulinho | Team RadioShack | 25 pts |
| 2 | Vasil Kiryienka | Caisse D'Epargne | 22+6 pts |
| 9 | Mark Cavendish | Team HTC-Columbia | 12 pts |
| 10 | Alessandro Petacchi | Lampre-Farnese | 11+6 pts |
| 11 | Thor Hushovd | Cervélo TestTeam | 10+4 pts |
| 12 | Robbie McEwen | Katusha | 9+2 pts |
| 15 | José Joaquin Rojas | Caisse D'Epargne | 6 pts |
*****
Notable Points Standings
| 1 | Thor Hushovd | Cervélo TestTeam | 138 pts |
| 2 | Alessandro Petacchi | Lampre-Farnese | 131 pts |
| 3 | Robbie McEwen | Katusha | 116 pts |
| 4 | José Joaquin Rojas | Caisse D'Epargne | 98 pts |
| 5 | Mark Cavendish | Team HTC-Columbia | 97 pts |
*****
Notable Mountains Standings
| 1 | Jérôme Pineau | Quick Step | 91 pts |
| 2 | Anthony Charteau | BBox Bouygues Telecom | 90 pts |
| 3 | Christophe Moreau | Caisse D'Epargne | 62 pts |
| 4 | Mario Aerts | Omega Pharma-Lotto | 58 pts |
| 5 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre-Farnese | 56 pts |
*****
Stage 11 Preview
Now is usually the point in the race where the sprinters will start taking over for several days before the Tour reaches the second mountains stint. However, the organizers were not so nice to the sprinters this year, and Stage 11 is really the only opportunity for pure sprinters to get a stage win between the Alps and the Pyrenees, as Stage 12 is a category-2 mountaintop finish, Stage 13 has a climb close to the end of the stage, and Stage 14 is already in the Pyrenees.
The steady ascent from the beginning of the stage to the climb up the Col de Cabre is not as troublesome as it looks in the picture - it should be less than a 1% gradient on average. Sprinters should have no problem staying with the pack until the climb, and they will have plenty of time to catch up afterwards should they fall behind. As usual, expect the usual breakaway of non-contenders hoping for a stage win, followed by the peloton's chase and a sprint finish. Tomorrow could easily be a third stage win for Mark Cavendish.
*****
For full Stage 10 results and overall standings, more complete info on Stage 11, and live newsflashes on race day, visit the official TdF website. Footage of tomorrow's stage can be seen on the Versus channel live in the morning or on tape delay in the evening. Live coverage on Versus begins at 8:30 AM (ET).
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