2016 Tour de France: Michael Matthews Snatches Stage 10 Win

On a day when the race for the yellow jersey was expected to take a backseat to the other classification battles, Stage 10 from Escaldes Engordany to Revel met every expectation. Chris Froome remained 16 seconds ahead of Adam Yates and 19 seconds ahead of Dan Martin as the race began its trek across southern France toward the Alps. A breakaway yielded a tough sprint at the finish line, and by the end of the day the green jersey of the points leader was on different (but familiar) shoulders while the polka dots of the King of the Mountains failed to see a shakeup in its standings.

The first-category Port d’Envalira, the highest point on this year’s Tour de France route at 2408 meters (7900 feet) on the border between Andorra and France, came so early in the stage that it had relatively no impact on the way the stage unfolded. A group of 17 riders broke clear, then 31, then 19, all being reeled back in by the peloton on the long 24-kilometer slog toward the summit.

Rui Costa broke away five kilometers from the top of the climb and soloed across to win the Henri Desgrange prize for the first to the highest point in the Tour. Behind him Tom Dumoulin, Vincenzo Nibali, Tsgabu Grmay, Steve Cummings, and Jon Izagirre trickled over ahead of the main field to sweep up the rest of the King of the Mountains points. Rafal Majka and Thibaut Pinot, the two men who have been passing the polka-dot jersey back and forth, both tried in vain to get away in the breakaways, and Pinot remains three points ahead of Majka after both failed to finish among the top six.

On the descent a 13-man break coalesced off the front. Among the riders in the break was Peter Sagan, just seven points behind Mark Cavendish in the hunt for the green jersey. The peloton eased off, allowing the lead group to gain more than three minutes’ advantage. The sprinters and their teams put on a chase further behind, but as more riders bridged up to the Sagan group it became harder to reel them in. As the peloton continued to allow the break to swell, the gap increased to seven minutes as it neared the intermediate sprint in Aigues-Vives.

Peter Sagan in green (Tim De Waele/TDWsport)

Sagan took over virtual leadership of the green jersey that he has effectively owned for the past three years, rolling ahead uncontested to collect the full 20 points. The breakaway came back together after the sprint, but the peloton behind was also turning up the heat as the sprinters in the main field hoped to have a shot at glory in Revel. With 50 kilometers left to race in the day, the gap had fallen back down to five minutes. Crosswinds and hills along the route led both the breakaway and the peloton to fracture, and at the head of the race Sagan pulled clear with Michael Matthews, Daryl Impey, Luke Durbridge, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Samuel Dumoulin, and former yellow jersey Greg Van Avermaet with less than 20 kilometers left to race.

Michael Matthews on podium (Tim De Waele/TDWsport)

The third-category Cote de Saint-Ferreol began less than seven kilometers from the finish line, and despite a series of attacks both from Sagan and from the Orica-BikeExchange trio of Matthews, Impey, and Durbridge the remainder of the breakaway stayed together as it crested the hill. Durbridge fell off in the final kilometers, and the six continued on to sprint for the win. Greg Van Avermaet made the first big move, but Matthews pulled around and held off a charging Sagan and Norwegian champion Boasson Hagen to win a stage in his inaugural Tour de France. Sagan came through in second, claiming 25 more points to bolster his lead over Cavendish and the rest of the green jersey challengers.

Those sprinters will have more of a say in the proceedings when the peloton hits the road again for Stage 11 on Tuesday. With only two short fourth-category climbs along the rolling stage between Carcassonne and Montpellier, Cavendish should be there at the end to hunt for a fourth stage win alongside Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel, Alexander Kristoff, and Bryan Coquard. Of course, Sagan should be there in the thick of things as well, and it will be worth watching what happens at both the Montpellier finish as well as the intermediate sprint in Pezenas 49 kilometers from the finish.

Stage Results and Standings after Stage 10

Stage Results

General Classification (yellow jersey)

Points Classification (green jersey)

King of the Mountains (polka-dot jersey)

Best Young Rider (white jersey)