Stage 10, Tuesday 14
167 km, D+ 3800 m
The stage in the Massif Central looks a bit like the previous (Ussel) stage, but the climbs are significantly more substantial and there is even less flat for recovery, so a breakaway of climbers more than punchers can be expected (if UAE doesn't decide to win it from the peloton).
A stage in 4 acts.
1^st^ act was (successfully) handled by Lidl-Trek for Pedersen🇩🇰's Green jersey. It could have been better because at some point, they had broken the peloton in 2 or 3 pieces, and gotten rid of all or almost all sprinters, but still, the Dane passed the I.S. line in 1^st^ position.
2^nd^ act: the fight for breaking away. It started right on the Intermediate Sprint line, with Van der Poel (🇳🇱 Alpecin). There was many failed attempts until a group of about 30 riders left.
3^rd^ act: the breakaway and the chase. A breakaway that large couldn't stay together for long, and with all the hills it broke several times in many pieces. Behind, UAE never let the gap grow a bit. Last survivor at the front was Romo (🇪🇸 Movistar), who had broken away as a duo, and then solo, for many miles.
4^th^ act: the fight for stage victory and between GC leaders. After UAE caught Romo🇪🇸, the 'peloton' was already quite small. The only attack was (as usual?) led by Carapaz (🇪🇨 EF) in the Puy Mary, about 35 km from the line; he would never be reeled back by domestiques. There was a strange move by Decathlon in the final part of that climb, taking the peloton's lead from UAE. In the next climb, the shortest but steepest Pertus, the head of the peloton was a bit of a mess, Yates🇬🇧 couldn't do much, there were Decathlon riders again, then Visma: a mix that wasn't coming any closer to Carapaz🇪🇨 who was up to 1 minute ahead. I suspect that UAE had planned that the stage would be for Del Toro🇲🇽 but the Mexican wasn't in shape today; anyway, Pogatchar🇸🇮 got pissed, attacked, nobody followed him for a yard, and he caught and dropped the Ecuadorian rider just before the pass. Behind, the usual riders formed 2 groups. In the first one, Evenepoel (🇧🇪 Bora) worked in the transition but cracked when the road went up again. However no one in that group relayed Vingegaard (🇩🇰 Visma) who was pulling everyone: Seixas (🇫🇷 Decathlon), Ayuso🇪🇸 & Skjelmose🇩🇰 (Lidl-Trek) and Lipowitz (🇩🇪 Bora). It was the perfect occasion to get rid of Evenepoel🇧🇪, but nobody but Vingegaard🇩🇰 worked for it. Worse, as the Dane weakened progressively, they allowed the Belgian to come back in the very end and even beat them all at the sprint for time bonuses!
I forgot to mention that Del Toro🇲🇽 had been dropped much earlier and that it was yet another reason to relay, in order to enlarge more significantly the gap with him as well.