It was anything but a dull day at the Tour de France after protestors disrupted and delayed Stage 10 in the middle of a 146 km ride from Morzine Les Portes du Soleil to Megeve in the Alps. After gendarmes dragged off the hippie protestors, Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) won a breakaway sprint when the Dane edged out Nick Schultz (BikeExchange-Jayco) in a photo finish.
The peloton had the benefit of a rest day on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday on the French side of the Alps along Lake Geneva for a hilly stage leading into Megeve.
A couple of Americans — Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) — were in the chase pack, but were unable to earn spots on the podium. Idaho’s Jorgenson finished in fourth place while Colorado’s Simmons took 11th place.
| 2022 Tour de France – Stage 10 Results |
- Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) 03:18:50
- Nick Schultz (BikeExchange-Jayco) +0:00
- Luis Leon Sanchez (Bahrain Victorious) +0:07
Lennard Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished in 10th place, nearly snatching the yellow jersey away from Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). The German moved into second place in the GC standings and he’s now just 11 seconds behind the two-time defending champion. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) slipped to third place overall and is 39 seconds back.
🎥 A slow-motion look at that incredibly tight battle for the line between 🇩🇰@MagnusCort and 🇦🇺@nick_schultz5!
🎥 Admirez au ralenti le sprint au coude à coude entre 🇩🇰@MagnusCort et 🇦🇺@nick_schultz5 !#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/PJ15rx560Y
— Tour de Franceâ„¢ (@LeTour) July 12, 2022
Stage 10: Morzine Les Portes du Soleil > Megeve
Alberto Bettiol had a solo breakaway interrupted by climate change protestors from Derniere Renovation approximately 37 km from the finish line. Tour de France organizers paused the action for roughly 12 minutes while French police removed the protestors, who blocked the road and lit off pink smoke flares.
“I saw them from a distance, and was able to get through, but I knew the bunch wouldn’t be able to get through because there were quite a few of them and they were pretty determined,” said Bettiol. “These are things that happen, but they shouldn’t happen, because in the end, we’re working and they could do it differently.”
After the restart, the chase pack with 20 or so riders caught Bettiol, but the peloton was nine minutes behind. UAE Team Emirates lost another rider to a positive COVID test, so it looked like they were willing to give up the yellow jersey for a couple of stages, especially with the two hardest stages on deck for Wednesday and Thursday. Pogacar, Vingegaard, and the other GC contenders from Ineos were clustered in the peloton. Kamna made up significant time, but a sprint to the finish from Pogacar kept him in yellow for another day.
Cort got dropped a couple of times in the breakaway, but kept his pace and caught up to a gassed Schultz and Luis Leon Sanchez (Bahrain Victorious) to win Stage 10.
“It’s unbelievable, can’t believe what just happened today,” said a jubilant Cort. “I was on the limit for so long on this climb. Somehow, I was losing the group a couple of times in the last kilometers, and suddenly it was all back together and I was able to take it in the sprint.”
Preview Stage 11: Albertville > Col du Granon Serre Chevalier
Get ready for back-to-back, soul-crushing stages. Stage 11 is somewhat short at 151.7 km beginning in Albertville, but features two categorized climbs and two HC “uncategorized” climbs. The peloton faces the renowned Col du Telegraph and its Category 1, 12km ascent with a 7.1% grade. Then there’s the first HC climb atop the ass-kicking Col du Galibier with a 17.7km ascent and 6.9% grade. Stage 11 concludes with a summit finish after another devastating Category HC climb for 11.3 km to the top of Col du Granon with a steep 9.2% gradient.
Hot temperatures are Pogacar’s kryptonite. If it’s hot, then Vingegaard has a chance to drop the champ even though he prefers longer climbs. If not, Pogacar will extend his lead over Vingegaard and erase Kamna’s recent gains in Stage 10. Pogacar is +225 odds to conquer the HC climbs in Stage 11, while Vingegaard is +400 odds to win his first stage on Le Tour.
| 2022 Le Tour – Overall GC Standings |
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 37:11:28
- Lennard Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:11
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +0:39
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:17
- Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:25
Pogacar saw his overall Tour de France odds slip to -200 to secure a three-peat, while Vingegaard improved to +225 odds to win despite trailing by 39 seconds. There’s a huge gap between the top two on the futures board at DraftKings and the rest of the peloton.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos) are both +2200 odds to win Le Tour. Kamna is a breakaway specialist and not a climber, but he’s +10000 odds to pull off a staggering upset.
Check out more coverage of the 2022 Tour de France.
