So that’s that till tomorrow. Enjoy the evening.
And here’s our report of today’s stage.
🎬 Take a look back at the final kilometre in Sarran and 🇨🇭 @MarcHirschi's maiden Tour de France victory!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 10, 2020
🎬 Retrouvez le dernier kilomètre de l'arrivée à Sarran avec la toute première victoire sur le Tour de France de 🇨🇭 @MarcHirschi.#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/zFQkOhqO05
General classification
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 51:26:46
2 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 00:00:21
3 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 00:00:28
4 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 00:00:30
5 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 00:00:32
6 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling 00:00:32
7 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 00:00:44
8 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 00:01:02
9 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team 00:01:15
10 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 00:01:42
Today's result
1 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 5:08:49
2 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:00:47
3 Soren Kragh Andersen (Nor) Team Sunweb 0:00:52
4 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
5 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
6 Max Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
8 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
9 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:56
10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb
Stage 13 is another long un, 191.5km, which bare climbs. It looks a nice day out when you’re just looking at the scenery.
Julian Alaphilippe is disappointed by tried his best. He says he left it too late and Hirschi was too strong, but he’ll give it another go tomorrow.
I’m just remembering a stage of the Tour I did last term, during which I presided over the most Guardian row of all-time: which Alpine country has the best coastline/mountains/scran.
Twenty-two years old. Not bad.
If you prefer, Luke sends in his first answer in full: “It’s unbelievable, because I was two times really close, actually today, I never believed that I could make it ... I went full gas until the last 200 metres ... it just feels super nice, I can’t describe it ... it’s hard to find words. Actually I was always doubting, because I was super close, I had the pictures in my mind from the last two stages. The last kilometre, at last I believed I can make it. It’s hard to find words ... it couldn’t be better, it’s like a dream, it feels incredible.”
He knows he’s strong, so the win has given him confidence and extra power. “It’s really, really nice.”
“It’s unbelievable” says Hirschi. He’d come close twice so didn’t believe he could do it but went “full gas” and now feels “super-nice”. Even when he was aways, he was “always doubting” and is finding it hard to find the words to describe his first pro victory. “It’s just nice.” I’ll bet.
Thanks Luke, that was alright wasn’t it?
That was a special win. And a hugely popular one for this Tour de France newcomer, considering how painfully he missed out on stage nine a few days ago. A brilliant plan, superbly executed by Team Sunweb. Other teams felt the fireworks would come on the final climb - but they left it too late.
And that is all from me today - I will hand over to Daniel Harris now, who will bring you the reaction from today’s stage. Thanks for reading/emailing/tweeting and bye for now.
Marc Hirschi wins Tour de France stage 12!
The 22-year-old Swiss rider takes a stunning victory! He is the first Swiss Tour stage winner for eight years ... Team Sunweb took the initiative, rode brilliantly, and took a deserved success with some excellent teamwork.
Updated
2km to go: Hirschi was second on stage two and third on stage nine. He is very, very close to a stunning win. He has 54”. The bonus seconds on the final climb became immaterial because they were mopped up by non-GC riders in the break.
Updated
3km to go: The Swiss rider has 46”. It is in fact mostly an uphill drag to the finish, but it is not steep. The yellow jersey is 2’22” back down the road.
4km to go: 40” the gap for Hirschi.
Updated
5km to go: So much for any tiredness from Hirschi: He looks phenomenally strong, his cadence is high, he takes a drink ... and the gap is now 48”. He has a flattish run to the finish, and to the first win of his pro career!
Updated
6km to go: The chase group is breaking up - it looks like they have accepted they will not catch our leader. This would be a wonderful result for Marc Hirschi, who came so close on stage nine, but was pipped on the line in that thrilling final sprint by Tadej Pogacar.
8km to go: There is a lot of talk on TV that Sagan was trying to win the stage today, but this seems a classic example of bike racing tactics being so complex and sometimes impossible to decipher ... it looks very much like Bora-Hansgrohe were trying to set up Schachmann for the win. Although of course it’s possible they were trying to give themselves two options with Sagan in the mix too, potentially. Hirschi has 44”.
Updated
9km to go: Soler and Schachmann are caught, so there are 13 riders in the chase group. And 44” is the gap now! Hirschi is surely on his way?! Perhaps there is the first sign that he is starting to tire slightly as he labours up a section of false flat.
Updated
10km to go: Hirschi tucks in behind his handlebars on a descent, then hits a flat section and takes a drink. Alaphilippe tries to kick away from his chase group, attempting to bridge over to Soler and Schachmann, but he is not having much luck. The group swallows up Alaphilippe again. Now 39” for Hirschi.
13km to go: Hirschi has 36” on the nearest chase group (Soler and Schachmann) and 53” on the Alaphilippe group. This is another stunning ride from Hirschi, no matter what happens now.
Updated
17km to go: The benefits of riding solo on a hair-raising descent. Hirschi is stretching his lead little by little, he has 37” on the chasers now. He is looking very good for the win ... There is some more uphill to be negotiated, though, and this is by no means a fait accompli.
He has a minute on the Alaphilippe group - but Alaphilippe has now attacked solo to try, somehow, to bridge across ... (I previously said that Alaphilippe was in the second group, but that was not correct. He has about a minute to make up which is going to be tough.)
Updated
19km to go: “Hirshy” is motoring up front - not literally of course - but he is riding fast and is 100 per cent committed for this win. He has managed to stretch his advantage to 34”. Is this his day?
Updated
20km to go: Harsh, but funny from Barry Rahmy on email: “For a country which supposedly venerates the Tour and bicycles in general, there’s a shocking ignorance of frame geometry in the field art. Every bike made out of hay bales and agricultural products looks like a cheap BMX run over by a farm lorry.”
23km to go: Much like stage nine, we are now watching Sunweb’s Marc Hirschi storming solo down a high-speed final descent. That ninth stage was a classic, and this has all the makings of one ... The 22-year-old Hirschi has 1’32” on the main bunch and 23” on the chase group.
Updated
25km to go: Hirschi crests the final climb. The chasing duo is 20” behind. A larger third group, further behind, includes Pierre Rolland, Elissonde, and Nico Roche.
#TDF2020
— Team Sunweb (@TeamSunweb) September 10, 2020
After great work from @TiesjBenoot and @kraghsoren, @MarcHirschi now puts the power down and goes on the attack for us!💥 pic.twitter.com/qcRj7UOrFe
Updated
27km to go: Suddenly animated, Alaphilippe is dragging a few other riders, including a couple of teammates, towards the top of the final climb. Hirschi is on a flat section of the final climb but not yet at the top. He now has 1’14” on the bunch and 43” on the chasers.
Updated
27km to go: Hirschi has distanced Soler and Schachmann on the climb. He is looking really strong. Surely, though, he won’t be able to hold off the chasers and the peloton on his own from this far out?
Sagan has been dropped from the main bunch. The Schachmann theory from earlier appears to have been validated, anyway. Now Alaphilippe attacks from the front of the bunch!
Updated
28km to go: The leading six now have an advantage of 39”. Commentator’s curse on Benoot, who looks to have done his turn for the day, and drops off the back. Soler hits out again at the front, but Hirschi reacts, counterattacks and comes past Soler. Can he get his stage win today? He still has 2.5km of climbing to go before the descent and the rolling terrain until the finish. We will have 26km of flat-out racing to go after the summit of this climb.
Updated
30km to go: Suc au May, a climb that has never before been used at the Tour, is 3.8 km long and averages 7.7% gradient. It should suit a rider like Benoot quite well, the 2018 winner of Strade Bianche. Hirschi and Soren Kragh Andersen are there with him.
33km to go: The front six are tearing down a beautiful sun-dappled descent. Not that they have time to take in the scenery. They are on the limit, as are the group behind.
Updated
37km to go: It’s all go at the front. A group of six leads. Three Team Sunweb riders including Marc Hirschi, Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Quentin Pacher of B&B Hotels–Vital Concept are there. The six are 38” ahead of the main bunch. Another group - including Sagan I think - is about 14 seconds down on the leaders. They are all speeding towards the final climb of the day, Suc au May.
Updated
40km to go: There are no time gaps on the TV at the moment, but Soler has just attacked off the front, and several riders are trying to get across to the Sunweb pair just behind. Soler crests the climb and takes two points in the KOM competition. Kenny Ellissonde, the former Ineos man who is now with Trek-Segafredo, is trying to make a move and join Soler. Meanwhile, Peter Sagan is present in the large group of riders that has distanced the main bunch.
Updated
42km to go: This climb is 3.8 km long and we still have more than 1.5km of climbing to go. It’s Soren Kragh Andersen who is up front, for Sunweb, with Benoot and Soler. The next 40km or so is going to be very, very lively indeed and there are tonnes of riders who fancy this.
Updated
43km to go: The bunch is on the penultimate climb. Asgreen and Erviti are caught by Tiesj Benoot and another Team Sunweb rider, who have made a move off the front. Asgreen puts in a huge effort to stay on the wheel of the two Sunweb riders as they ride by. Marc Soler (Movistar Team) makes a dart to try and get with the Sunweb riders.
Updated
44km to go: Asgreen, wearing the Danish national champion’s jersey, and Movistar Team’s Erviti are now up front on their own. But they only have 23” on the main bunch.
There are bonus seconds on offer on the final climb, by the way, which adds another layer of intrigue to what is shaping up to be an exciting finish.
Updated
47km to go: As the gap between break and peloton falls to 30”, Asgreen bursts away with Erviti on a small uncategorised climb. Behind, the peloton is strung out, the pace is getting higher and higher as the teams who are going for the stage win start to put their plans into action. As a result, a gruppetto has formed behind the lead group, with the likes of Sam Bennett dropped.
Brian Smith, on commentary for Eurosport, reckons Asgreen is trying to set it up for Alaphilippe, and maybe help out his teammate if and when he launches an attack from the main bunch.
Updated
54km to go: The category-three Côte de la Croix du Pey is coming up shortly. The summit of the climb arrives with 40.6 km still left to race. Jumbo-Visma are prominent near the front of the peloton, which is fanned out across the road. CCC Team and Bora-Hansgrohe are there, as they have been all day, and Deceuninck - Quick-Step are there or thereabouts too. The gap is 1’12”. You would have thought that the peloton will want to bring this all back together before the final climb.
Updated
55km to go: The breakaway is starting to splinter. The gap is back down to 1’15”, and the stronger riders up front are looking to push on.
60km to go: A good tale from Le Tour’s race updates:
“The last time Sarran hosted the Tour de France, current race director Thierry Gouvenou, riding for BigMat, crossed the line dead last 38 minutes after stage winner Jens Voigt. The Frenchman remembers that day very well: “I crashed along with about twenty riders. I believe I was out of time cut but we had been reinstated in the classification. I had nothing broken but I was badly injured. I resumed racing with a lot of bandages. I continued the Tour because there were only a few days left.” It was stage 16. The most affected rider was Sven Montgomery who had a broken face. Four other riders crashed out in that downhill to Tulle: Chente Garcia, Jens Heppner, Marc Wauters and Oscar Pozzi.
A broken face? Poor Sven. But that is bike racing. At the back of the bunch, Thomas De Gendt is pictured riding along looking pretty relaxed. He has had a quiet Tour in terms of going for stage wins so far, by his own usual standards.
Updated
63km to go: “I can’t see anything else but a very aggressive final here,” says Kelly on Eurosport.
Bring it on!
65km to go: Breaking news via another email from Toon Helsen:
“Seeing as it’s a bit of a quiet stretch now, I thought the honourable readers and followers of the Guardian deserved to know that my parents live right next to close family members of Wout van Aert. Nice people them. Wout himself drives a Porsche.”
A lot of pro bike riders drive sports cars, don’t they? Mark Cavendish for one. Adam Hansen for another.
The gap is down to 1’38”.
Updated
67km to go: Cycling’s most beautiful race? It’s in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. But for me it would a toss-up between Il Lombardia and Strade Bianche.
Which is the most beautiful race @LukeMcLaughlin?
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) September 10, 2020
The Giro has the spectacular scenery, but the Tour has so many towns en fête and tributes like that to Pou-Pou.
Amongst the classics, there's the coastline of Milan-San Remo and I love the brick-housed streets of Liège.
68km to go:
@LukeMcLaughlin Good afternoon! I'm over the disappointment of Pinot's latest tilt at the GC. Hopefully he will be feeling far better after a couple of days nestled in the Peleton. Now, he'll get a proper stomp on up the bigger mountains to some deserved stage wins. Brilliant!
— MaliciousA (@MaliciousA) September 10, 2020
No one would begrudge Thibaut Pinot a stage win or two but I am not so sure. It sounds like he was very bashed up by that stage-one crash, with deep bruising in his lower back. Will he be feeling good enough at any point to try and win stages? I guess he and the team think there is a chance, otherwise he would just pack it in now.
70km to go: Nothing to report - the gap is 1’55”, the next climb is coming up in about 20km, and Kelly is discussing the price of a bale of hay with Kirby.
73km to go: Kirby says this beautiful rolling countryside is reminiscent of parts of Ireland. His co-commentator Sean Kelly agrees - unlike a couple of days ago, when Bradley Wiggins said Sam Bennett ‘can almost be considered British’, which was a weird one, however you look at it.
Updated
77km to go: Glancing around the breakaway there are no other grand tour stage winners beyond Léon Sánchez. Nils Pollitt (Israel Start Up Nation) finished second at Paris-Roubaix last year, riding for Katusha-Alpecin, which was a phenomenal ride and a performance that alerted the cycling world to exactly how strong he is.
Asgreen won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne earlier this year, pre-Covid-19, while Walscheid won the Münsterland Giro in 2018. Neither Erviti nor Burgudeau have ever won a pro race, as far as I can see.
Updated
78km to go: Here’s a video of that brilliant field art of Raymond Poulidor:
⏮ En detalle uno de los preciosos homenajes a Poupou 💛 que hemos podido ver al paso por Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat😍#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/1E3yj5DSqu
— Tour de France COL (@letour_col) September 10, 2020
82km to go: The stylish Spaniard Luis León Sánchez (Astana Pro Team), up in the breakaway, has already won four Tour de France stages in his career. His last victory came on stage 14 all the way back in 2012, though, on a stage between Limoux and Foix.
85km to go: Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) picked up nine points in the green jersey competition earlier, for being seventh across the line at the intermediate sprint. The top of that competition now looks like this:
Sam Bennett - 252 pts
Peter Sagan - 182 pts
Bryan Coquard - 155 pts
The gap is 1’40” on the road. Sean Kelly, on Eurosport, observes: “The breakaway will be very disappointed with this, with the effort they have put in ... we are going to see a big battle [for the stage win] and it could be a GC day.”
Updated
90km to go: After an all-action start, the race has settled. The gap between break and peloton is 2’00”. Bora-Hansgrohe and CCC Team are working together to control the gap, which is nice for Jumbo-Visma, who so far are having a relatively easy day near the front, but not at the front, of the peloton.
The breakaway riders:
Luis León Sánchez (Astana Pro Team)
Imanol Erviti (Movistar Team)
Max Walscheid (NTT Pro Cycling)
Nils Politt (Israel Start-Up Nation)
Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Direct Énergie)
Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step)
Updated
96.5km to go: The breakaway - who look to have accepted that they will not be allowed enough rope to fight for this stage win - are going across the top of the second climb, the Côte d’Eybouleuf. There is no competition for the KOM point.
Some of the riders are having a bite to eat. One rider lobs a food bag to the side of the road, where it’s caught by a spectator. A decent little souvenir for one lucky fan.
Updated
97km to go: A superb tribute to Raymond Poulidor, who passed away last year:
The race is passing through Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, the hometown of the late Raymond Poulidor. And what an exquisite piece of #TourFieldArt on the football pitch in the middle of the old velodrome. Full marks is only there were moving components... 9.5/10 #TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/ZZAPsIseOZ
— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) September 10, 2020
99km to go: An email from Blackflame Solutions: “Ineos will undoubtedly be strong in the final week, as all Brailsford’s teams are. But Roglic really needs to have an awful third week to lose this Tour, and even if Bernal is in yellow, the TT on the penultimate day has 15km of flattish roads, and another 15 of undulation before that final 6km climb. Roglic could nab back a minute or two there.”
100km to go: The gap is 2’08”. As well as Bora-Hansgrohe, who are riding for Sagan, Schachmann or perhaps both, CCC Team are also visible at the front. In theory they have two cards to play today, at least, with Greg Van Avermaet and Matteo Trentin.
103km to go: There is some golden footage in this tribute to Raymond Poulidor, AKA Poupou:
💛 Tribute to Raymond Poulidor, Poupou, as we are near Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. 💛
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 10, 2020
💛 Le #TDF2020 approche de Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, la ville d'un grand monsieur du cyclisme: Poupou. 💛#TDFunited pic.twitter.com/Bg4LyALXo3
106km to go: Burgaudeau took the solitary KOM point atop the first climb of the day. Now Colin Goodlad emails in: “While reprehensible I’m not sure enough has been made of Sagan’s bike handling skills to shove someone that hard at that speed and stay upright.”
Equally Van Aert’s, I suppose ... it’s hardly the first time we’ve seen Sagan use his shoulders, and other body parts, in a bunch sprint.
Updated
108km to go: The gap has risen to 2’44” between peloton and break. Meanwhile, Tom Paternoster-Howe emails: “... of greater interest is why Jumbo-Visma have ridden so hard that Dumoulin is now out of contention for GC. A big part of the reason Sky/Ineos were so successful over the last 8 years is that not only did they have their main contender clearly selected and supported, but the backup rider was also supported and only had to work for the leader in the highest mountains, so they stayed in contention for GC (similar to other teams in the past). That way if the backup rider attacked, the non-Sky/Ineos GC contenders had to expend energy chasing him, whereas now if Dumoulin were to attack in the Alps, Bernal & the other GC contenders could safely ignore him and thus save energy for when Roglic attacks. It seems quite a mistake to me, to have overplayed their hand in the first week like that, and not the sort of mistake an experienced team like Jumbo should have made.”
111km to go: Dan emails: “This obsession with one race in France is a bit odd. Most cycling fans are as interested in the one day classics and in the Giro and Vuelta as they are in the Tour. It will be a real feather in Thomas’s cap if he can win something other than the Tour. Meantime, shouldn’t the conversation have moved onto cheese by now?”
Good call Dan, we will bring the curtain down on the Ineos debate. As for this race, just finally, it would not surprise me in the slightest if Bernal and his team emerge as the strongest in the final week, and Brailsford’s selection and tactics are proved spot-on once again.
112km to go: Toon Helsen emails: “On Thomas & Froome being in less than stellar shape at the Dauphiné; you could argue this was the case for many of today’s GC contenders at the Tour. Historically, cycling fans clamour that being out of form in the Dauphiné is a good sign because one wants to peak at the tour, rather than peaking at the Dauphine and losing form over the course of the Tour.”
Historically perhaps, but I don’t think that holds anymore. As you know Wiggins, Froome and Thomas have all won the Dauphiné directly before winning the Tour. So it’s become a bit of a Team Sky/Team Ineos/Ineos Grenadiers tradition in recent years.
114km to go: Asgreen, of Deceuninck - Quick-Step, leads the breakaway up the Côte de Saint-Martin-Terressus. The gap between break and peloton holds at 1’55”.
Updated
115km to go: Mark Seddon weighs in: “To respond to Alistair Connor’s rant, he really should have read Jeremy Whittle’s interview with GT before sounding off. Sample quote: “I could have gone and done a job, but there’s also other guys in the team that can do that job.” Froome has also admitted that he hadn’t recovered well enough to really contribute at the Tour (his efforts at the Dauphiné showed how far away he was).”
117km to go: There is plenty of pace in the peloton as they chase this six-man break. The gap is yo-yo-ing a bit, and is currently just under two minutes. Meanwhile, the break are nearly at the first categorised climb of the day, the Côte de Saint-Martin-Terressus, which is a category four.
118km to go: Keith Aitchison emails: “Brailsford knows what he’s doing, Thomas and Froome were in crap shape at the Dauphiné and didn’t deserve to be picked in what has to be a team with a single focus without any distractions.”
120km to go: An alternative theory on Bora’s tactics today. Schachmann for the win?
Bora are riding for Schachmann, not Sagan..
— Ian (@cyclingbetting) September 10, 2020
121km to go: Ilnur Zakarin (CCC Team) has abandoned. He crashed in the neutralised zone yesterday, and apparently broke a rib.
122km to go: Luke Harris emails in to add to the Geraint Thomas debate: “I think you are right, leaving Sky for another team back in 2018 would have been a good move. As you say, at that point he was unlikely to be Sky/Ineos leader for another Tour, even in 2018 he benefited from Froome having done the Giro so was considered an option as leader if as it turned out he had better form.
“Now though it is a bit more interesting. I think at this stage of his career he is unlikely to win another tour with or without Ineos, why not think about adding the Vuelta or Giro to his palmarès? I think that is just as prestigious as winning the Tour twice. Assuming his relationship with Ineos and their faith in him are still good, then it is perfectly possible they will consider him as team leader for the Vuelta or Giro over the next couple of years. Wouldn’t he stand a much better chance of winning with Ineos behind him than with another team?”
Froome will target the Vuelta and Thomas the Giro this season, but as for next season, who knows? Regarding Alistair Connor’s email, I guess their non-selection for the Tour quite simply came down to a lack of form. It certainly makes sense to give Froome a bit more time to complete his recovery following last year’s crash.
On the telly, meanwhile, Carlton Kirby says we might get some rain later in today’s stage.
Updated
129km to go: I can’t really mention the loose pony at the Tour of Poland without posting the video, can I?
A little horsing around at @Tour_de_Pologne today... 🐴 🚴#TDP2017 pic.twitter.com/iSmF9viEws
— Team Novo Nordisk (@teamnovonordisk) August 3, 2017
131km to go: Alistair Connor emails: “It’s preposterous for Ineos to have TWO former winners on the staff and not select them. While they were probably not fully match fit and not serious GC contenders, they would have made first-class team members; and more importantly, excluding them is disrespecting the public, and the race itself. And serving the sponsor pretty poorly too.
“Both Thomas and Froome are stars, and the public loves them. And even if Brailsford excluded them on purely sporting grounds, he’s wrong there too: they are both master tacticians and stage-winners, especially when freed from GC concerns.
“I think Brailsford is running his outfit into the ground, and any sensible top-end rider should flee.”
133km to go: Over at Tirreno-Adriatico, we have some horses in the road. I’ve seen horses run alongside the peloton before, in an adjacent field, but in the road? I guess there was that loose pony at the Tour of Poland a few years ago. The gap has grown to 2’28” with our six-man break working well together.
Hier sur @TirrenAdriatico 😂 😂
— Team Total Direct Energie (@TDE_ProCycling) September 10, 2020
🎥 @BricheteauV#TirrenoAdriatico pic.twitter.com/hdCKlQjXuk
Updated
142km to go: Oss still riding on the front. The gap to the six-man breakaway is down to 1’42”.
Luis León Sánchez (Astana), Imanol Erviti (Movistar Team), Max Walscheid (NTT Pro Cycling) and Nils Politt (Israel Start-Up Nation), Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Direct Énergie) and Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) are the riders up front.
Updated
144km to go: All looking very focused and businesslike, Jumbo-Visma ride with the race leader Primoz Roglic at the front of the peloton. I say at the front - there are actually two Bora-Hansgrohe riders working in front of them.
One of the fascinating questions about the rest of this overall race is: Have Jumbo-Visma done too much work for too little reward in the early stages? Can they maintain their dominance into the third and final week? Or will Team Ineos and Egan Bernal emerge as the strongest on the way to Paris?
Updated
145km to go: How long was the longest ever stage on the Tour de France? Clue: It was very long.
Updated
148km to go: Fields of sunflowers: a photographic Tour de France staple, even in September ...
😍 PIC OF THE DAY 😍
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 9, 2020
by @century21fr #TDF2020
📸 A.S.O / Ashley Gruber - Jered Gruber pic.twitter.com/Z9ppS26Ijf
The gap to the break is 2’00”. Everything has settled down just a bit - the riders know that this is going to be incredibly hard when the climbs arrive, so they can’t go flat-out all day.
Updated
150km to go: Speaking on Eurosport, commentator Daniel Lloyd insists that Peter Sagan will not give up on the green jersey, despite yesterday’s difficulties. What did you think of the punishment for Sagan? I initially thought it was a bit harsh, but having rewatched it on the highlights, I think it was probably right.
Updated
153km to go: Please excuse the video filmed off my telly - but this aerial shot, from yesterday’s stage, was remarkable:
Well ... that was cool ✈️🇫🇷 #TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/Tqrk2Xl4Nn
— Luke McLaughlin (@LukeMcLaughlin) September 9, 2020
155km to go: When I said the two riders trying to bridge across were not making headway, I was wrong. Asgreen and his buddy Burgaudeau have made it across to the break, so now we have six men up front. Deceuninck - Quick-Step may be planning to set up Julian Alaphilippe later for the win, so having a man in the break will not hurt. The gap is 1’32”.
Updated
160km to go: Those four categorised climbs today should spice things up considerably as the longest stage of today’s race rolls on.
The Côte de Saint-Martin-Terressus is up first, a category four which peaks with 113.9 km still left to race. Then comes the the Côte d’Eybouleuf (category four, 96.9 km to go), Côte de la Croix du Pey (category three, 40.6 km to go), and finally the Suc au May (category two, 26 km to go).
The gap is 2’00”. The peloton’s plan is clearly to keep this break on a relatively short leash. The pace has been high, which on such a long stage is probably a good thing for all concerned on such a mammoth stage.
Updated
164km to go: A nice photo of the four-man break, courtesy of NTT Pro Cycling’s Twitter:
🇨🇵 #TDF2020@MaxWalscheid having fun out front @LeTour!
— NTT Pro Cycling (@NTTProCycling) September 10, 2020
A.S.O./Alex Broadway pic.twitter.com/5R6Fxv6PMm
167km to go: The German rider Pollitt takes maximum points at the day’s intermediate sprint, which is uncontested by his breakaway companions.
Sam Bennett of Deceuninck - Quick-Step, wearing the green jersey, is first across the line from the main peloton and takes nine points. His teammate Michael Morkov, having led him out, takes eight points, and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) takes seven points.
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170km to go: Do get in touch with any thoughts on today’s stage or anything else cycling-related.
There are some interesting quotes in that Thomas interview by Jeremy Whittle. In my opinion, Thomas’s current situation shows why leaving Sky and signing for the likes of Trek-Segafredo in 2018 would have been a high-risk but potentially high-reward move. He was always likely to fall behind in the GC pecking order while riding for the richest team in the sport.
Meanwhile, the gap between peloton and break is 2’11”, and the two riders trying to get across aren’t making much headway. They are 1’03” behind the leaders.
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173km to go: Daniel Oss, of Bora-Hansgrohe, is working on the front of the peloton along with the rest of the Bora-Hansgrohe team. The intermediate sprint is coming up in about six kilometres. The gap between break and peloton has come down slightly, to 1’45”. Asgreen and Burgaudeau are still gamely trying to get across.
It will be interesting to see if the pace drops in the peloton after this intermediate sprint. It is looking likely that it’s going to be another day ‘on’, rather than a nice chilled ride for the peloton ...
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A bit of mid-stage reading for you - an exclusive with Geraint Thomas, the 2018 champion.
“The Welshman’s non-selection by team manage Dave Brailsford was a shock to many but Thomas dismissed rumours that he had refused to ride in support of teammate and 2019 Tour winner, Egan Bernal.
“It’s nothing against Egan,” Thomas said in response to that suggestion. “It’s not like I’m throwing my toys out of the pram. But these last few years — I want to make the most of them.””
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182km to go: It’s been a flat-out start to proceedings today with plenty of riders trying to break away from the main bunch and earn the right to fight for the stage win. At the moment, four riders have successfully done so and it’s a potent group, too: Luis León Sánchez (Astana), Imanol Erviti (Movistar Team), Max Walscheid (NTT Pro Cycling) and Nils Politt (Israel Start-Up Nation).
They have a lead of 1’48” over the peloton. Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Direct Énergie) and Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) are trying to bridge across. If a powerhouse like Asgreen makes it across to the escape group, that would massively boost their chances of staying away.
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Preamble
The longest stage of this year’s Tour de France will offer us several storylines: the peloton’s breakaway specialists are itching to make their escape and fight for a stage win, the maillot jaune Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) will be determined to keep his overall lead, while Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) will be desperate to try and reboot his green jersey campaign after yesterday’s relegation for barging Wout van Aert in the bunch sprint.
And of course, despite a gruelling stage which features four categorised climbs, it might all come back together for a bunch sprint at the end, too. It’s been an intense start already and four riders have formed a breakaway which has around a minute. Details to follow ...
