Stage 10 report
Sam Bennett cried salty tears of joy after winning his first Tour de France stage, while Primoz Roglic remains in the race leader’s jersey. Jeremy Whittle has the details from an eventful stage on the flat ...
The top 10 on General Classification
It’s as you were at the sharp end of the General Classification, where Primoz Roglic remains in the race-leader’s yellow jersey.
Sam Bennett speaks: “I don’t think it’s hit me,” he says. “I forgot to throw the bike at the line and I thought he’d got me.”
Upon being assured he has won the stage, he is overcome with emotion and starts weeping. “ I just want to thank everyone that’s been involved,” he says. “I want to thank the whole team. I want to thank my wife and everyone around me. You dream of this and you never think it will happen. It took me a while for it to hit me. I’m sorry, I don’t want to be a cry baby.”
Winning time: Bennett wins the stage in 3hr 35min 22sec.
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Bennett wins! The Irishman takes the stage win and the green jersey, beating Caleb Ewan by about one-third of a wheel. Peter Sagan was just behind the pair in third.
SAM BENNETT WINS!!!
The Irishman holds on to win his first ever stage of the Tour de France. He got a brilliant lead-out from Michael Morkov and did brilliantly to hold off Caleb Ewan. Peter Sagan finished third.
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1km to go: Elia Viviani gets on Cees Bol’s wheel as Sunweb continue their lead-out for the Dutchman.
3km to go: The GC teams are now free to sit up and drop, should they wish to do so. Sunweb have set up a train of seven riders for the benefit of their sprinter Cees Bol. Behind them, Sam Bennett and Peter Sagan are keeping tabs on each other.
4km to go: The riders are pedalling into a very strong headwind. Sunweb move up on the right side of the road,
5km to go: Grondahl Jansen continues to make the pace at the front of the peloton for Jumbo-Visma. “The GC teams are where they want to be and the sprinters’ team are where they want to be, so at the moment everyone is just biding their time,” says David Millar on ITV.
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7km to go: George Bennett and Peter Sagan are both in good positions as we approach the business end of today’s stage. There are four Jumbo-Visma riders in single file at the front, with Ineos tucked in just behind them.
9km to go: Roglic and two of his Jumbo-Visma team-mates are back at the front, occupying positions one, two and three. Once they get to the three-kilometre mark they can relax as all riders in the peloton at that point will get the same time, regardless of how many seconds they are behind the stage winner.
10km to go: Roglic is brought back closer to the front, where all the other major GC contenders are settled. Movistar have three riders forming an arrowhead at the front of the peloton.
12km to go: The peloton rolls off the bridge and negotiates a right turn at a roundabout. Primoz Roglic and his Jumbo-Visma team-mates make a complete pig’s ear of it and go from the front of the bunch to about 40 places back.
14km to go: Stefan Kung attacks off the front of the bunch but is quickly caught.
15km to go: The peloton hits the bridge.
16km to go: There’s another crash which prompts about a dozen riders at the back of the bunch to come off their bikes.
18km to go: The peloton is out of La Rochelle and approaches the bridge to Ile De Re with Jumbo-Visma in control. The bunch is being buffeted by crosswinds and is breaking up again.
23km to go: Team Sunweb are at the front of the bunch on the right, while Ineos are on the left. They’re going so fast that numerous riders are being spat out the back.
25km to go: Warren Barguil and a team-mate are trying to get back to the peloton but seem to be making little or no progress because the bunch is going so fast.
Run through La Rochelle is soooo technical.
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) September 8, 2020
27km to go: The peloton is really strung out as they negotiate a narrow Rochelle road full of twists and turns . Deceuninck–Quick-Step rider Kasper Asgreen is doing a mighty pull at the front of the peloton.
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28km to go: There’s another small crash in the middle of the peloton. Warren Barguil is one of those who goes down.
Intermediate sprint result
1. Matteo Trentin (20 points)
2. Peter Sagan (17)
3. Sam Bennett (15)
4. Michael Morkov (13)
5. Bryan Coquard (11)
6. Haller (10)
7. Colbrelli (9)
8. Benoot (8)
9. Amador (7)
10. Martinez (6)
11. Bilbao (5)
12. Casper Pedersen (4)
13. Consonni (3)
14. Castroviejo (2)
15. Keukeleire (1)
An email: “Re: Coquard hurting himself falling on his radio,” writes Luke Harrison. “I had already noticed that some riders (I don’t know if it is team specific) ride with the ugly looking bulge from the radio on their back and thought that could be painful in a crash.
“I wonder why it seems to be just some riders, where do the all the others put their radio? Do they have different technology or just prefer to just shove it down their shorts?”
While I am happy to stand corrected, I think some wear them to one side, at the back but kind of tucked under their ribs. THat could also result in excruciating pain in the event of a crash, you’d imagine, depending on how you land. Surely they could make race radios out of marshmallow or sponge? Or race radios with airbags? One for Dragon’s Den, perhaps?
Intermediate sprint: Sam Bennett keeps his powder dry as Matteo Trentin wins, Peter Sagan comes second and he comes third. He’s obviously conserving his energy for the finish, but said this morning he hoped he’d be there or thereabouts at the end of the stage, but wasn’t sure if he’d have the legs to win it. Trentin is third in the green jersey stakes.
40km to go: An Ineos rider pulls a few metres clear of the front of the bunch, snatches a bidon from one of his team soigneurs and promptly drops it in front of the approaching bunch while trying to put it in its cage. It doesn’t bring anyone down.
41km to go: The teams of various sprinters are getting their ducks in a row near the front of the bunch ahead of the peloton. Peter Sagan is in the green jersey, seven points ahead of Ireland’s Sam Bennett. There are 20 points available for the winner of the intermediate sprint, plus another 50 for the winner of the stage.
AN EMAIL: “Pont of order,” writes Brian Holt, following my apparent misidentification of a bridge. “Viaduc de Martrou, not Pont de Ré.”
49km to go: It’s only a few kilometres to the intermediate sprint with the peloton tightly bunched at the front but strung out at the back.
56km to go: Cofidis rider Guillaume Martin makes it back to the sanctuary of the peloton.
60km to go: Cofidis leader Martin Guillaume took a spill and is currently being paced back to the bunch by several teammates.
B&B Hotels–Vital Concept rider Bryan Coquard also went down and appears to have hurt his back by landing on his race radio, as well as cutting his elbow. He took something from the race doctor for the pain in his back and in is now trying to get back in touch with the bunch.
63km to go: Twisting roads through towns and villages with plenty of street furniture are making for a very twitchy and nervous peloton. One rider, I think it’s UAE Team Emirates’ David De La Cruz looks like’s he’s just cycled through a coal cellar and several barbed wire fences. He’s covered in grime and his duds are ripped - I’m having difficulty making out his race number.
64km to go: Another crash and another 15 or 20 riders go down after one of their number clips a traffic island. None seem seriously hurt, but plenty need mechanical assistance.
70km to go: The riders have gone through the feed zone and are taking some sustenance on board. A couple at the front raise their hands to signal the presence of road furniture in the form of a couple of traffic islands ahoy!
74km to go: Nicolas Roche took a heavy fall in that most recent crash, but there’s no word yet that he’s abandoned. I can only conclude he has soldiered on until I hear otherwise.
77km to go: The peloton continues to barrel along at a fairly sedate pace to that of earlier. At the back, Trek-Segafredo rider Toms Skuijns is getting rolling repairs on some cuts he sustained in a fall. His shorts are in tatters. It looks like he’s wearing lycra chaps.
An email: “Has anybody within the organisation of the Tour de France (or any of the participants) had any thoughts on the supporters without face-masks lining the sides of the road, sometimes yelling into the cyclists faces from a foot away?” asks Simone Kamp. “It’s inexcusable and an absolute miracle that none of the cyclists has tested positive.”
It is indeed inexcusable, Simone. And selfish, and thoughtless ... but that’s people for you. Plenty of riders have had lots to say about it, but nothing seems to have been done. I’m not sure what can be done.
As for it being a miracle none of the riders tested positive - call me a cynic, but I can’t be the only one who doesn’t really believe in miracles when it comes to cyclists undergoing tests of various kinds and getting negative results. I still laugh about all the abuse I used to get from Lance fanboys writing in to criticise my scepticism back in the days when he was a regular fixture in these live dispatches. I don’t think he ever failed a test either. At least, not officially.
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89km to go: The peloton has reassembled and will negotiate a turn that will take them into a headwind in a kilometre or so.
92km to go: Mitchelton-Scott rider Sam Bewley abandons on his debut Tour. As I said previously, it looked to me like he might have broken his wrist. He was standing on the roadside, clutching it gingerly and roaring in a mixture of frustration and pain.
96km to go: Cofidis, Jumbo-Visma and Groupama-FDJ are riding hard at the front of the peloton, where all the main GC contenders are safely ensconced. Neilson Powless, Mads Pedersen, Nico Roche, Robert Gesink and Sam Bewley were all caught in that crash.
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97km to go: Mitchelton-Scott rider Sam Bewley also looks bashed up, like he might have broken his wrist. Other medical opinions are available.
99km to go: There’s a crash in the lead bunch and about 20 riders hit the deck, the riders going down across the road like dominos. Team Sunweb’s Irish rider Nicolas Roche is one of the fallers and looks a bit shook.
Team Sunweb’s Nicolas Roche. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images
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100km to go: The peloton has fractured into three distinct groups, but nobody of any significance appears to have been caught out. Thibaut Pinot is in a small group off the back but won’t care too much as he’s well out of contention.
102km to go: The peloton has taken a right turn into a crosswind and was briefly strung out in single file and broken up. Deceuninck-Quick-Step are at the front, making the pace. Our two-man breakaway is about to be caught.
109km to go: The peloton is on a wide stretch of road, allowing everyone to take their chance to get to the front. On ITV, former Sky rider Pete Kennaugh describes it as a washing-machine effect, with each new set of riders getting to the front prompting those they’ve left behind to pedal even faster to try to overtake them before the road gets more narrow. The gap is in to 36 seconds.
111km to go: The peloton is going at a ferocious lick as the wind whips up a bit, with everyone desperate to be at the front.
114km to go: Primoz Roglic’s Jumbo-Visma teams have been at the front of the peloton from the gun, conspicuous on the right-hand side of the road in their yellow and black jerseys. The gap is 1min 06sec.
Name that breakaway: “Kung and Schar - a sublime deep house duo responsible for a slew of classic releases on Strictly Rhythm much favoured by Lil Louie Vega back in the day,” writes Chris Collinson.
117km to go: A very tight rein indeed. The gap is now under a minute. The average speed for the first hour of the race was 49km per hour. The reason? The teams of GC riders are all eager to stay at the front just in case of winds that might splinter the peloton.
124km to go: Messrs Kung and Schar are being kept on a tight rein by the peloton, who are just 1min 26sec behind them.
133km to go: Today’s stage isn’t quite as straightforward as it seems. While the wind blowing in from the Atlantic could wreak minor or major havoc if it’s whipped up, the peloton will be passing through several small towns and villages today that aren’t particularly well equipped for the Tour.
Focus and concentration will be required as there’ll be lots of narrow streets boasting roundabouts and other street furniture to negotiate.
135km to go: The stage is flatter than a pint of lager that’s been left out in the sun for three days, the wind is low, the temperature is a warm 24 degrees celsius and the average speed of the riders is 52km per hour. The gap between our two-man breakaway and the bunch is 1min 45sec.
149km to go: Kung and Schar are still together, having opened a gap of 1min 41sec over the bunch.
More on Christian Prudhomme’s positive covid-19 test: While the race director is obliged under French law to self-isolate for seven days, so is anyone who has come into contact with him in recent days.
While Prudhomme wasn’t in the official Tour bubble, despite his duties as official daily starter, he is a great PR man who is never slow when it comes to shaking hands and chatting to people. One of those who has definitely been in contact with him in recent days is the French prime minister, Jean Castex, who spent all day Saturday in a car with Prudhomme.
An early attack: Two Swiss riders, Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) and Michael Schar (CCC) have peeled off the front of the bunch and opened a gap of 1min 02sec as they cross the Oleron Bridge, which is nearly three kilometres long.
Another withdrawal: NTT rider Domenico Pozzovivo has not started today’s stage, having failed to recover sufficiently from injuries he suffered in the chaotic opening stage of this year’s race.
“I didn’t want to leave the Tour without seeing if my body could recover during the course of the race but the pain every day has been incredible,” he said. “Added to that the risk of crashing again and causing even greater harm is simply too great. I’m going to focus now on recovering as quickly as possible and then look towards my next goal which will be hopefully the Giro d’Italia.
“I’ve tried to give my absolute best and have had incredible support from my team here for which I want to thank everyone involved. I wish them all the very best for the rest of the race.”
Well, you can’t say he didn’t give himself every chance. Pozzovivo becomes the 11th rider to leave this year’s Tour for one reason or another, leaving 165 in the field.
The weather: It’s 24 degrees celsius with barely a breeze in Ile d’Oleron. Wit much of today’s stage being along the coast, cross-winds could wreak havoc should they materialise. I attended a fairly similar stage that finished in Zeeland in the Netherlands in 2015, where the wind caused all kinds of problems for the riders on only their second day of that year’s race.
The riders roll-out: And will travel around seven kilometres from Château d’OIéron before being given the signal to start racing. In the absence of Christian Prudhomme, who will now have to self-isolate for seven days after testing positive for Covid-19, Francois Lemarchand will take his place in the lead car.
The jersey-wearers ...
- Yellow: Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)
- Green: Peter Sagan (Bora Hangrohe)
- Polka-dot: Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale)
- White: Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
These Tour Covid-19 tests: After an initial declaration that nobody had tested positive, it’s since been revealed that four teams have had a member of their backroom staff leave the Tour bubble. Race director Christian Prudhomme is also being widely reported to have tested positive. The riders are due to roll out for today’s stage in about 20 minutes.
But what about the race director?
There are unconfirmed whisperings from France that race director Christian Prudhomme is not at the start this morning because he has tested positive for Covid-19. Reports suggest he is being re-tested. Should he test positive again, somebody else will need to do the important job of emerging from the sun-roof of the official Tour Skoda to wave a flag and signal to the riders to start racing.
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Race director Christian Prudhomme’s thoughts on today’s stage: Two islands linked by a stage of the Tour, that’s already a first for the peloton that will find it hard to make it bunched to Saint-Martin-de-Ré.
The stage will be marked by the Vauban buildings in Royan, Rochefort or La Rochelle, but also by a course mainly set by the sea… and the crossing of marshlands swept by wind.
The top 10 on General Classification
Primoz Roglic has the yellow jersey and a 21-second lead, but only 2min 31sec separate the top 13 riders in a very tight affair.
Stage nine recap
Adam Yates lost his grip on the yellow jersey as Slovenian cyclists swept the board in the second of the Pyrenean stages in this year’s Tour de France, writes Jeremy Whittle.
All teams clear to ride after Covid-19 tests
Team managers had a nervous wait until 9am this morning before checking their email inboxes for the results of the Covid-19 tests they, their riders and support staff underwent during yesterday’s rest day. A French government diktat any team that returned two positives from its riders or support would be chucked off the Tour.
In a joint ASO-UCI statement, it was revealed that no riders had tested positive for Covid-19 but one staff member from each of Cofidis, AG2R La Mondiale, Ineos and Mitchelton Scott have tested positive and left the race bubble. A technical service provider has also tested positive and left the race.
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Stage 10: Île d’Oléron to Île de Ré (170km)
From William Fotheringham’s stage-by-stage guide: A transfer up the Atlantic coast for the flattest stage of the race. Bound to be a sprint finish so one for the likes of Bennett or Ewan or Viviani, but the question is whether the wind blows strongly off the sea in which case the race is likely to split and the outcome is anyone’s guess.
