Tour de France stage 10 in photos

The anticipated showdown between Chris Froome and Alberto Contador before the Tour de France has quite literally disappeared. Five days after Froome abandoned the race due to a wrist injury, Contador has seen the same fate and was forced to leave the Tour after breaking his tibia. This race of attrition has come down to Vincenzo Nibali and the rest, with Richie Porte moving into second place overall and quite possibly being Nibali’s biggest threat.

In today’s stage 10 Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) wasted no time reclaiming the yellow jersey he lost on stage 9, taking a decisive win on the summit finish to La Planche des Belles Filles. Overnight leader Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) fought courageously on the 161km stage but ultimately struggled on the day’s seven climbs and fell from the top of the general classification.

Read the full report and results from stage 10 of the 2014 Tour de France.

Enjoy the photos from stage 10 courtesy of BrakeThrough Media (follow on Instagram and Twitter) and Cor Vos.

: Rodriguez was on the hunt for KOM points today and was successful in leading the Mountains Classification by the end of the day.

: Despite his effort in the breakaway, Michal Kwiatkowski ended up losing time by the end of the day and relinquishes the lead in the best young rider jersey to Romain Bardet.

: Overnight leader Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) fought gallantly on the 161km stage but ultimately struggled on the day’s seven climbs and fell from the top of the general classification.

: Thomas Voeckler was up there all day trying to gain KOM points and ended up over 7 minutes down on the winning time after those efforts.

: Haimar, Mollema and Costa finished just over a minute back from Nibali.

: Nibali on his way to victory on the stage and reclaiming yellow.

: With 1.2km to the finish Nibali caught Rodriguez and the two rode together for a few hundred metres on the steep climb. And then Nibali attacked Rodriguez before riding away to his second stage victory of the race so far.

: Richie Porte moves into second place in the general classification after his ride today.

: Despite his efforts, Tony Gallopin comes in 4:46 down on Nibali’s winning time and relinquishes the yellow jersey.

: Peter Sagan pulling a one-handed wheelie on top of La Planche des Belles Filles.

: Rodriguez now leads the Mountains Classification with 17 points over Thomas Voeckler who sits in second place and Tony Martin further back in third.

Jon Thornton

Great shots.
Dave

A correction is needed - it’s a NO hands wheelie being pulled by Sagan - even more impressive than a one hander.
Matt

Loving the retro paint jobs on the Ridley. Gorgeous
- Mark
  
  Definitely the best custom leaders bike colour scheme I’ve seen. But their standard TdF red frames are gorgeous too.
Bracksy

Going to be a boring TDF without Froome and Contador. Nibali is boring as hell. Good bye TDF, time to look forward to the Vuelta now.
- Mark
  
  Funny…
- troll
  
  ok.
- sumorider
  
  Less boohoo, more woohoo!
- Arfy
  
  If riding past everyone (as per last night’s stage) and making them chase him is boring then so be it. It’s not Nibali’s fault there’s no-one left who can go wheel-to-wheel with him.
- The rest of us
  
  Where are my Bora’s you w@nker?!
- RacingCondor
  
  I don’t get the people claiming that it’s a boring Tour. So far we’ve had incredible racing on practically every stage.
  It’s a shame that the GC is being decided by crashes rather than strength but in a technically challenging race it’s no surprise that Nibali is coming out on top. Best climber, no. Best rider, probably. Best climber was (probably) Froome, tactician was Contador but Nibali was outstanding on cobbles where Contador struggled and he’s the only GC rider with a reasonable claim to be better than Contador downhill.
  
  I’d be interested to see the stats on how many DNS’s we have at each stage though. Is this year proving dangerous (it’s certainly wet which can’t help) or is it just that the riders who have fallen are well known?
- philipmcvey
  
  I know! How tedious it was riding away on the Sheffield stage and having a proper dig up that steep climb, then doing that snooze-worthy ride on the cobbled stage where he, you know, displayed bike handling skills to actually stay upright. Then he goes and tops the snore-fest off with that incredibly dull attack on Monday night where he reeled in a great climber in the last 3km.
  I’m not sure what you’re looking for in a bike racer, but those displays weren’t too shabby from where I was sitting. At least as interesting as watching Froome bring remotely controlled from a team car.
Shane Ingram

Nibali is a boring rider ? I don’t know what rider entertains you then. He continually attacks regardless of position..he is great to watch.
Whilst I agree that Contador’s abandonment is a massive let down in the excitement of the race, its not Nibali’s fault that Froome and Contador hit the deck.
- The rest of us
  
  Don’t feed the troll.
  
  He needs to go back and finish his homework anyway. His Mum will kill him if she finds he’s on her iPad…
Kahoona

Amazing shots.
Abdu

I just wish Mollema would hurry up and sign for OGreenEdge. Jerry Ryan is over there to do the deal isn’t he?
- Dave
  
  I thought we all wanted Kelderman for OGE.
Abdu

Respect for Tony Gallopin, just chewing the stem to do the jersey justice.

Voeckler is such a complete tossed, I wonder if he even thinks he is?
- Samaway
  
  Yeah, chapeau to Gallopin! When he crossed the line I noticed his soigneur unclipped his feet from the pedals… ouch.
- philipmcvey
  
  I doubt Voeckler knows he’s a tosser. Tossers aren’t usually the best at self reflection. But if he does know, darn it if he hasn’t committed 100% to being the very best tosser he can be. Or is that worst?
  Totally agree on Gallopin; can’t say he didn’t respect the honour of being race leader.
G-house

Amazing… A shot of Laurens Ten Dam without a snot chain from his nose to his mouth to his jersey to his bike.

Tour de France stage 10 in photos

by Wade Wallace