Tour De France – 10th Stage Breakdown

The Tour De France is already at its 10th stage, and at the end of the 6^th stage, it gave everyone something to start talking about.

Stage 6 – 205km Epernay to Metz

26km to go on the 6^th stage there was a horrendous crash. Taking out half a peloton and retiring 3 from the race it was a devastating crash. Somehow the favorites were not in the mess, Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins.

Stage 7 – 199km Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles

Team Sky brings there lead up to the top. With 182 riders still in the race, it was up to the hill climbing. With a handful of riders in the breakaway, Sky made it into the lead and proved they are a dominant team. Evans knowing he needs to gather time whenever possible against Wiggins was 2^nd in the 7^th stage.

Stage 8 – 157.5km Belfort to Porrentruy 

With this 7 climb stage there were attacking right from the start. With a huge lead from Jens Voigt in the early start of the stage slowly ran out of gas and an hour later gave up his unreachable lead. With the strength of Sky for this round it was an expected win for the team until young French cyclist passed everyone. Bravo Thibaut Pinot! 500m before the final climb he was in the lead, even with Jurgen van den Broeck and Cadel Evans closing in, he has his first stage win.

Stage 9 – 41.5km Arc-et-Senans to Besancon

Riders began the race in reverse order of their position in the general classification. There were two minutes between the first 118 riders and then there were three minutes separating the starters. The Yellow Jersey rider, Bradley Wiggins (SKY) began the TT at 4.39pm. Bradley Wiggins claimed his first stage victory in the Tour, beat his team-mate Chris Froome by 35”

  

A rest day before stage 10.

Stage 10 – 194.5km

As soon as the flag started the 10th stage, there was an attack by a Vacansoleil rider but it didn't last long. 2km in the start of the race, Sagan (LIQ) instigated the first successful escape. Thomas Voeckler is out of contention for another stint in the yellow jersey or a top four overall finish in the race like he achieved in 2011 but on the day to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine he did enough to earn three appearances on the podium. First, he led over the first 'hors categorie' climb of the 99th Tour - the Col du Grand Colombier to take the lead of the climbing classification, and then he was voted the most aggressive rider of the 10th stage. Beast! He won the stage from a break that took almost an hour to establish on a day when the average speed or the first hour was 49.8km/h. There were 25 men in that move and, by the end, only 10 of them would finish ahead of the yellow jersey's group. The best was Voeckler. He is a racer who puts on a show. The French adore him, and he responds to their cheers. It was his third stage win in the race. Give me a Sette Forza ISM Dura-Ace Carbon Road Bike and I think I could take em! Sky team, again did everything to get their leader one day closer to the ultimate objective: victory in the 2012 Tour.

Stage 10 Results
1. Thomas Voeckler – Team Europcar - 4:46:26
2. Michele Scarponi – Lampre – ISD - 0:00:03
3. Jens Voigt – RadioShack-Nissan - 0:00:07
4. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil – Rabobank Cycling Team - 0:00:23
5. Dries Devenyns – Omega Pharma-QuickStep - 0:00:30
6. Sandy Casar – FDJ-Big Mat - 0:02:44
7. Egoi Martinez De Esteban – Euskaltel – Euskadi
8. Pierre Rolland – Team Europcar
9. Jurgen Van Den Broeck – Lotto Belisol Team
10. Dmitriy Fofonov – Astana Pro Team - 0:02:52

General classification after Stage 10
1. Bradley Wiggins – Sky Procycling - 43:59:02
2. Cadel Evans – BMC Racing Team - 0:01:53
3. Christopher Froome – Sky Procycling - 0:02:07
4. Vincenzo Nibali – Liquigas-Cannondale - 0:02:23
5. Denis Menchov – Katusha Team - 0:03:02
6. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre – RadioShack-Nissan - 0:03:19
7. Maxime Monfort – RadioShack-Nissan - 0:04:23
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck – Lotto Belisol Team – 0:04:48
9. Nicolas Roche – AG2R La Mondiale - 0:05:29
10. Tejay van Garderen – BMC Racing Team - 0:05:31