Stage 10 of the Tour de France 2025 delivered for 14 July, Bastille Day in France.
Attack after attack took place on the Massif Central until Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) dropped his breakaway companions on the final climb to in Le Mont-Dore, claiming his third Tour stage win, six years after the previous two.
But perhaps the bigger part of the story, Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) gave it his all to chase the Maillot Jaune. Third on the day (+31’’), and left the Yellow Jersey peloton in the dust more than 5 minutes behind, to steal back the precious jersey from Tadaj Pogacar.
Healy becomes the fourth Irish overall leader of the race, the first since Stephen Roche’s mythical year of 1987! After Visma-Lease a Bike tried to put him under pressure, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) attacked on the final climb, but Jonas Vingegaard matched his pace. Pogacar is now 29’’ behind Healy on GC.
All of the action did not prevent Peacock commentary from lamenting the fact that Yates, teammate and ostensible domestique of Vingegaard, had left his GC teammate in the dust some five minutes behind in the peloton. What Cyclists International saw instead was a long term strategy to save energy before the big mountain stages.
The first categorized climb of the day came early in the stage. From that point forward, there were no flat roads all the way to Le Mont-Dore. As Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) and Marijn van den Berg were forced to withdraw, 173 riders took the 165.3-km route featuring eight categorized climbs and a total elevation of 4,450m.
A French-studded 29-man breakaway
As soon as the flag dropped, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) attacked. Seventeen kilometers later, including the ascent up Côte de Loubeyrat (summit at km 11.8), a 28-man group managed to get away with Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), as well as a strong group of French attackers likely with dreams of a Bastille Day victory: Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Clément Champoussin (XDS Astana).
Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) added to the mix, making it 29 attackers at 31 km. UAE Team Emirates-XRG drove the peloton behind them with Tim Wellens and Nils Politt, but the gap gradually increased over the following climbs, until Healy (trailing by 3’55’’ on GC) too the virtual lead of the overall standings over Tadej Pogacar.
Martinez chases the polka dots
Forty-five years after his grandfather Mariano Martinez won on Bastille Day in Morzine, Lenny Martinez racked up the KOM points at the peaks of Côte de La Baraque (km 54.5), Côte de Charade (km 66.6) and Côte de Berzet (km 78.4). With this succession of climbs, the break exploded.
There were 15 riders remaining at the front over the Col de Guéry (km 115.4), where Martinez all but secured the polka-dot jersey. At the summit, the peloton trailed by 5 minutes.
Visma-Lease a Bike ups the ante
The breakaway riders unleashed a flurry of attacks. The gap hit a maximum of 5’55’’ at Col de la Croix-Morand (km 124.1). Six riders remained at the front into the last 20 kilometers: Healy and Yates surviving, with Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Michael Storer (Tudor), Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers). Behind them, Visma-Lease a Bike attacked with Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson but UAE Team Emirates-XRG controlled the pack.
Healy set the pace at the front with dreams of securing the Maillot Jaune. Simmons was dropped on the ascent up Col de la Croix-Saint-Robert, with 14 km to go. On the same climb, Visma-Lease a Bike upped the ante again. Over the top, Pogacar has lost all his teammates.
Yates and Healy light up the mountain
Yates attacked just ahead of the final ascent: 3.3km at 8% in Le Mont-Dore. Arensman only trailed by 5’’ into the last kilometer but he couldn’t bridge the gap as Simon Yates, the British winner of the Giro, flew to his third Tour stage win, six years after the previous two. Healy finished third with a gap of 31’’.
Behind them, Tadej Pogacar put the hammer down with 1.5 km to go. Jonas Vingegaard matched his acceleration. And the duo slow down. They crossed the line with a gap of 4’51’’. Healy took the Maillot Jaune for a time deficit of 29’’. He is the fourth Irish rider to lead the overall standings of the Tour de France after Seamus Elliott, Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche.
