Stage 10 Tour de France 2023 favorites: Mathieu and Wout, a golden opportunity!

After a well-deserved rest day, the Tour caravan sets off again on Tuesday. We will ride 167 kilometers from the Vulcania theme park to Issoire, taking roads that offer opportunities for attackers. IDLProCycling.com will guide you along the way!

We begin our journey in the heart of the Massif Central, at the Vulcania theme park. As the name suggests, visitors can enjoy hours of fun while learning about the numerous volcanoes found in this region of France. Vulcania is situated just east of Clérmont-Ferrand, where the Tour caravan has been stationed for several days.

With a start in a volcanic park like this, it's inevitable that the race will ignite from the very beginning. Just two kilometers into the stage, the road starts to ascend, with the Col de la Moreno being the first challenge. This 4.8-kilometer hill boasts an average gradient of 4.7 percent, making it an ideal battleground for ambitious riders looking to make moves.

Following a brief descent, the next climb awaits without delay: the Col de Guéry stretches over 7.8 kilometers with an average gradient of five percent, providing an opportunity for the stronger riders to make their mark. Continuing through Rochefort-Montange, we reach the intermediate sprint in Le Mont-Dore, which leads us directly to the day's most challenging obstacle: the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert. This climb spans six kilometers with an average gradient of 6.3 percent.

We then continue for approximately sixty kilometers on a plateau before embarking on a well-deserved descent towards Ardes. Here, we begin the final categorized climb of the day: the Cote de la Chapelle-Marousse, which spans 6.5 kilometers with an average gradient of 5.6 percent. After reaching the summit, there is one more small ascent before we descend towards the finish line.

The final stretch of 27 kilometers is mostly characterized by a slight downhill gradient towards the finish in Issoire, with the exception of a minor incline in Tourzel, located fifteen kilometers before the finish. With two kilometers remaining, we enter Issoire, where a right-angled left turn awaits on a traffic circle approximately seven hundred meters from the finish.

Times
Start: 1:05 p.m.
Finish: approximately 5:20 p.m.

Hot! Currently, the temperature in the Massif Central is expected to reach around 36 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. Additionally, there is a slight chance of rain in the late afternoon, while the wind will mostly be against the riders, except in the final section.

If you're looking for a stage that favors a breakaway, this one quickly comes to mind. And when it comes to top favorites, it's hard to overlook Wout van Aert, the versatile Belgian from Jumbo-Visma. Despite still being at zero victories, he will have another opportunity to change that in Issoire. Christophe Laporte should also be capable of doing so, although we anticipate him playing more of a supporting role at this stage of the Tour.

When you mention Van Aert, you can't forget about Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman hasn't had the opportunity to go for personal success yet, but in a stage like this, it seems unlikely that sprinter Jasper Philipsen will be restrained. Additionally, keep an eye on Søren Kragh Andersen from Alpecin-Deceuninck, who might benefit from the presence of lightning-fast leader Van der Poel, playing a similar role to Oldani in the 2022 Giro.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has also broken the zero mark with his stage victory in Limoges, although his team still has other strong contenders, such as Jasper Stuyven and Mattias Skjelmose. The same can be said for Bahrain Victorious (Matej Mohoric and Fred Wright), Soudal Quick-Step (Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, and Rémi Cavagna), and Groupama-FDJ (Valentin Madouas, Stefan Küng, and Kevin Geniets). A common factor among these three teams is that they haven't achieved significant results thus far.

Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Biniam Girmay, Mike Teunissen (both Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Alex Aranburu (Movistar), Danny van Poppel (BORA-hansgrohe), Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X), and Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) all possess the speed to make an impact in various scenarios, with a long breakaway being the most likely.

Alberto Bettiol and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), known for their climbing abilities, have the potential to finish a stage like this strongly, placing them in the same category as Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-Dstny), Daniel Felipe Martínez (INEOS Grenadiers), and Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich).

Top favorites: Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Outsiders:Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost)
Longshots: Jasper Philipsen, Søren Kragh Andersen (both Alpecin-Deceuninck), Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Bryqn Coquard (Cofidis) and Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek)

Tom van der Salm (Twitter: @TomvanderSalm) | email: [email protected])