Onley stays steady, Vauquelin drops back: "It took a lot of energy"

Vauquelin was already struggling on the penultimate climb of the day, and the Frenchman from Arkéa-B&B Hotels was unable to keep up the pace in the final kilometers. “This 10th stage took a lot of energy,” he said after the race in a press statement. “There was a high tempo all day long. The breakaway was really strong, well done to them.” Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike) won the stage, and Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) took the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar.

The 24-year-old Frenchman made a great impression in the first week and was on the podium of the Tour de France until Bastille Day, but ultimately lost 46 seconds to Pogacar, 40 seconds to Vingegaard, and 40 seconds to the rest of his rivals. This drops him to sixth place in the general classification. “We rode really well. I gave it my all and have no regrets. We expected it to be as tough as it was today. I fought to the end as I said I would.”

While Vauquelin lost time, Oscar Onley showed himself at the front. The Scot from Picnic PostNL even tried to break away on the penultimate climb and eventually finished 14th. “It was a really good job again by the guys, and Oscar showed on the final climbs that he was in good shape and in a good position,” said coach Matt Winston on the team's website.

Thanks to the 22-year-old climber's good day, he is still in seventh place in the GC. Whether that is sustainable remains to be seen. But the Tour already seems to be a success for Onley. "We go into the rest day having had a very good first week at the Tour. We will continue with our approach of taking it step-by-step, and we’ll re-evaluate along the way. I hope that we can continue performing and riding like this as a team in the coming days.”

Between Onley and Vauquelin, Carlos Rodríguez finished 18th, 24 seconds behind Pogacar and Vingegaard. This is another setback for the Spaniard from INEOS Grenadiers, but he is far from dissatisfied with his performance towards Puy de Sancy. “I'm going into the rest day feeling good, knowing that my legs responded well on a day that didn't really suit me,” he explained to ESCiclismo. “The feeling was good.”

Rodríguez moved up to 12th place in the GC, overtaking Enric Mas. He is now the best Spaniard in the GC, not the Movistar team leader. But that's not what matters to him. “The goal is to move up in the standings, not to compete with Enric. He's just a rival, but if he does well, I'm happy because he's a compatriot.”

After a disappointing week, the climber is on the mend. “I feel better; my legs are responding again. I lacked some power to respond to the accelerations at the end, so I chose to ride my own pace and minimize the losses.” He senses opportunities in the mountain stages, especially because a duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard could work to his advantage. “There's going to be a battle. We'll make sure that when it's less noticeable, we can take advantage of any opportunities that arise.”