Tour de France Stage 10: Julian Alaphilippe takes storming win, Greg Van Avermaet keeps yellow

Julian Alaphilippe of Quick Step Floors attacked early on during today’s Stage 10 of the Tour de France, taking a big escape group with him and later going solo to win the first mountain stage of this year’s race on the first of three days in the Alps and grab the polka dot jersey.

One of the riders to get away with him was race leader Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing, who had held a 43-second lead over Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas on the General Classification this morning and had been expected to lose the yellow jersey, but managed to extend his lead.

The 154.5-kilometre stage from Annecy to Le Grand Bornand had five categorised climbs, and the racing was frantic from the start, with Alaphilippe who had clearly targeted today’s stage, active from the start, leading one move that was brought back until he initiated the one that stuck.

The group  of more than 20 riders that got away was packed with quality, including not only the yellow jersey Van Avermaet, but also Bora Hansgrohe’s Peter Sagan in the green jersey.

The world champion would later drift back through the field, but not before he’d taken the maximum 20 points at the intermediate sprint to extend his lead in the points competition.

Ahead of the final climb today to the Col de la Colombiere, Alaphilippe chased down an attack from Direct-Energie’s Reim Taaramae, passing the Estonian and riding on to take the first stage win by a French rider in this year’s race, and a convincing one at that.

Bahrain Merida’s Ion Izaguirre would finish second on the stage. 1 minute and 34 seconds down on Alaphilippe and 6 seconds ahead of Taaramae, who came third.

Van Avermaet was fourth, a further 4 seconds back, and consolidates his overall lead on Geraint Thomas by 1 minute 39 seconds, the Team Sky rider coming across the line in a group that included team-mate and defending champion Chris Froome.

That chasing group also included 2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali of Bahrain Merida, Romain Bardet of AG2R La Mondiale, Mitchelton-Scott’s Adam Yates and Nairo Quintana of Movistar.