Stage 10 Is the Flattest Stage of the Tour de France—but Beware of Crosswinds
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Stage 10 - Orléans to Saint-Amand-Montrond (187.5km) - Tuesday, July 9
The Tour’s second week begins on Tuesday with Stage 10, a 187.5km stage from Orléans to Saint-Amand-Montrond that’s probably the easiest stage in the 2024 Tour de France.
The race begins in Orléans, along the Loire river, and then begins the long ride south through the Sologne forest that’s bordered in the north by the Loire and in the south by the river Cher.
This is the flattest stage in the Tour–there’s not a single categorized climb throughout the day. That means Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility)–who’s been the leader of the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition since Stage 1–will keep the polka dot jersey into Stage 11.
The day’s Intermediate Sprint arrives after just 57km–in Romorantin-Lanthenay–which is early enough in the stage that we could see some sprinters try and soak up whatever green jersey points are left after the breakaway passes through.
Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) has a commanding 96-point lead over Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the Tour’s Points competition and could choose to sit back and save his legs for the end of the stage–especially if a big breakaway is up the road and takes the majority of the points available in Romorantin-Lanthenay.
The final hour of the stage could be tense. The roads are rather exposed after the race exits the forest, and with three direction changes in the final 30km, crosswinds and echelons are a real threat.
That’s exactly what happened on Stage 13 in 2013, the last time a Tour stage finished in Saint-Amand-Montrond. As the peloton raced toward the finish, Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish and a few of his Omega Pharma–Quick-Step teammates took advantage of some late-race crosswinds to break the peloton into echelons. A leading group of ten riders soon emerged and Cavendish outsprinted Slovakia’s Peter Sagan to take his second win of that year’s Tour.
The finale of this year’s Stage 10 comes pretty close to duplicating the finale from 2013–including a super-sketchy series of corners inside the final kilometer. The organizers better hope that crosswinds break the race into echelons, because bringing a large peloton through those corners–at field sprint speed–could get dicey–even with a modified 4km “safety zone” at the end of the stage.
It’s a flat finish, but the sprint before the sprint will be crucial as anyone who doesn’t make it through those final corners at the front of the bunch–or has to brake while going through them–will lose their shot at taking the win.
Riders to Watch
Stage 10 is expected to end in a field sprint. But with a chance of crosswinds in the final hour, the stage could go to a sprinter who can handle himself if the race breaks into echelons–perhaps someone who has some experience in the spring Classics, races in which the weather can often play as big of a role as the terrain.
That makes Girmay a top favorite. In 2022 the Eritrean won Ghent-Wevelgem, a Belgian Classic in which crosswinds frequently blow apart the peloton. This could also be the day in which Philipsen–who’s winless so far this year after winning four stages and the green jersey in 2023–finally breaks through in this year’s Tour.
Last but not least, there’s Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan). The 39-year-old scored his record-breaking 35th stage victory on Stage 5, but could add No. 36 by winning for the second time in Saint-Amand-Montrond.
And as far as the General Classification is concerned, unless crosswinds catch someone napping, Stage 10 is not expected to bring changes to the overall standings. That means Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) should have no issues holding onto the yellow jersey.
How to Watch Stage 10 of the Tour de France
You can stream Stage 10 of the 2024 Tour de France on NBC’s Peacock ($5.99/month or $59.99/year). If you’re looking for ad-free coverage, you’ll need a subscription to Peacock Premium Plus, which runs $11.99 per month or $119.99 for the year.
This stage could be a slow one. Coming right out of the Tour’s first Rest Day, the riders won’t be in any hurry to get to the finish–and there’s little along the way to make things exciting.
So while the race is expected to finish around 11:35 a.m. EDT, we think that’s a bit of an optimistic estimate. We’ll start checking on the peloton’s progress at about 10:45 a.m. EDT–in case there are crosswinds–and then make the call accordingly depending on how far the riders are from the finish. If nothing else, make sure you’re watching with about 10km to go.
How to Watch Stage 10 of the Tour de France in the Canada
If you live in Canada, you can catch all the action on FloBikes. An annual subscription will cost you $29.99/month or $150/year.
How to Watch Stage 10 of the Tour de France in the U.K.
UK viewers can watch the Tour de France on ITV4, Eurosport, and Discovery+.
A standard Discovery+ subscription, featuring Eurosport’s cycling coverage, costs £6.99 monthly or £59.99 annually. The premium subscription, which includes all this plus TNT Sports, is available for an extra £29.99 per month.
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