Bilbao triumphs to go fifth on GC
Stage 10 report: Pello Bilbao of Spain, riding for the Bahrain Victorious team, won stage 10 of the Tour de France after outsprinting Georg Zimmermann, racing for Intermarché-Circus-Wanty. Jeremy Whittle reports from Issoire …
The top five on General Classification
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 42hr 33min 13sec
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +17sec
Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2min 40sec
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +4min 22sec
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) +4min 34sec
Pello Bilbao speaks: He talks the Tour interviewer through the stage and his voice cracks as he stares into the camera. “It was a special one … for Gino,” he says, his voice cracking with emotion. “It was hard to prepare the last two weeks [before the race] with him in your mind but staying at home and staying with my kid Martina, she helped a lot, to just be calm and be positive and to use my positive energy to do something nice in the Tour.
“I wanted to do it in the first few stages [in the Basque country] because it was so special for me but it wasn’t possible, so I just waited for my moment. It’s my first victory in the Tour after 13 years, it’s such a special moment for me.”
Key event
Pello Bilbao: In memory of his late teammate Gino Mäder, the Basque rider has promised to help plant loads of trees in deforested areas, continuing an obsession of the Swiss cyclist. He is donating €1 to Mäder’s charity for every rider he beats in each stage in the current Tour, and promised to pony up double if he won one. Today will cost him but he won’t mind.
Top five in stage five
1. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) 3hr 52min 34sec
2. Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché–Circus–Wanty)
3. Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroën)
4. Krists Neilands (Israel–Premier Tech)
5. Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost)
The peloton cross the line: They’re 2min 53sec behind the winner. Jonas Vingegaard retains the yellow jersey and his lead over Tadaj Pogacar. But the kudos of the day goes to Pello Bilbao, who wins a stage of the Tour for Bahrain Victorious less than a month after they tragically lost their Swiss teammate, Gino Mäder to an awful crash in the Tour of Switzerland.
Bilbao wins stage 10: Having chased down an attack by Georg Zimmermann, Bilbao had enough left in his legs to win the stage with a final kick that did for his rivals.
Pello Bilbao takes stage 10!
500m to go: Zimmermann and Bilbao start playing cat-and-mouse and are rejoined by the other four riders. Bilbao eventually takes the stage and moves from 11th to at least fifth in the GC.
1km to go: Georg Zimmermann attacks and is closed down by Bilbao, who latches on to his wheel.
2km to go: Ben O’Connor attacks the lead group and Pelles Bilbao chases him down. Esteban Chaves is struggling to keep up.
3km to go: Krist Neilands’ is caught by the Bilbao group, with the Alaphilippe group a further 19 seconds back. It’s heartbreaking for the Latvian but he’s still in the lead group, taking a breather at the back.
4.5km to go: Neilands’ gap is reduced to six seconds as Georg Zimmermann leads the chasing quintet, who are riding together … for the time being.
7km to go: It’s a downhill finish but not a particularly steep one. The riders are currently clocking 59km per hour. Neilands’ lead is flitting between 10 and 15 seconds. He’s putting in a terrific shift.
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8km to go: Neilands holds on to his slender lead, while the Alaphilippe group is 20 seconds behind the Bilbao and Chaves group.
12km to go: Neilands pedals on, just nine seconds clear of the Bilbao and Chaves group. “It’s the day of your life! It’s the day of your life! Come on, man!” he’s told by his team boss. It might be for now but it’s not looking good for the Latvian.
14km to go: Caleb Ewan is having his birthday party in the sprinters group, which is currently 27 minutes behind the stage leader.
15km to go: Krists Neilands gets some word of encouragement from his team boss, who tells him how great he is and encourages him to focus on the downhill. He’s 16 seconds clear.
15km to go: Alaphilippe is in a four-man group with Warren Barguil, desperate to rein in the six riders ahead of them. Wout van Aert is towing the peloton along with his team leader Jonas Vingegaard fourth from the front.
20km to go: The peloton are 3min 31sec behind Neilands, the stage leader, who has five riders chasing him down as the road levels out a bit: Pello Bilbao, Ben O’Connor, Georg Zimmermann, Esteban Chaves and Antonio Pedreras. Julian Alaphilippe is 22 seconds behind them.
23km to go: Looking for his first ever Grand Tour stage win, the Latvian Israel-Premier Tech rider Krists Neilands begins his descent towards the finish line with a handy 24-second lead over the chasing posse.
28km to go: Neilands has crested the summit of the Côte de la Chapelle-Marcousse with a lead of 39 seconds over a group of five riders including Pello Bilbao. Julian Alaphilippe does not seem to be among them.
30km to go: Krists Neilands is in the closing stages of the climb with a lead of 36 seconds over those chasing him. Ineos Grenadiers are towing the peloton along.
30km to go: Mathieu van der Poel’s attack comes to an end and he drops back to the peloton. Wout van Aert is currently stranded in no-man’s land, 38 seconds ahead of the bunch but three minutes behind the leader.
33km to go: With over four kilometres of the climb remaining, Israel-Premier Tech rider Krists Neilands has attacked and opened a gap of 16 seconds on the leading group.
34km to go: The leaders hit the final climb with the gap to the peloton at 3min 04sec. Wout van Aert and Mathiu van der Poel are between the two groups, only 2min 28sec behind the leaders.
36km to go: The lead group of 14 riders are approaching the foot of the final climb to the Côte de la Chapelle-Marcousse. It’s a category three at 980m high, 6.5km in length and has an average gradient of 5.6%.
41km to go: Onwards and downwards they go on another very eventful day on this Tour de France. At the finish line, the mercury on the thermometer is in the very early forties.
43km to go: Chasing the leaders, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel have put 10 seconds between themselves and the peloton.
46km to go: Our lead group of 14 riders are are burning rubber down the penultimate descent of the stage at 63km per hour with the gap back to the peloton at 2min 22sec.
51km to go: Krists Neilands opens a small gap on the latest descent, with the 13 others in the breakaway group in hot pursuit, breathing down his neck.
54km to go: There are 54 kilometres left in this stage and 40 of them are downhill.
Updated
56km to go: Despite appeals from other teams, Ineos Grenadiers are refusing to do any work in the peloton as they don’t want to hamper Michal Kwiatkowski’s chances of winning the stage. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) is currently on the front of the peloton and the gap is down to 2min 20sec.
58km to go: “This has been an absolute riot of a day so far,” writes Bill Preston. “The plan for everyone appears to be ‘Get a stomp on!’ Which is the sort of racing tactics I admire and endorse. It could only be more fun if team radios were randomly jammed.
“And [we had] a man dressed as a fish who had a Pinot sign. Which is all kinds of brilliant. Hopefully, and given recent events, the final final break in whatever form it is will come to an accord to neutralize the final descent, and let their thrilling heroics on the way up the final ascent decide the order of the day.”
60km to go: Luke Durbridge (Jayco–AlUla) is doing the donkey work at the front of the peloton, upping the pace. With Pello Bilbao in the lead group, he’s trying to narrow the gap to protect Simon Yates’ GC position of sixth.
65km to go: On motorbike pillion duty for Eurosport at the back of the peloton, Jens Voigt is explaining how unpleasant it is for the riders today. “It’s 36 degrees celsius, there’s not a single tree so there’s no protection from the wind and it’s up and down all day long,” he says. “The roads are absolutely dead, not rolling at all. It’s a horrible day for the riders. It’s hot, no shadow, the speed is crazy fast and won’t slow down, and the road surface is absolutely terrible.” If he’d finished that solioquy with a “Happy birthday, Caleb Ewan!”, it would have been a serious mic-drop moment.
66km to go: Our leaders are maintaining a gap of 3min 10sec to the peloton. With just one categorised climb remaining in this stage, you would imagine today’s stage winner will come from this group of 14.
72km to go: Julian Alaphilippe is making the pace in the lead group. He’ll be relishing the big descent down to today’s finish line.
74km to go: In the lead group, Cofidis rider Anthony Perez waves his bidon in front of a nearby TV camera, presumably to let the occupants of his team car know he is in need of liquid refreshment. It’s hot out there.
76km to go: Our lead group of 14 riders have a three-minute lead over the peloton, which is being towed along by several Jumbo-Visma riders. Jonas Vingegaard is conspicuous in yellow about five from the front.
78km to go: Esteban Chavez finishes the most recent climb with a lead of 3min 20sec over the peloton and is now facing back-to-back uncategorised climbs. The Colombian rejoins the breakaway from which he recently broke away.
83km to go: Chavez remains out in front, followed by Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal–Quick-Step), Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Nick Schultz and Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroën), Harold Tejada (Astana), Antonio Pedrero (Movistar), Anthony Perez (Cofidis) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers).
84km to go: Unwilling to give anyone, including me, a moment’s peace or respite, Esteban Chaves from EF Education-EasyPost attacks off the front of the lead group as the lead group tackle the category three Côte de Saint-Victor-la-Rivière. Why, Estebean? Why? He opens a gap of 32 seconds and looks over his shoulders a couple of times, possibly questioning the wisdom of his move as he has no company and might burn himself out.
85km to go: We have 14 riders in front as the Alaphilippe group finally catches the leaders. The gap to the peloton is 2min 54sec.
89km to go: Julian Alaphilippe is making up time on the leaders on this descent. He’s 20 seconds behind them.
94km to go: WIth most of the field descending. Our lead group now consists of Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Nick Schultz (Israal-Premier Tech), Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroën).
On motrobike analysis duty for Eurosport, he asks somebody in the Bahrain-Victorious team car if winning the stage or moving into the top 10 on GC is the main priority for Pello Bilbao. He gets a non-commital answer but reading between the lines the suggestion is that it’s the stage win they want, because obviously if he can secure that, the GC will look after itself.
98km to go: The peloton has been decimated on the way up that climb but what’s left of it is led over the summit by Jumbo-Visma’s Wout van Aert. They’re 2min 36sec behind the leaders.
101km to go: “Caleb Ewan is already having a bad enough birthday, but how far back does he have to get before he will be timed out automatically?” asked Richard O’Hagan.
I think we need somebody to win the stage before the stopwatch starts but Caleb won’t be giving Pello Bilbao a slice of birthday cake if he keeps up this blistering pace in the lead group.
102km to go: Our lead seven riders have opened a lead of 40 seconds over the chase group containing Julian Alaphilippe. The leaders won’t want Alaphilippe joining them, as his presence in the breakaway would significantly reduce their individual chances of winning the stage. The peloton is 2min 18sec behind the leaders.
104km to go: Kasper Asgreen is dropped from the lead group, which has now been joined by Ben O’Connor. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) is making a blistering pace as he tries to get into the top 10 on GC. He’s 7min 37sec behind Jonas Vingegaard on the leaderboard.
Updated
106km to go: The lead group are on their way up the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert. It’s six kilometres long, 1,451m high and has an average gradient of 6.3%. The peloton is 1min 52sec behind them.
106km to go: Most of the sprinters are riding together in a group six minutes behind the leaders. Caleb Ewan is already 12 minutes off the pace.
107km: Our leading group of seven riders pass through the intermediate sprint at the foot of the category two Col de la Croix Saint-Robert. Kasper Asgreen is first across the line, taking €1,500 for the team beer kitty. Alphilippe, Ben O’Connor and three others are 24 seconds behind.
109km to go: Jumbo-Visma have slowed the pace in the yellow jersey group, suggesting the peloton is about to reform at the bottom of the climb. It’s good news for David Gaudu, Romain Bardet and the brothers Yates.
Updated
111km to go: Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Nick Schultz (Israal-Premier Tech), Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) remain out in front, with a lead of 32 seconds over the Alaphilippe quintet. The Gaudu group are now just a minute behind Vingegaard and Pogacar, which is being led by two Jumbo-Visma riders. It looks like they’re going to catch them and reform the peloton.
111km to go: Things finally start to settle down with the next long climb looming. There are almost 100 riders, including the Yates brothers, in the Gaudu group that is 1min 30sec behind the much smaller yellow jersey group.
💚 How is the stage so far @JasperPhilipsen?
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 11, 2023
💚 Alors comment ça se passe cette étape @JasperPhilipsen ?#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/yWzv6UdtdA
117km to go: The riders of Groupama-FDJ are towing the Gaudu group along, trying to close the gap to the yellow jersey group. They’re pedalling at full gas, as they say in cycling, but not making any obvious inroads.
119km to go: Julian Alaphilippe makes it on to the chase group, which is about 25 seconds behind the leading seven riders.
121km to go: Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Nick Schultz (Israal-Premier Tech), Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) have opened a gap of 27 seconds on the bunch featuring Pogacar and Vingegaard. There are four men on the road between both groups. The Gaudu group including Jakobsen are almost three minutes behind.
125km to go: Kasper Asgreeen, Georg Zimmerman and Warrenn Barguil are in a group of seven riders trying to escape from the bunch. At the back of the field, a motorbike with a cameraman on board pulls alongside who Jasper Philipsen and the man in the green jersey looks down the barrel with a grimace before performing a “slit-throat” gesture, to let everyone know how difficult he’s finding today’s going. He’s not the only one – the race has been blown apart in today’s early stages and it’s tough to keep an eye on everyone.
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127km to go: It’s all change again at the front of the race, where we have a group of about 35 riders, including Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar. A group of six riders try to break away, while the Gaudu group is 2min 14sec behind.
130km to go: On a rare stretch of flat road in today’s stage, Mohoric and Alaphilippe have been been joined by Krists Neilands, Lilian Calmejane, Georg Zimmerman and Nelson Oliveira. There are plenty more riders battling to get across to gatecrash their party.
133km to go: Alaphilippe and Mohoric continue their descent with the peloton hot on their tail. A group of 20 riders including David Gaudu, Neilson Powless, Egan Bernal, Ion Izagirre is a further 1min 30sec back.
136km to go: Alaphilippe and Mohoric are now in front as the descent continues. The yellow jersey group is just 15 seconds behind them.
136km to go: Krists Neiland has been joined by Wout Poels as the riders hurl themselves down the long climb. Julian A;aphilippe is chasing them, hurling himself into the corners of the narrow road at breakneck speed. Matej Mohoric is right on his wheel.
140km to go: I can confirm that Wout van Aert is indeed having a tough time of things in a peloton that is 1min 46sec behind the yellow jersey group. The field are on their second descent of the day, where things could change very quickly again. It’s been a ludicrously chaotic start.
142km to go: With the stage yet to settle down as they tackle the second stiff climb of the day, we have about 60 riders spread out over about 300 metres of asphalt at the front of the race. Krist Neilands is now out on his own in front with two kilometres of the climb remaining. The yellow jersey group are about 30 seconds behind him.
144km to go: In eighth place on GC and the brightest French prospect at this year’s Tour, David Gaudu seems to have been dropped and there’s talk that Wout van Aert may also be in trouble. I thought he was trying to bridge the gap between the peloton and the breakaway but I may be mistaken. More news as I get it.
144km to go: There are skirmishes all over the road and as things stand we have a group of 13 riders in front on the 6.7km climb to the Col de Guery. As I type, it sheds several riders. A quintet comprising Louis Meintjes, Christopher Juul-Jensen, Michal Kwiatkowski, Krist Neilands and Clement Champoussin now lead the stage.
149km to go: Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, Sepp Kuss, Romain Bardet, Simon Yates and Adam Yates are all in the yellow jersey group that is being hunted down by a peloton led by Ineos Grenadiers.
Updated
151km to go: Ineos Grenadiers take up the cudgels at the front of the peloton. At the front of the race, a group of around 15 riders have opened a gap of 21 seconds over the nine-man yellow jersey group.
152km to go: In third place on GC, it looks like Jai Hindley has also missed the break. It would certainly explain his team’s place at the front of the peloton.
154km to go: They’re on the first of many of today’s descents and a number of riders including Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and several other GC big-hitters bridge the gap to lead group. It’s now 22-strong. Julian Alaphilippe, who will have fancied his chances today, has missed the break and is back in a bunch being led by Bora-Hansgrohe.
160km to go: With the gradient at a calf-busting seven per cent, a group of seven riders – Jorgenson, Strong, Charmig, Cavagna, Kwiatkowski, I. Izagirre and Neilands - have opened a small gap as they go over the top of the climb. At the back of the bunch, Fabio Jakobsen has been dropped.
161km to go: Caleb Ewan is already struggling at the back of the peloton. He turns 28 today but doesn’t look to be having the happiest of birthdays thus far.
163km to go: Correction: It’s Israel-Premier Tech’s Krists Neilands who has opened a gap. He’s joined by Bryan Coquard from Cofidis and they’re about 10 seconds clear of the rest.
164km to go: The bunch hits the foot of the first climb, the category three Col de la Moreno. It’s 1,065m high, with an average gradient of 4.7%. Israel-Premier Tech rider Dylan Teuns is towing them along and has opened a tiny gap.
They're racing on stage 10
166km to go: A group of 10 riders peel off the front but are quickly reeled in by the bunch.
The roll-out continues: There’s another kilometre to go before battle commences and what an early skirmish we have in store. The temperature is around 43 degrees celsius and today’s stage profile looks like a shark’s lower jawbone. Who’d be a pro cyclist? Good luck, lads!
The riders roll out: Facing a stiff five-kilometre category three climb as soon as the flag drops and they are given the signal to begin racing, the prospect of today’s nasty start may have tempered yesterday’s rest day for many riders. It’s a day for a breakaway, which is likely to escape very early this afternoon.
Christian Prudhomme on stage 10: “The European Volcanism Park dedicated to scientific culture opened its doors to the public in 2002 and has received more than seven million visitors over two decades,” writes the Tour Director in his handbook.
“It’s located in the heart of the Chaîne des Puys, which includes some 80 volcanoes and is part of the larger Auvergne range of volcanoes. The park offers attractions and activities combining spectacle, entertainment and education. It will be the first time Vulcania welcome a cycling race.”
Woods scores maiden Tour victory
Stage nine report: Michael Woods won the stage, while Tadej Pogacar continued to chisel into Jonas Vingegaard’s dwindling lead, after climbing clear of the defending champion in the finish to the volcanic summit. Jeremy Whittle reports from Puy de Dome.
Who's wearing what?
Yellow jersey: Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
Green jersey: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Polka-dot jersey: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)
White jersey: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates)
The top 10 on GC
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 38hr 37min 7sec
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +17sec
3. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2min 40sec
4. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +4min 22sec
5. Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) +4min 39sec
6. Simon Yates Jayco-Alula) +4min 44sec
7. Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) +5min 26sec
8. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +6min 01sec
9. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +6min 45sec
10. Pello Bilbao (DSM -Firmenich) +7min 37sec
Stage 10: Vulcania to Issoire (167.2km)
William Fotheringham on stage 10: After a rest day in Clermont-Ferrand, this is a day for the break to contest a stage through sumptuous scenery. The battle on the climb at the start will be intense and a downhill finish means the final four-mile ascent could see drama aplenty, while there is barely a flat stretch of road in between. This stage will be a target for Julian Alaphilippe, Magnus Cort or other stage hunters such as Daniel Martínez.
