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Stage 10, Wednesday, July 11: Mâcon - Bellegarde sur Valserine, 194.5 km. High mountains

Rated ascents:

• Km 90.0: Côte de Corlier, 6.4 km @ 5.5% - Category 2
• Km 151.5: Col du Grand Colombier (1501 m), 17.4 km @ 7.1% - Category H
• Km 174.0: Col de Richemond, 7.2 km @ 5% - Category 3

The Race: A block of 25 riders got away early and worked well together. The escape broke up on the Col du Gran Colombier with Michele Scarponi, Luis-Leon Sanchez, Dreis Devenyns and Thomas Voeckler going over the top first. They stayed together to the end with the surprise addition of Jens Voigt, who caught them shortly after the descent of the final hill, the Col de Richemond.

The members of the front break each tried to take off at some point. But in the ascent to the finish, it was the hardest working member of the break, Thomas Voeckler, who stayed away. Because he was first over the Colombier and Richemond, Voeckler is the new KOM.

In the Yellow Jersey group, Sky set the pace on the climbs. But on the descent of the Colombier, Vicenzo Nibali got a large gap. He connected with teammate Peter Sagan, who had been in the original break of 25. The two did a superb descent of the difficult and narrow Gran Colombier. Sagan helped as much as he could, but once the Richemond started to bite, he had to sit up. Shortly thereafter, the Yellow Jersey Group with Evans, led by Richie Porte, caught Nibali. Evens tried to get away on the climb to the finish, but Wiggins was on him instantly. Wiggins will start tomorrow's stage in yellow.

Results:

1. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 4hr 46min 26sec. 40.7 km/hr
2. Michele Scarponi (Lampre) @ 3sec
3. Jens Voigt (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 7sec
4. Luis-Leon Sanchez @ 23sec
5. Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 30sec
6. Sandy Casar (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 2min 44sec
7. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) s.t.
8. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) s.t.
9. Jurgen Van Den broeck (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
10. Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) @ 2min 52sec
11. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 3min 16sec
12. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
13. Bradley Wiggins (sky) s.t.
14. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
15. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) s.t.
16. Denis Menchov (Katusha) s.t.
17. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) s.t.
18. Christopher Froome (Sky) s.t.
19. Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) s.t.
20. Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
21. Maxime Monfort (Radio Shack-Nissan) s.t.
22. Janez Brajkovic (Astana) s.t.
23. Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack-Nissan) s.t.
24. Andréas Klöden (Radio shack-Nissan) s.t.
25. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) s.t.
26. Frank Schleck (Radio Shack-Nissan) s.t.
27. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) @ 3min 33sec
28. Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) @ 3min 40sec
29. Robert Kiserlovski (Astana) s.t.
30. Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil) s.t.
31. Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
32. Richie Porte (Sky) s.t.
33. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.
34. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 3min54sec
35. Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 4min 6sec
36. Marcus Burghardt (BMC) @ 4min 24sec
37. Jelle Venendert (Lotto-Belisol) @ 8min 16sec
38. Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) @ 9min 7sec
39. Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur-Sojasun) sw.t.
40. Michael Rogers (Sky) s.t.
41. Jean-Christopher Peraud (Ag2r) s.t.
42. Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-Big Mat) s.t.
43. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
44. Gianpaolo Caruso (Katusha) s.t.
45. Yury Trofimov (Katusha) s.t.
46. Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) @ 11min 41sec
47. Philippe Gilbert (BMC) s.t.
48. Juan José Cobo (Movistar) s.t.
49. George Hincapie (BMC) s.t.
50. Amaël Moinard (BMC) s.t.
    

General Classification: 1811 km raced so far at an average speed of 41.17 km/hr

1. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) 43hr 59min 2sec
2. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 1min 53sec
3. Christopher Froome (Sky) @ 2min 7sec
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) @ 2min 23sec
5. Denis Menchov (Katusha) @ 3min 2sec
6. Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 3min 19sec
7. Maxime Monfort (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 4min 23sec
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) @ 4min 48sec
9. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 5min 29sec
10. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) @ 5min 31sec
11. Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) @ 5min 46sec
12. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 5min 56sec
13. Janez Brajkovic (Astana) @ 6min 29sec
14. Andréas Klöden (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 6min 33sec
15. Michele Scarponi (Lampre) @ 7min 14sec
16. Fran Schaleck (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 8min 19sec
17. Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 8min 31sec
18. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 8min 53sec
19. Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 8min 58sec
20. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 9min 28sec
21. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 9min 30sec
22. Christopher Horner (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 9min 45sec
23. Alejandro Valverde (Movistr) @ 10min 46sec
24. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) @ 14min 46sec
25. Michael Rogers (Sky) @ 15min 23sec
26. Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) @ 17min 23sec
27. Sandy Casar (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 18min 37sec
28. Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) @ 20min 1sec
29. Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 20min 32sec
30. Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) @ 20min 41sec
31. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 22min 51sec
32. Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 24min 7sec
33. Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil) @ 24min 32sec
34. Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) @ 24min 48sec
35. Robert Kiserlovski (Astana) @ 25min 47sec
36. Jean-Christopher Peraud (Ag2r) @ 27min 49sec
37. Jens Voigt (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 29min 53sec
38. Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) @ 32min 14sec
39. Richie Porte (Sky) @ 32min 24sec
40. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 32min 25sec
41. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) @ 32min 38sec
42. Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 33min 0sec
43. George Hincapie (BMC) @ 33min 50sec
44. Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) @ 34min 13sec
45. Tony Gallopin (Radio Shack-Nissan) @ 34min 38sec
46. Davode Malacarne (Europcar) @ 34min 58sec
47. Marcus Burghardt (BMC) @ 35min 36sec
48. Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) @ 35min 41sec
49. Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas) @ 36min 31sec
50. Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 36min 46sec

Climber:

1. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar): 28 points
2. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana): 21
3. Michele Scarponi (Lampre): 21
4. Christopher Froome (Sky): 20
5. Jens Voigt (Radio Shack-Nissan): 18

Points:

1. Peter Sagan (Liquigas): 232 points
2. Matthew Harley Goss (Orica-GreenEdge): 205
3. André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol): 172
4. Mark Cavendish (Sky): 129
5. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre): 109

Young Rider:

1. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 44hr 4min 33sec
2. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 25sec
3. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-Big Mat) @ 3min 22sec
4. Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil) @ 19mjin 1sec
5. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) @ 27min 7sec

Team Classification:

1. Radio Shack-Nissan: 132hr 2min 22sec
2. Sky @ 4min 58sec
3. BMC @ 22min 6sec
4. Astana @ 25min 56sec
5. Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 26min 0sec

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Stage 10 map and profile

Stage 10 map

Stage 10 profile

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Stage 10 photos

Thomas Voeckler's day off the front pays off.

Michele Scarponi and Jens Voigt couldn't close the gap to Voeckler.

After chasing hard to catch the break, Voigt tried several times to get away, but he was always chased down.

Luis-Leon Sanchez looked so strong in the break, it was surprising to see him distanced on the final hill.

Dries Devenyns took a flier that took a while to catch.

Thomas Voeckler was the most active, hardest-working rider in the break, so it was good to see him win.

When Jens Voigt made it up to the break, the caught riders must have felt the race was lost. But Voigt was spent from the chase.

Cadel Evans wasn't giving up on the stage without a fight.

But Wiggins was marking him.

Wiggins keeps the Yellow Jersey another day.

Cadel Evans finishes with Wiggins right on his wheel.

Sandy Casar, Egoi Martinez and Pierre Rolland finish. Rolland knows his teammate Thomas Voeckler has won the stage.

Thomas Voeckler enjoys his stage victory.

His also the new King of the Mountains.

Tejay Van Garderen struggled to keep the White Jersey.

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