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Sam Bennett yanks green jersey back from Sagan with Tour de France Stage 10 win

Hugo Houle had finished in the top-20 in half of the stages so far

September 8, 2020
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A dandy green jersey competition between Sam Bennett and Peter Sagan at the 2020 Tour de France took another turn on Tuesday with the Irishman winning his first Tour stage and seizing back the jersey from Slovakian on a nervous day following the first rest day. Hugo Houle placed 17th out of a 66-rider peloton, his fifth top-20 finish in this Tour.

It was close on the île de Ré.

Anticipated morning news regarded the results of rest day COVID-19 tests. Not surprisingly, considering the fact that he’s not in a bubble, Tour director Christian Prudhomme tested positive. It was the same for staff members of Ineos, Mitchelton-Scott, Cofidis and AG2R. Another positive for these four teams within a week would mean getting tossed from the Tour. All the riders were negative.

You can find out where to watch the 2020 Tour de France here.

The Course

Tuesday offered a flat island to island route on the Pertuis d’Antioche strait. Both winds and road furniture were feared.

Two riders tried their luck early, as Switzerland’s Michael Schär and Stefan Küng lit out on their own. With about 102 km to go and a switch in the road direction, Deceuninck-Quick Step whipped up the pace, caught the two Swiss escapees and created some splits. A crash further confused things. A headwind allowed things to calm down and groups come back together.

With 64 km to go, a crash took down third-place Guillaume Martin and seventh-place Tadej Pogačar.

Intermediate Sprint

Sagan led the Irishman by seven points at the beginning of the stage. At the beach of Châtelaillon-Plage Sagan came second at the intermediate sprint and Bennett was third.

With 18-km to go, the peloton again hit crosswinds, with Martin again delayed along with Angel Lopez and Alejandro Valverde, and Julian Alaphilippe suffering an ill-timed mechanical.

A couple of riders tried moves on the long bridge to île de Ré where the finale would take place. Movistar and Jumbo-Visma led the streamlined peloton on the approach to the sprint.

Sunweb led under the red flag. With 140-metres to go Bennett whipped out from behind his lead-out man with Caleb Ewan on his wheel. Stage 3 winner Ewan couldn’t quite overcome the Irishman.

Sagan has led the points competition twice, and now so has Bennett. The gap is 21 points.

Wednesday has a lumpy profile with a sharp little climb in the last five kilometres that might eliminate the pure sprinters.

2020 Tour de France Stage 10
1) Sam Bennett (Ireland/Deceuninck-Quick Step) 3:35:22
2) Caleb Ewan (Australia/Lotto-Soudal) s.t.
3) Peter Sagan (Slovakia/Bora-Hansgrohe) s.t.
17) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana) s.t.

2020 Tour de France GC
1) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma 38:40:01
2) Egan Bernal (Colombia/Ineos Grenadiers) +0:21
3) Guillaume Martin (France/Cofidis) +0:28
4) Romain Bardet (France/AG2R-La Mondiale) +0:30
5) Nairo Quintana (Colombia/Arkea-Samsic +0:32
6) Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/EF Pro Cycling) s.t.
7) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) +0:44
8) Adam Yates (Great Britain/Mitchelton-Scott) +1:02
9) Angel Lopez (Colombia/Astana) +1:15
10) Mikel Landa (Spain/Bahrain-McLaren) +1:42
68) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana) +1:15:29