Tadej Pogacar stretched his overall lead to more than three minutes as he raced clear for his third stage win of this year’s Tour de France.
After Monday’s rest day, stage 10 offered closest rival Jonas Vingegaard a chance to close the gap in Le Lioran, where he beat Pogacar in a two-man sprint to the line in 2024.
With the 166.6km mountain stage from Aurillac taking place on Bastille Day, home fans were hoping French teenager Paul Seixas would be in contention.
But Pogacar went solo with 15km remaining and maintained that gap to cross the line 32 seconds before Remco Evenepoel, with 19-year-old Seixas just behind him in third.
Vingegaard crossed 44 seconds after Pogacar in seventh, meaning the defending champion now leads the Dane by three hours and 36 minutes in the general classification standings.
“We targeted this stage from a long time ago,” said four-time Tour winner Pogacar.
“Two years ago, Jonas beat me in the sprint fair and square. Today was similar, my legs to the finish were completely destroyed, but yeah, I enjoyed the day.”
Richard Carapaz got clear on the Puy Mary, the third-from-last climb, but Pogacar attacked on the penultimate climb before claiming his third win on Bastille Day and his 24th stage win overall.
Vingegaard led the chasing group and although Evenepoel lost touch, he recovered on the short descent before the final rise to the line then charged into second as Vingegaard conceded more time over the final metres.
“It was an OK day for us, it could be a lot worse, that’s for sure,” said Visma-Lease a Bike rider Vingegaard.
“My legs are getting better and better, and I’m looking forward to the longer climbs.”
British rider Tom Pidcock crashed on the Puy Mary descent but recovered to finish ninth on the stage and climb into 10th overall.