Key events
175km to go: The breakaway group is here, and they are speeding along, closing on a four-minute gap and have left Michael Matthews off the back, with Brent van Moer chasing: Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Kevin Vauquelin and Cristian Rodriguez (both Arkea B&B Hotels), Mike Teunissen (Intermarche-Wanty), Bram Welten (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies).
The peloton sitting back after Saturday’s shakeup, the cruelty of such a long chase over such tough terrain. Cavendish is off the back of the group but smiling.
185km to go: It’s a hilly stage, nothing too daft but tough enough in the heat. The peloton is dropped back close to 1’ 30” at this point.
⛰Les ascensions du jour :
3️⃣ Côte de Monticino, 2pts
3️⃣ Côte de Gallisterna, 2pts
4️⃣ Côte de Botteghino di Zocca, 1pt
3️⃣ Côte de Montecalvo, 2pts
3️⃣ Côte de San Luca, 2pts
3️⃣ Côte de San Luca, 2pts
🟰 jusqu’à 11 points à obtenir ⚪️🔴#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/vWKMM5Cbdj— Maillot à Pois E.Leclerc (@maillotapois) June 30, 2024
190km to go: It’s baking hot out there, and a series of attacks in the first 10 clicks has resulted in an 11-man breakaway. The main bunch, Bardet in yellow is dropping 20 seconds behind.
The départ nears as the riders take their dummy run through Cesenatico. Huge crowd out there; Italy is such a cycling nation.
Mark Cavendish seems chipper at the depart, saying he’s thankful for the blinds in the hotel and for the “incredible group of people around him”. He says “every metre you do is one less metre you have to do” and that Le Tour is about suffering. “If you have my body type, don’t start climbing now…I’m just hanging on by a thread as a sprinter and that’s by experience, really”.
Preamble
The Tour is the Tour, even if Saturday’s stage resembled a rather difficult edition of the Giro. Especially for poor Mark Cavendish, who spent the day being hauled along feeling sick as a dog. It did provide a classic breakaway and an emotional winner in Romain Bardet. So, super Sunday, where we remain in Italy for 199km. And it’s going to be hilly, too.
Per William Fotheringham.
Today’s start is dedicated to Marco Pantani, 20 years after his death; the “Pirate”, winner of the Tour and Giro in 1998, grew up in Cesenatico, which has a museum and a statue dedicated to him. Today won’t suit the sprinters, with two ascents of the San Luca climb in the final 32km. It’s a punchy ascent used in the Giro dell’Emilia, won in 2023 by Primoz Roglic, and it is perfect for Mathieu van der Poel.
If you’re reading this, then Pantani will be no stranger but still, his tale is one of the most evocative and sad in all of elite sport, a young man eaten up by fame and fortune.