The Tour de France resumes on Tuesday after its first rest day, and it does so with a bang. Stage 10 lands squarely on Bastille Day, July 14, sending the peloton across 166.6 rugged kilometres of the Massif Central from Aurillac to Le Lioran. With seven categorised climbs and roughly 3,900 metres of vertical gain crammed largely into the second half, this is the first true mountain test of the second week — and on France’s national holiday, it is guaranteed to be raced flat out.
What’s Happening on Stage 10
After a punishing opening week that saw a fire-affected finish, a heatwave force organisers to shorten Stage 9 by around 30km, and Tadej Pogačar defend the yellow jersey, the riders used Monday’s rest day in the Cantal region to recover. They will need every minute of it. Stage 10 starts in Aurillac and climbs almost immediately, stacking a trio of Category 3 ascents before the road tilts skyward in earnest.
The route is deliberately old-school. Race organiser ASO has dusted off the Col de la Griffoul, a second-category climb the Tour has not used since 1975. Its irregular profile — steep ramps broken up by deceptively flat sections — is exactly the kind of terrain that shatters rhythm and invites attacks. From there the stage builds toward its two decisive obstacles.
The Climbs That Will Decide It
The tactical centrepiece is the ascent of the Pas de Peyrol, approached this year from the Dienne side out of Murat rather than the more familiar Falgoux road. It is a demanding haul with sustained gradients close to 8 per cent, and cresting it puts riders within striking distance of the finish.
The real launchpad, though, is the Col de Pertus: officially 4.4km at 8.5 per cent, with its summit just 14.5km from the line in Le Lioran. That combination — steep enough to hurt, late enough to matter — is tailor-made for a GC ambush. Anyone hoping to gain time on Pogačar will almost certainly try here. Crucially, Le Lioran is not a mountain-top finish; there is a technical run-in after the final climb, so descending nerve and positioning will count just as much as raw climbing legs.
If any of this sounds familiar, it should. Le Lioran hosted a titanic 2024 duel in which Jonas Vingegaard refused to yield after a Pogačar solo attack, clawing back the gap and edging the Slovenian in a photo-finish sprint. That history hangs over Tuesday’s stage.
Why It Matters
This is the stage where the general classification picture can genuinely change. Pogačar carries the yellow jersey into the second week, but the gaps to his rivals remain slim enough that a single well-timed acceleration on the Col de Pertus could rewrite the standings — a dynamic we broke down in our rest-day GC analysis. A jagged, 3,900-metre day with no long summit finish tends to reward opportunists and aggressive teams rather than pure climbers who prefer a single sustained effort.
Then there is the Bastille Day factor. Every French rider in the bunch will be desperate to win in front of a home crowd on July 14, a date that has produced some of the most emotional victories in Tour history. Expect an enormous, aggressive early breakaway as French teams throw riders up the road, which in turn can shape how the GC contenders play their cards later in the stage.
What This Means for You
Beyond the spectacle, Stage 10 is a master-class in how to ride repeated, irregular climbs — the exact challenge most recreational riders face on hilly sportives and gran fondos. The pros don’t climb every ascent at the same intensity; they surge on the steep pitches and recover on the flatter ramps, a skill you can train directly. If you want to build the kind of punchy climbing power that decides stages like this, structured hill repeats are the single most effective workout to add to your week.
The changeable, above-category terrain also rewards variable-intensity efforts rather than a steady grind. Sessions like fartlek training teach your body to accelerate, settle, and accelerate again without blowing up — precisely what the Col de la Griffoul’s stop-start profile demands. And if you plan to watch: tune in for the final 45 minutes, because on this course the winning move is far more likely to come on the Col de Pertus than in the valley before it.
Key Takeaways
- Stage 10 runs 166.6km from Aurillac to Le Lioran on Bastille Day, July 14, with seven categorised climbs and around 3,900m of climbing.
- The Col de la Griffoul returns for the first time since 1975, and the Pas de Peyrol is tackled from the harder Dienne side.
- The Col de Pertus (4.4km at 8.5%), summiting 14.5km out, is the most likely launchpad for a GC attack.
- Le Lioran is not a summit finish, so descending and positioning will matter as much as climbing.
- Expect a huge French breakaway and fireworks — this is the stage most capable of reshaping the overall standings in week two.
Source: race route details via ASO/cyclingstage and stage previews from ProCyclingUK and Velo.
