Tour de France 2015: Stage 10 Results, Updated Standings and Highlights

Yellow jersey holder Chris Froome exploded on the final climb of Stage 10 of the 2015 Tour de France, delivering a massive blow to his main rivals for the general classification by finishing solo and increasing his lead in the standings.  

Team Sky made mincemeat of Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Tejay van Garderen before Froome dropped Nairo Quintana himself, opening up a huge gap in the general classification. After Tuesday's utter destruction of his main rivals, Froome is the favourite for the yellow jersey by a clear mile. Here's a look at the results from Stage 10:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	4:22:07
2	Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky	0:00:59
3	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	0:01:04
4	Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	0:01:33
5	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	0:02:01
6	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky	Same Time
7	Adam Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge	0:02:04
8	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	Same Time
9	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal	0:02:22
10	Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:02:30

Team Sky were kind enough to share the profile of Tuesday's stage, the first time the peloton would hit the high mountains, and they also noticed the race would take place on Bastille Day:

The French national holiday had the local favourites buzzing, and before long, an early break escaped from the peloton. Pierrick Fedrigo and Kenneth Vanbilsen spent the bulk of the day at the head of the race, with the teams battling for the general classification increasing the pace during the second half of the race.

The Movistar team in particular needed to have a strong performance, allowing Quintana and Alejandro Valverde to make up some time on Froome. Retired professional cyclist Stuart O'Grady still thought the Team Sky leader would survive the assault:

The first week of the 2015 Tour was filled with drama and incidents, but once the high mountains roll around, the peloton shifts into a familiar pattern. Everyone has to ride for the favourites, and given this year's stacked field of contenders, the pressure is as high as ever.

As noted by the Tour's official Twitter account, that means even world champion Michal Kwiatkowski was relegated to water duty:

There was little drama to be found before the final climb, with Andre Greipel reclaiming the green jersey by beating Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish in the intermediate sprint and Warren Barguil showing incredible character by returning to the peloton after what appeared to be a heavy crash.

The 23-year-old is one of France's best hopes for a top 10 finish this year, and as shared by BBC's Simon Brotherton, things didn't look good immediately after the crash:

Barguil was forced to ride solo for several kilometers before a team-mate finally found his leader bridging the gap together.

Tuesday's stage marked the first time the Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin hosted the finish of a stage, and with the peloton unsure of what to expect, the pace was unusually high during the final kilometers leading up to the climb. 

Contrary to most iconic climbs in the Alps, the heaviest gradients of the Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin lie through the early sections, and Movistar used this to their advantage. The team, filled with expert climbers, pushed the tempo early and had the entire peloton sweating, with Andrew Talansky and Romain Bardet the first of the contenders to fall out of the leading group.

Thibaut Pinot and Jean-Christophe Peraud were next, a tough pill to swallow for local fans on Bastille Day, and the Guardian's William Fotheringham realised he may have hailed the arrival of the new French super talents a little too soon:

The French could hardly be blamed, however, as last year's winner Nibali also struggled to keep up, dropping along with Colombian star Rigoberto Uran and Dutch climber Bauke Mollema. 

Before long, Nibali was dropped, and per the Sunday Times' David Walsh, that should mean the end of his bid to defend his title:

Movistar continued to push the hellish pace, and Team Sky started doing the same for Froome. Van Garderen managed to hang around longer than most perhaps would have expected, while Contador and Quintana looked sharp. Robert Gesink managed to build a 25-second lead over the group, but the favourites weren't too concerned with winning the stage, focusing entirely on the yellow jersey.

Valverde was the first to launch an attack, but some solid work from Geraint Thomas ensured Team Sky remained in control. Richie Porte pushed the tempo, dropping Van Garderen and Contador in the process. Froome sat right on Porte before launching an incredible counter-attack, far earlier than anyone could have imagined.

Cycling writer Michael Hutchinson suggested the 2013 winner perhaps did too much:

With five kilometers left, Froome opened up a huge gap on Contador, Van Garderen and Nibali, with Quintana the only one able to limit the damage. The Colombian seems by far the strongest climber not named Froome, and he appears to be the man to beat for second place.

The yellow undoubtedly belongs to Froome, however, who raced to a solo finish, showing the peloton there are more ways to win the Tour de France than just defending the top position.

Per Sky Sports' live blog of the stage, Porte doesn't want to start celebrating just yet: "It's one day in the Tour. We can't get carried away. We are not getting too far in front of ourselves but it is still a fantastic feeling. It was a little bit bad picking Quintana's pocket but it's a race. Chris was absolutely fantastic today. I take my hat of to Geraint Thomas as well."

Froome himself gave all the credit to his team-mates, and deservedly so: "I'm lost for words. That was unbelievable. I couldn't believe it when I asked the guys to push on a little bit and we were just hearing on the radio the big names who were getting dropped. It was textbook from the team. The guys rode such a good race there. I'm over the moon to have been able to finish it off them."

Here's a look at the standings after a sensational day from Froome and Team Sky:

Pos	Rider	Time
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	35:56:09
2	Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:02:52
3	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	0:03:09
4	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	0:04:01
5	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky	0:04:03
6	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	0:04:04
7	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal	0:04:33
8	Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	0:04:35
9	Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin	0:06:12
10	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team	0:06:57

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal	225
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo	222
3	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step	172
4	John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin	169
5	Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar	108
6	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	81
7	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team	73
8	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal	70
9	Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step	63
10	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	53

Pos	Rider	Points
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky	51
2	Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky	40
3	Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team	32
4	Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo	28
5	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	24
6	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky	20
7	Adam Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge	16
8	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	12
9	Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal	8
10	Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka	4

Froome didn't just widen the gap between himself and his main rivals on Tuesday―he opened up a huge chasm, one that seems unlikely to be bridged any time soon. Contador and Nibali couldn't even follow Team Sky's pace after a rest day, and Froome dropped Quintana, setting the Colombian back minutes.

Team Sky have taken full control of this Tour, and while it's too early to say the race has been ridden, you have to think only mechanical failure or some tremendous bad luck can stop Froome at this point. With the dreaded Tourmalet on the schedule for Wednesday, expect Team Sky to take it easy, giving a chance to some of the less heralded riders to grab a stage win.