Tour de France 2016: Stage 10 Results, Updated Standings and Highlights

UCI ProTeam Orica–BikeExchange's Michael Matthews won Stage 10 of the 2016 Tour de France after a sprint finish between a five-man leading pack. 

The hilly stage challenged the riders with an early mountain climb before a long descent out of Andorra. Peter Sagan finished as runner-up but secured the intermediate sprint win.

The Slovakian had looked in control of the race with 10 kilometres remaining but finished alongside Dimenson Data's Edvald Boasson Hagen, BMC's Greg Van Avermaet and AG2R-La Mondiale's Sam Dumoulin.

Here's a look at the stage results, via Sky Sports Cycling:

And here's the current general classification:

Recap

Tuesday saw the riders handed a baptism of fire after returning to their bikes following a day off on Monday, as they were forced to take on an early 22.6-kilometre ascent up the Port d'Envalira—the highest ascent of this year's Tour.

Team Sky's Chris Froome began the stage in the yellow jersey, with Sagan of Tinkoff closely following Dimension Data's Mark Cavendish, who sits at the summit of the points classification.

Le Tour Data provided all the stats ahead of a gruelling early start: 

Lampre–Merida's Rui Costa was the first to make a significant breakaway after 6.5 kilometres and built an initial lead of 35 seconds. 

According to the Telegraph's Luke Brown, Le Tour de France general director Christian Prudhomme felt Stage 10's climb would be one the more difficult moments of this year's event:

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Not any kind of rider will be able to take off early and shine on this stage made for spectacular attacks. Only the most determined and solid men will manage to seize their chance when leaving Andorra to immediately take on the climb to the Port d'Envalira. And once in Revel, the final hill leading to the finish line seems made for the most volatile puncheurs.

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Costa increased his advantage to one minute over the rest of the peloton before eventually reaching the summit first, 32 seconds over Dumoulin, Vincenzo Nibali and Tsgabu Grmay, to take a maximum haul of 10 King of the Mountain points.

The descent from Andorra into France was set up to provide serious challenges to all riders, with fog posing considerable visibility concerns. The thick fog prevented sight over 25 metres, per Brown. 

Cycling journalist Gregor Brown posted a spectacular picture into where the cyclists were heading:

After 50 kilometres, the leading pack consisted of nine riders, with Froome leading the chasing pack 20 seconds behind.

Le Tour provided an update of the standings in creative fashion:

Following the end of the descent, Sagan and Dumoulin took over at the front, building a 15-second advantage before being clawed back into a group of 15.

With 90 kilometres remaining, the front bunch had sped away from the peloton to create a seven-minute lead. Rain jackets were brought out for the riders after inclement weather broke over the Tour. 

Le Tour Data highlighted how the gap gradually increased as the Stage flattened following a tough start:

Sagan appeared in imperious form on the bike all afternoon and faced little competition during the intermediate sprint to pick up a simple 20 points and leapfrog Cavendish in the overall points classification. 

Green Jersey gave official confirmation of Sagan's success:

With the kilometres until the finish tumbling, the chasing peloton began to close in on the leaders, with Thomas Voeckler the main protagonist in their bid to close the gap by over two-and-a-half minutes.

However, following the final-stage climb around 10 kilometres from the finish line, the breakaway split into two packs. Seven riders, including Sagan, Dumoulin, Van Avermaet, Boasson Hagen, Luke Durbridge, Impey and Matthews. After securing a four-minute lead over the peloton, a winner was sure to come from one of those men.

Christophe Ena/Associated Press

Sagan was intent on moving forward at a quicker pace but found little agreement with the other breakaway riders. The Slovak was making the late climb look simple, scanning the competition to assess body language to judge condition.

The leading pack was a collection of some of the best sprinters in the sport, with Matthews darting into the distance before before clawed back by Sagan and others. 

On three occasions Impey moved out in front to burst away from his rivals, but Sagan—known as The Terminator—pumped his legs to close the gap with such panache and confidence. 

But it wasn't to be for Sagan, as he once again failed to take the stage win despite controlling the race for a huge majority of time. Treating it like he had the race won from 10 kilometres, the Tinkoff rider showed naivety when he arguably deserved to win the stage.

Le Tour provided video footage of the final moments of the race:

It took until the final 200 metres for the sprint to really catch fire, and it was Australian Matthews who crossed the line first with four riders abreast to secure his first stage win. Sagan was forced to give up the fight with 50 metres remaining after being outmaneuvered and outthought. 

The yellow-jersey pack eventually finished over nine minutes behind the leaders, with Froome enjoying another untroubled and unruffled stage finish.