Tour de France 2019: Wout van Aert Wins Stage 10, Julian Alaphilippe Leads

Crosswinds wreaked havoc on the Tour de France peloton during Stage 10, and Wout van Aert took full advantage, winning a sprint in Albi.

The Jumbo-Visma man beat Elia Viviani (Deceuninck―Quick-Step) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) to the finish line, but the big story of the stage came in the general classification, where several top contenders lost time.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) all lost over 90 seconds over a group that contained Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal (Team Ineos), among others. Julian Alaphilippe (DQS), the leader in the GC, managed to sneak into the latter group.

Here is a look at the finish to Monday's stage:

The results from the stage:

Monday's stage profile was hilly, but with few opportunities for bunch sprints available in this year's race, the sprint teams were expected to keep a tight lid on any breakaways and ensure the peloton was intact when it reached Albi.

They were not counting on Team Ineos using crosswinds to their advantage, however, and with 30 kilometres still to race, they made an ambitious move to cause splits. It worked, catching out several top contenders who couldn't bridge the gap.

Cycling writer Neal Rogers believed some top riders ruined their chance at the yellow on Monday:

Jumbo-Visma usually rely on Dylan Groenewegen in the sprint, but he, too, fell victim to the echelons. Instead, Van Aert took his chance, sprinting to his maiden Tour win.

Here is a look at the classifications going into the first rest day:

The peloton will enjoy a much-needed rest day in Albi on Tuesday, before they head back out on the road on Wednesday. The ride to Toulouse is flat and should give the sprinters another chance to shine.