Quinn Simmons of Trek Segafredo had his best finish in the Tour de France on Tuesday during Stage 10 of the race.
Simmons finished 11th on the 148-kilometer hilly stage in 3 hours, 19 minutes and 50 seconds.
“Not quite good enough today, but making steps in the right direction,” Simmons posted on Instagram. “Thank you (Mads Pederson) for taking care of me. We keep fighting.”
Magnus Cort of EF Education EasyPost won Stage 10 in 3:18:50, beating Nick Schultz of Team BikeExchange Jayco in a photo finish.
Sepp Kuss, meanwhile, placed 37th for Team Jumbo-Visma, finishing in the peloton with Tadej Pogacar in the yellow jersey and teammate Jonas Vingegaard, 8:54 back.
The general classification didn’t change much.
Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates held on to the yellow jersey with his 20th-place finish. Lennard Kamna of BORA-Hansgrohe passed 19 riders with his 10th-place finish (+0:22) to move into second. Vingegaard moved down spot and is now third, trailing Pogacar by 39 seconds.
Primoz Roglic of Jumbo Visma slid two spots in the GC to 13th (+2:52). Kuss remained in 27th (+13:50). Simmons passed 46 riders to move into 97th (+1:04:50).
On Saturday, Wout Van Aert, who picked up his second stage win during Stage 8, has a huge lead in points race for the green jersey. Van Aert now leads with 284 points, almost twice as many as the rider in second, Fabio Jakobsen of Quick Step Alpha Vinyl (149).
Van Aert beat Michael Matthews of Team BikeExchange Jayco and Pogacar on the steep final climb in Lausanne to get the stage win, his eighth overall on the Tour de France and seventh win of the year.
“I am thrilled with this win,” Van Aert said afterward. “I asked the team to control the stage because I was confident I could win. It's extra sweet when you can finish it off. You can't win this kind of stage without a team. Nathan Van Hooydonck did a great job riding in front all day. I am also super happy for him that I won.”
Matthews crossed second, Pogacar finished third while Vingegaard crossed eighth and Roglic finished 14th to keep pace in the GC.
Van Aert, who gave the team its 28th win of the season, also extended his lead in the green jersey classification Saturday. “This was an important stage to increase my lead in the points classification,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure on the final sprint anyway because Pogacar could take some bonification seconds for the yellow jersey. Fortunately, I perform best when the pressure is high.”
Kuss finished 37th, 42 seconds back, and Simmons was 150th (+9:22).
On Sunday, Bob Jungels of AG2R Citroen won the 193-kilometer Stage 9 by 22 seconds in 4:46:39. Pogacar and Vingegaard finished together in fifth and sixth, respectively, 49 seconds back. Roglic finished 14th (+0:52) and Kuss finished 19th (+1:03). Simmons finished 88th on the day (+23:38).
The Tour will resume Wednesday with the first of two important alpine days. Wednesday’s mountain course will be 151.7 kilometers long while Thursday will be 165 kilometers.
For Team Jumbo-Visma, the focus can now turn to the upcoming challenging mountain stages. During Wednesday’s stage, a final climb to the Col du Granon awaits the riders. “It is a very tough one, especially with the high temperatures,” Steven Kruijswijk said. “The finish is at 2,400 meters, which will also play a role. I think we are going to see something nice.”
“It's a very tough climb, one of the toughest I've seen,” Vingegaard said. “We'll see what will happen. I hope I have good legs. Every mountain stage is an opportunity for us, and I feel good.”
