At the end of the first mountain stage, Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo landed at the Point d’Appui of the Tour de France.

Daniele Bennati

Bennati has held the fulcrum after stages in previous Tours and the 2014 Vuelta as well as sharing the cusp of the fulcrum after Stage 2 of this year’s tour. He has remained close to the middle and landed at the fulcrum today after helping lead out Alberto Contador to the base of the climb to La Pierre-St.-Martin.

Like so many riders, Contador couldn’t hang with the stiff pace set by Chris Froome, who won the stage, gained more than a minute on his closest rival and retains the yellow jersey. Neither Nairo Quintana nor T.J. Van Garderen could maintain Froome’s pace but both managed to succeed in retaining podium spots. There are, however, more days in the Pyrenees and then the Alps to continue testing them.

Michael Matthews, the holder of the Lanterne Rouge, dropped further behind the penultimate rider in the tour.

Ivan Basso and Lars Boom did not start Stage 10. Basso, who was on the cusp of the Point d’Appui after Stage 3, left the race after receiving a diagnosis of testicular cancer. Boom, who was on the cusp after Stage 2, departed with the flu.