As the battle played out for the podium and overall standings up the front of the field on stage 10 of the Tour de France, there was another completely different battle playing out at the back. Sprinters Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny), Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) and their leadout riders may be rivals when they are lining up for a sprint, but on Tuesday they banded together with a combined purpose – making it through before the time cut.
It was no easy start after the rest day, with the mercury soaring above 30° Celsius even before the racing started and a just as hot GC joust right from the beginning of the 167km stage from Vulcania to Issoire. With even top ten GC riders put under pressure, it's no surprise that some of the sprinters fell away from the field early.
