Bastien Tronchon wins Vuelta a España stage 10 in Elche de la Sierra

Photo finish in Elche de la Sierra

Bastien Tronchon of Groupama-FDJ United secured his first WorldTour victory on Tuesday, winning stage 10 of the Vuelta a España in a photo finish in Elche de la Sierra. The 24-year-old French rider completed the 184.7-kilometre route from Alcaraz in 4:07:41. He edged out Denmark's Magnus Cort of Uno-X Mobility in second place and Belgium's Thibau Nys of Lidl-Trek in third, while points classification leader Wout van Aert missed the stage podium. The victory marked the first Grand Tour stage win in two years for Groupama-FDJ United and Tronchon's primary victory in his fourth WorldTour season, following a previous win at Tro-Bro Léon in Brittany. The outcome was decided in the closing metres after late attackers Yevgeni Fedorov of Astana and Xabier Azparren of Q36.5 were caught just before the line. Tronchon described his reaction in post-race comments.

I launched my sprint and I just finished it on the line, but I wasn't sure if there was some guys in front or not, so I did not put my hands in the air.

Stage dynamic and breakaway chase

The undulating stage through Castilla-La Mancha began with an early breakaway featuring Enzo Paleni, Michael Gogl, Jasha Sütterlin, Fabian Weiss, Sinuhé Fernández, and Iván Cobo. Fredrik Dversnes bridged across at kilometre 22 to create a seven-rider lead group that built an advantage exceeding two minutes over the peloton. Visma-Lease a Bike and Cofidis shared pacing duties at the front of the bunch to keep the attackers within reach. By the final 10 kilometres, only Gogl and Dversnes remained ahead before the peloton absorbed them. On the penultimate climb, Eddie Dunbar of Pinarello-Q36.5 attacked in pursuit of the leaders. A brief four-rider group including Nys and two-time stage winner Matthew Brennan formed near the summit but was quickly reeled in, setting up the final approach where Fedorov and Azparren launched their late bid.

General classification standings

Enric Mas of Movistar Team finished safely in 36th place within the main peloton to retain the overall race lead, ensuring he will wear the red jersey for a third consecutive day. The Spanish rider preserved his 1 minute and 18 second advantage over second-placed Primož Roglič of Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe. Austria's Felix Gall of Decathlon sits third overall, 1 minute and 39 seconds behind Mas, while Britain's Oscar Onley of Netcompany Ineos holds fourth place at 2 minutes and 2 seconds. Ireland's Dunbar finished 66th on the stage to sit 49th overall, 58 minutes and 20 seconds behind the leader, while Darren Rafferty of EF Education-EasyPost is 37th in the youth classification. The standings follow the withdrawal of five-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar, who abandoned after breaking his collarbone in a stage 8 crash on Saturday and underwent successful surgery.

Course profile for stage 11

The race continues on Wednesday with stage 11, a 153.8-kilometre route running from the port city of Cartagena to Lorca. The stage marks the third start along the Mediterranean coast in this edition of the Vuelta. The profile is largely flat and expected to favor sprinters, though it includes a category three climb up the Morrón de Totana positioned 30 kilometres before the finish. Sprinters including Brennan and Van Aert are anticipated to challenge for the stage victory in Lorca before the race heads toward further mountainous terrain.