page_title: 2012 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10
section_title: Stage 10
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10 / Stage 10
caption_attribution_description: English: Profil of the 10th stage of the Tour de France 2012
context_page_description: The 2012 Tour de France began on 30 June, and stage 10 occurred on 11 July. The 2012 edition began with a prologue – a short individual time trial stage – where each member of the starting peloton of 198 riders competed against the clock – in Liège, Belgium with two more stages held in the country before moving back into France. The race resumed in Orchies for the start of the third stage; also during the first half of the race, the peloton visited Switzerland for the finish to the eighth stage in Porrentruy, and contested another individual time trial stage – having returned to France – the following day.
  Fabian Cancellara held the lead of the race throughout its opening Belgian leg; having won the race-commencing prologue, Cancellara defended it on the following two stages before the race returned to France. Cancellara maintained his overall lead for the rest of the race's first week, before eventually losing time on the first true mountain stage of the race – stage seven – as he was dropped on the closing climb to La Planche des Belles Filles. As a result, Bradley Wiggins assumed the maillot jaune, becoming the first British rider to wear the jersey since 2000.
context_section_description: 11 July 2012 — Mâcon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, 194.5 km (120.9 mi)
  After a rest day, the Tour remained in the Jura Mountains, with much of the day's route the same as that followed on stage five of the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné, including the Tour's first passage over the hors catégorie climb of the Col du Grand Colombier; a 17.4 km (10.8 mi) long climb, reaching an altitude of 1,501 m (4,925 ft) at an average gradient of 7.1%, but with sections in excess of 12%. The Tour then passed over the 1,051 m (3,448 ft) Col de Richemond, 20.5 km (12.7 mi) before the finish; the race descended towards Billiat before a gradual uphill finish in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine.
  Several small attacks occurred in the early kilometres of the stage, and the peloton allowed the riders to establish an advantage off the front of the main field. It eventually amounted to some twenty-five riders in the breakaway, including Lampre–ISD rider Michele Scarponi – the highest-placed rider in the group, some ten minutes in arrears of race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) – and the top two riders in the points classification, Liquigas–Cannondale's Peter Sagan and Matthew Goss of Orica–GreenEDGE. After Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank's Michael Mørkøv took maximum points over the first climb of the day, the Côte de Corlier, the next focus was on the intermediate sprint point at Béon; Sagan launched his sprint first but was beaten to the line by both Goss and FDJ–BigMat's Yauheni Hutarovich, with Goss reducing Sagan's lead in the standings to 27 points. The breakaway group split apart on the Col du Grand Colombier; only Scarponi, Team Europcar's Thomas Voeckler, Rabobank rider Luis León Sánchez and Dries Devenyns of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step remained at the front.
  Voeckler crossed the summit of the climb first, taking the 25 points on offer for the hors catégorie climb. The peloton crossed five-and-a-half minutes later. Voeckler also took maximum points at the Col de Richemond, and as a result, took the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification lead from Astana rider Fredrik Kessiakoff. Sagan had dropped back to aid his teammate Vincenzo Nibali, who had attacked on the descent of the Col du Grand Colombier, but both riders were not to stay in front ahead of the Team Sky-led peloton. RadioShack–Nissan's Jens Voigt made up a minute on the lead quartet to join them, with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining; Devenyns looked to go clear in the closing stages, but Voeckler had kept most in hand to take his third career Tour stage victory, three seconds ahead of Scarponi and seven ahead of Voigt. Wiggins remained on the wheel of his closest rival, Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing Team, to maintain his 1' 53" lead in the general classification into the Alps.
caption: Stage ten profile
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