Cycling in Yorkshire & Beyond
Cycling in Yorkshire & Beyond
Stage 10 of the Tour de France 2024 is a 187.3km flat stage from Orléans to Saint-Amand-Montrond. There are no categorised climbs at all.
The riders head through the Sologne forest. After Issoudun, they are on exposed roads and crosswinds may play a role. The three changes of direction in the last 30km mean that whichever way the wind blows, it could cause echelons to form at some stage.
This is therefore an unpredictable stage.
The finish is at Saint-Amand-Montrond, which is the home town of Julian Alaphilippe. He did the Giro and will target the Olympic road race, so he's not taking part in the Tour de France.
These are video highlights of Stage 10.
This is the Stage 10 blog/race report.
Race Details | Poll | Map & Profile | Timings | Videos | Food & Drink | Route Notes | Favourites
| Date | Tuesday 9th July 2024 |
|---|---|
| Stage classification | Flat |
| Distance | 187.3km |
| Intermediate sprint | Romorantin-Lanthenay |
| Climbs | None |
| Total climbing | 950m |
Vote for one of the main contenders to win Stage 10.
This is a map of the route of Stage 10, Tour de France 2024.
This is a zoom-able map of the route of Stage 10 of the 2024 Tour de France.
Note: this routemap was produced a long time in advance of the race, and could be subject to changes.
This is the profile of Stage 10 Tour de France 2024.
| Caravan | Fast Schedule | Slow Schedule | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start Time (départ fictif) | 1105 |
1305 |
1305 |
| Start Time (départ réel) | 1125 |
1325 |
1325 |
| Intermediate Sprint Romorantin-Lanthenay | 1245 |
1438 |
1445 |
| Finish Line (187.3km) | 1546 |
1724 |
1746 |
This is a video of the route of Stage 10 Tour de France 2024.
Mark Cavendish won in Saint-Amand-Montrond on Stage 13 of the Tour de France 2013.
Today the race goes through the Sologne forest, so Sologne honey should be on the menu. There are different types of honey, depending on season and the flowers the bees have visited, for example heather.
Another local speciality is tarte tatin, first made in Lamotte-Beuvron. It is a tart with apple that is caramelised in butter and sugar, first made by the Tatin sisters at their Hotel Tatin. It's baked upside down - apples under the pastry - then flipped over to be served.
Orléans is in the Val de Loire, so a Loire valley wine would be an appropriate accompaniment to the stage.
Buy a bottle of Loire Valley Haute Fevrie Muscadet (affiliate link).
The stage starts in Orléans (départ fictif).
Orléans is a city on the river Loire near its confluence with the Loiret. It is the capital of the Loiret département and the Centre-Val de Loire region.
The population is 290,000.
Orléans was founded in the late C3rd or C2nd BC by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. It was close to the old Gaulish stronghold of Cenabum, which had been destroyed in 52BC when Julius Caesar defeated the Camutes tribe.
With the lack of modesty that was characteristic of many Roman Emperors, Aurelian named the new city after himself: civitas Aurelianorum. That is the name that evolved into Orléans.
Orléans thrived in Medieval times, partly due to its bridge over the Loire.
The University of Orléans was founded in 1305, and specialised in law.
During the One Hundred Years War, Orléans was under siege by the English. Joan of Arc lifted the siege in a battle in May 1429.
Orléans has long been a trade centre, owing its prosperity to its position on the navigable river Loire.
In the 1600s, Orléans became a hub for refining sugar, which was imported from the Caribbean via Nantes. In the 1700s, it produced vinegar and wine from local vineyards.
Flat-bottomed boats with sails, known as gabarres, were used. Today's ocean-going vessels are much bigger, and can only go as far as Nantes.
France colonised parts of America in the 1700s, and New Orleans was named after the French King's regent, the Duke of Orléans.
In World War II, Orléans station was a logistics hub for the occupying Germans, and as a result it was bombed by the US air force. The city was rebuilt after the war.
Actress Marion Cotillard (star of La Vie en Rose) grew up in Orléans.
Cyclist Georges Fleury was from Orléans. He finished 7th in the 1908 Tour de France.
Orléans is twinned with Dundee (UK), Treviso (Italy), Munster (Germany), and both New Orleans and Wichita (US).
The départ réel is near the Terrain Militaire de la Grémuse, south of Orléans. The peloton sets off south on the D168 to Ardon.
The race organisers say that singer and happy man William Sheller lives in Ardon.
The route continues on the D15 through Jouy-le-Potier, where the Château du Lude stands, and Ligny-le Ribault.
Ligny-le-Ribault has the Bretèche Tile Factory and a Renaissance-style hunting lodge from the end of the 1800s, called le Château de Bon-Hôtel.
On Tripadvisor there is some classic overblown, flowery French writing about the château that doesn't really translate into English.
'The building, in its majestic isolation, evoked the image of a ship washed up on the shores of history, a monument both intimidating and imploring. There was in his silence a desperate plea, a plea that his story would not be swallowed up by the indifference of the modern world'.
Somebody on Tripadvisor
This area is known as the Sologne.
The Sologne is countryside between the Loire to the north and the Cher to the south, with the smaller rivers Cosson and Beuvron within it.
Soils in the Sologne are a mix of sand and clay, and they give rise to pools and marshes - albeit some were drained under Napoléon III in the 1800s.
There is arable and livestock farming in the Sologne, and large shooting estates.
One of the sights of the Sologne is the Château de Chambord.
On the D113, the riders go through Villeny, which has a deer museum, la Maison du Cerf. Then the race route joins the D925 to La Marolle-en-Sologne and Neung-sur-Beuvron.
Next the D922 takes Stage 10 past ponds and lakes to Millançay and Romorantin-Lanthenay. The intermediate sprint is at Romorantin-Lanthenay.
The intermediate sprint comes after 57.1km raced.
Romorantin-Lanthenay is regarded as the capital of the Sologne, and has a Museum of the Sologne. The town has a population of around 18,000.
One of Wikipedia's main facts about the town is what motorway it is on (the A85), which is hardly a vote of confidence in its cultural heritage and exciting attractions.
Still, Romorantin's aerodrome was used for the women's World Gliding Champs in 2007, and there's a festival of gastronomy every year.
Also, in 1516 Louise de Savoie commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to turn the town into a new capital of France. Da Vinci died in 1519, and that was the end of it.
Now the race continues south to Villefranche-sur-Cher, before following the river Cher upstream via Mennetou-sur-Cher, which has ruined Medieval ramparts, and Châtres-sur-Cher to Vierzon.
Vierzon features prominently in the Jacques Brel classic Vesoul.
Which cyclist is the most likely to reach Vierzon and say, 'mais je te le dis, je n'irai pas plus loin'? Perhaps Superman Lopez.
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Vierzon is a medium-sized town on the river Cher.
A Benedictine monastery was built here in 926. From the late 1700s, Vierzon was a centre for manufacturing farm tools, then glass, ceramics and agricultural machinery.
Vierzon was split in two in World War II, the part north of the river being in occupied France and the part south of the river belonging to the 'free' French zone.
Much of Vierzon was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944.
The stage then takes the D918 south from Vierzon along the course of the Arnon river to Lury-sur-Arnon and Reuilly.
Then the D918 heads south via Diou and Sainte-Lizaigne to Issoudun.
In World War I, the US Air Service established its largest European training centre close to Issoudun.
Stage 10 of the 2009 Tour de France finished in Issoudun.
The controversy that day was a UCI test of a 'no radios/earpieces' rule, reported on by NOS Tourjournaal in the video above.
Those were the days of HTC Colombia High Road, and they delivered Mark Cavendish close to the line for a relatively easy win.
From Issoudun, the riders are on the D9 then D14 going south east through Ségry to Mareuil-sur-Arnon and Saint-Baudel, then east to Châteauneuf-sur-Cher.
Then there are a couple of sharp changes of direction to join the D2144 south to Bruère-Allichamps, which is one of seven places that claims to be at the centre of France. I guess it depends how you measure it.
Here Stage 10 picks up the D35 to Saint-Amand-Montrond, passing the Abbaye de Noiriac en route.
The riders come into Saint-Amand-Montrond on the D35 Route de Bourges.
They pass the Lac de Virlay, and the road is called the Avenue du Générale de Gaulle. There's a left turn onto the Avenue Jean Giraudoux, which turns into the Avenue de la Compagnie Surcouf.
The finish line is at the junction of the Avenue de la Compagnie Surcouf and the Rue des Grands Villages.
The Stage 10 finish town is Saint-Amand-Montrond.
It's a small town at the conference of the Marmande and Cher rivers. The Canal du Berry also runs through Saint-Amand.
There is evidence of Roman occupation. An abbey was built here in 620.
Saint-Amand-Montrond is the home town of Julian Alaphilippe (not taking part in the 2024 Tour de France) and his younger brother Bryan.
We know that Mark Cavendish won in Saint-Amand after crosswinds in 2013. Could he repeat the trick? Maybe.
You could also imagine a scenario where Team Visma Lease-a-Bike rip the race apart in crosswinds, and Christophe Laporte is the best sprinter left at the front of the race.
Who do you think will win Stage 10 of the 2024 Tour de France?
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