After the first rest day, the Tour de France was back on the roads for the 10th stage. The short course (167 km) and the demanding final climb made the stage selective.

In the day of the French national celebration, two riders from two French teams (Fedrigo and Vanbilsen) led the race for most of the stage but their efforts were neutralized on the final climb when the top climbers raised the speed. Lampre-Merida captain Rui Costa was dropped early.

10 km from the finish, Rafael Valls reacted to an attack by Gesink, joining the Dutch rider in the front of the race. The duo led the stage for 2 km, before Valverde attacked, closing the gap to the head of the race, just before Froome left all his opponents behind.

Valls managed to complete the race in 12th position, 3'09" behind the British climber. Froome consolidated the yellow jersey, Rui Costa is 33rd at 22'10".

"After a difficult first week of the Tour de France, I was aware I was going to face some stages which could be suitable for my qualities," Valls explained. Today, I wanted to test my legs, if there was an opportunity. 

"When Rui was not in the group, I knew I had to try to make something for the team: I decided to attack, exploiting the action of Gesink, the legs were good but not enough to respond to the reaction of the best riders' group. Even if I could not complete my action with a top result, I think I got good feedbacks about my condition".

"Today was not a good day for me," Costa said. "On the final climb I realized that the feelings were bad, probably because of the still not perfect condition of my left leg, the heat and the fact that I suffered after the rest day, as it often happens.

"I was aware that the ambitions for the overall classification were becoming difficult, so I preferred to complete the climb at a regular pace and not to spend too much energy. I saved them in order to be ready to exploit the opportunities that the Tour de France will give me. I'll try to be protagonist in the demanding stages."