Yates wins Tour de France’s 1st mountainous stage and Healy takes yellow jersey from Pogačar

LE MONT-DORE, France (AP) – British rider Simon Yates won the first mountainous stage of the Tour de France on Monday while Irish rider Ben Healy consoled himself by taking the yellow jersey for the overall leader on Monday.

Healy was nominated the most combative rider of the day after forcing the initiative on the 10th stage, but Yates timed his break perfectly on the final climb to win a stage for the third time.

Dutch rider Thymen Arensman was 9 seconds behind, while Healy finished third, 31 seconds behind Yates.

Three-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar finished further back alongside main rival Jonas Vingegaard and French rider Lenny Martinez with a gap of 4 minutes, 51 seconds.

It meant that the 24-year-old Healy, who claimed his first stage victory on Thursday, took the overall lead 29-seconds ahead of Pogačar.

Stage 10 took the riders on a tough 165.3-kilometer route in the Massif Central – France’s south-central highland region – from Ennezat through seven category two climbs before concluding on the ascent of Puy de Sancy – the region’s highest peak – after 3.3 kilometers of an 8% gradient climb.

The riders can look forward to their first rest day on Tuesday.