Today is the last rest day of this year’s Tour. Not only have the riders had to content with mountain stages, GC battles and two sprint stages, they have also had to contend with a heatwave sweeping across Europe. With temperatures up to 40 degrees celcius already, the weather seems to be getting as hot as the race into the final week.

Stage 10 was the first stage after last week’s rest-day and it brought Le Col the closest it has ever been to the fabled Maillot Jaune. Lennard Kaemna of BORA-hansgrohe went on the attack early and a sizeable break formed. This break would hold its advantage almost all the way to the line with Kaemna the virtual leader on the road. Unfortunately for the second time in 4 days Lenny had the heart break of Tadej Pogacar sprinting in the last 100m to keep the jersey by just 11 seconds.

Stage 11 provided a major turning point in the race as it was the day race leader, Pogacar, cracked. Leading for most of the race, he suffered on the final climb of the Col du Granon and Jonas Vingegaard pounced taking the Yellow jersey by over 2 minutes. It also saw British hope Geraint Thomas take back time in his bid to finish on the podium.

Stage 12 saw former team Wiggins-Le Col rider Tom Pidcock win his first Tour stage. In the break all day, he attacked up the famous Alpe D’Huez, becoming the youngest ever stage winner atop this summit. The last few stages of the week were expected to be decided by the break or the sprinters teams, unfortunately BORA-hansgrohe couldn’t quite find a win. They were however awarded the most combative team on Stage 14 for their multiple attacks and also German National Champion was awarded the most aggressive rider for his excellent racing on Stage 15.

Thanks to Chris Auld and Russ Ellis for capturing this year’s race. See more of their work on Instagram