A 25-year-old Warren Barguil turns the final corner, fans in their thousands behind the barriers taking photos, slamming the boards or waving flags. Barguil, then the French national champion, is wearing the polkadot jersey, tricolour bands around his legs. In the drops and out of the saddle, he snatches a look back at his breakaway companions – Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador and Mikel Landa – on his wheel, unable to come round. As he crosses the line, he brings his hands to his mouth, kisses both index fingers, and lifts them to the air.
Barguil's victory in Foix in 2017, almost a decade ago, was the last time a French rider won on Bastille Day, the country's biggest national holiday. Before Barguil, it had been 12 years. For French riders, winning on 14 July is a fairytale victory. "It's incredible," Barguil said afterwards. "I've been looking for success ever since 2013, when I won two stages in the Vuelta. I've been close on many occasions, and finally it's come on July 14th. That couldn't be more important."
The holiday, which commemorates the 1789 storming of the Bastille – prompting the downfall of the monarchy and the birth of the modern French republic – is celebrated with picnics, fireworks, and parties stretching late into the night. At the Tour, the national holiday means more fans, campervans, cowbells, airhorns, atmosphere, and tricolour flags. On the road, there are often fireworks too, with the stage usually designed to provide excitement, and competition burning bright.
In last year's race, it was Simon Yates who won in Auvergne for Visma-Lease a Bike after dropping the rest of the breakaway on the final climb. EF Education-EasyPost's Ben Healy, meanwhile, claimed the first yellow jersey of his career. Pogačar has won twice on Bastille Day, in 2024 and 2021, while Tom Pidcock's now-legendary win on Alpe d'Huez — featuring his hair-raising descent of the Col du Galibier — happened in 2022. "The best [Tour de France] lion that I keep in my parents' house has a French flag around the chest because I got it on that day with the yellow jersey," said Pogačar on Sunday. "It's probably not as special a day as for the French riders, but every year it's like this. On Tuesday, we can expect a big fight for the stage victory from the French riders."
Today's 166.6-kilometre stage takes us through some of the cream of the Massif Central, from Aurillac to Le Lioran. Although it's classed as a mountain stage, with 3,800 metres of climbing, that elevation is scattered across an unrelenting series of shorter climbs, rather than one long ascent. It's well suited to a breakaway – but will UAE let one go?
Not if it includes Frenchmen Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) or Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), placed at sixth and eighth on GC respectively. But lower-placed French climbers will be eyeing up their chances. Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), the last French yellow jersey wearer in 2019, has been laying low so far, and has both the nous and the punch to deliver a win – although his season so far has been marred by illness, and he abandoned the Tour de Suisse. "I've been feeling much better since then. I don't know if I can say I'm 100%, but I think I'm getting close, and to be honest, I feel good," he said in an interview before the start of the Tour. "Let's see what we can achieve."
As for Barguil in 2017, a win today would be sweet for French national champion Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United). Grégoire chose not to ride with his team on yesterday's rest day, telling L'Équipe: "We're doing ourselves more harm than good". But after stage six, which he said was "one of the worst days of my career", he too has something to prove. The puncheur rode in the grupetto, "ashamed" to be wearing the national jersey. "It's not the image I want to show, at rock bottom, but that's also part of the Tour de France," he said.
Pure climber Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), who won on Ventoux last year, has shown good form so far – as well as an eagerness to get into breaks. Then there's Alex Baudin (EF Education EasyPost) who spent two days in the breakaway, caught with 11.5 kilometres to go on stage three and outsprinted by Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Premier-Tech), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) on stage nine. Yesterday, EF announced a long-term contract extension for Baudin. What better way to celebrate?
Other contenders include Kévin Vauquelin, more than 40 minutes back on GC, with Netcompany INEOS perhaps looking to capitalise on their previous Bastille Day successes (Pidcock in 2022 and Michal Kwiatkowksi in 2023). For Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies), who sits just under 11 minutes down on GC, participation in a successful breakaway could help nudge him into the top 10 – if UAE will let him in. After all, he finished 10th in last year's race.
With soaring temperatures in France, there had been discussion about whether Paris' enormous Bastille Day fireworks display should be allowed to take place. Some local authorities had already scrapped theirs, due to the risk of wildfires, and firefighters had cancelled their customary parties. In the end, they were given the all-clear, with Catherine Wheels and Roman Candles illuminating the Eiffel Tower last night. France had one fireworks display – and let's hope that today, it'll get another.
