Hugo Houle Awarded Most Combative Prize on Stage 10 of Tour de France

Hugo Houle, a rider for Astana – Premier Tech, has been awarded the combativity prize for stage 10 of the Tour de France. Despite the blistering heat and challenging course, Houle maintained a strong presence at the front of the race, riding in the day’s breakaway for over 150 kilometers.

Houle’s breakaway partner worked in harmony with him, and they managed to hold off the chasing peloton for a significant portion of the stage. However, their lead eventually diminished as the sprint teams increased their pace to close the gap.

Reflecting on his performance, Houle expressed his satisfaction with being recognized for his aggressive riding and revealed his goal of winning a stage in honor of his brother:

“I came to the Tour de France with the goal of winning a stage in honor of my brother. With today´s combativity prize, I think that goal came already a little bit closer, at least I stepped onto the Tour de France podium. As I pulled away I thought maybe some more riders would join, but well, once you are gone, you are gone and then you just push. We got caught quite quickly, with the crosswind at the end of the stage it was easy for the bunch to close the gap, but with two guys there is not much to do against it. However, being at the front of the race, especially at the Tour de France, is something special and to get awarded with the combativity prize was worth it all,” said Houle.

As the race approached Valence, crosswinds posed a challenge for the peloton. With the gap slowly diminishing, Houle and his breakaway companion were eventually caught with 40 kilometers to go.

Teammate Omar Fraile took charge of the peloton at this point, positioning Alexey Lutsenko and Alex Aranburu for a potential reduced bunch sprint. The stage ultimately concluded with another bunch sprint, won by Mark Cavendish.

All members of Astana – Premier Tech crossed the finish line safely, with no changes to the overall rankings.