A 148.1km route from Morzine to Megeve greets the Tour de France peloton after Monday's rest day and it could be one for Lennard Kamna.
Sunday's first real day in the mountains produced a fine win for AG2R Citroen's Bob Jungels and this could be a similarly successful stage for the breakaway, with the real Alpine routes scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
Tadej Pogacar's Team UAE Emirates will look to sit on the front and control things as they aim to protect his 39-second lead over Team Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard, while Ineos Grenadiers could look to animate the race with Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates sitting third and fourth overall.
However, with so much climbing to be done in the coming days, those towards the top of GC may look to conserve their energy.
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What | Tour de France, Stage 10 |
Where | Morzine to Megeve, France |
When | Tuesday 12th July, 12:30 UK Time |
How to watch | Live on ITV4, Eurosport, Discovery+ & GCN+ |
Odds | Lennard Kamna 13/2, Tadej Pogacar 8/1, Wout van Aert 11/1, Thibaut Piot 18/1, Jakob Fuglsang 22/1 |
With the high Alps beckoning on Wednesday and Thursday, Tuesday's stage is difficult but not one that is likely to decide the race.
The big names may look to make a late dash but truthfully, this sets up as a nice day for the breakaway.
Race director Christian Prudhomme noted when the route was unveiled in October that this 148.1km path from Morzine to Megeve was as beautiful as it is tough, meandering through valleys and straddling Lake Geneva.
After two category fours and a category three climb, the finish is on the Montee de l'altiport de Megeve. The airfield hosted back-to-back stage finishes in the 2020 Criterium du Dauphine, with Kamna and Sepp Kuss taking the honours.
Kuss maybe distracted by his domestique duties protecting Vingegaard but the former is sure to feature.
With leader Alexander Vlasov in that horrible no man's land of being way off the pace but having shown the type of form in 2022 that will prevent the favourites from giving him too much room, his Bora-Hansgrohe colleagues have a chance to express themselves.
The German squad's decision to pin all their hopes on Vlasov's overall challenge at the expense of a potential Plan B with sprinter Sam Bennett leaves them looking to salvage something and days like this are where they could do just that.
Kamna has animated this year's Tour but failed to make things stick. However, having won here in the Dauphine in 2020, this finish clearly suits him.
The 25-year-old arrived at the Tour on the back of a respectable 19th place at the Giro d'Italia, a race in which he won the stage to Mount Etna and almost won last Friday at Les Super Planches des Belles Filles.
With both form and history suiting him, the climber could excel.
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It's been another characteristically enigmatic Tour for Thibaut Pinot, with his inconsistency only further enhancing his love affair with the French public.
After losing time and seemingly being set to depart the race on Saturday, the Groupama FDJ man bounced back on Sunday, getting in the break before launching what looked like a winning attack in the closing kilometres.
However, his old Achilles heel of descending came back to haunt him and rather than pushing Jungels, he eventually finished fourth, with Spaniards Carlos Verona and Jonathan Castroviejo beating him.
Even so, Pinot's exploits were enough to leave him third in the race for the King of the Mountains, while he also took the Combativity Award.
Although not as successful as Kamna at the 2020 Dauphine, Pinot did record a pair of top-10s on those back-to-back days to Megeve so clearly knows the climb.
The polka-dot jersey seems to be his goal for the remainder of the Tour so expect to see him in the break again, especially as the uphill finish means he doesn't have to worry about grappling with gravity.
More of a value chance but one worth noting is Dutchman Bauke Mollema, who has been quiet so far at the Tour.
Trek-Segafredo colleagues Mads Pedersen, Quinn Simmons and Jasper Stuyven have all featured but the 35-year-old has been more subdued, perhaps with him building his form after finishing 26th at the Giro.
Mollema started with a strong time-trial and may have been biding his time for the mountains on terrain where he often excels.
The 35-year-old won a similar medium-mountain stage in 2021 and with him 61st on GC, will be looking to attack.
He may not be the most elegant but 'the Gardener' is always a threat and could well try his luck.
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