Tour de France : Bauer Remains Atop Standings as Van Poppel Wins 10th Leg

Canadian Steve Bauer retained the overall lead of the Tour de France bicycle race Tuesday as Jean-Paul van Poppel of the Netherlands won the 10th stage from Belfort to Besancon.

Bauer held onto the yellow jersey, worn by the overall leader, with a 14-second margin over France’s Jerome Simon. Most of the riders finished in a pack Tuesday with little effect on the overall standings.

Bauer placed 57th and, like the rest in the pack, was credited with the same time as Van Poppel. Britain’s surprising Sean Yates remained in fourth place, also finishing with the pack.

The race was won by riders known for their sprinting strength with Van Poppel first, followed by Italy’s Guido Bontempi and Belgium’s Eddy Planckaert, who is third overall.

Van Poppel, who also won the third stage on a sprint finish, was timed in 3 hours 28 minutes 31 seconds for the 93-mile leg in eastern France.

Today’s 11th stage of 144 miles from Besancon to Morzine finishes with two big climbs, the 4,560-foot Pas de Morgins and the 4,068 Col du Corbier.

Sprinters such as Bauer and Simon are expected to fall behind mountain experts such as Luis Herrera of Colombia and Raul Alcala of Mexico.

Monique Knol of the Netherlands took the second stage of the women’s Tour de France, but Jeannie Longo of France continued to hold her overall lead.

Knol won the individual race of 46 miles from Lure to Besancon in 1:58:44.

Longo, the defending champion, maintained her four-second lead over Italy’s two-time champion, Maria Canins. Longo’s time for the two stages is 4:34:01.