10 Le Château d’oléron Île de Ré Saint Martin-de-ré

168.5km Tuesday, 8 September Start 11:35 Finish 16:29

The rest-day transfer northwards from the Pyrenees takes the Tour to the holiday beaches of western France.

■ Terrain

Racing recommences with what looks on paper to be the most benign of stages, starting on the Île d’oléron and finishing on the Île de Ré, a little to the north.

After returning to the mainland from the start, the riders will head south along the coast to Royan, before turning north. The parcours has no significant difficulties unless it’s gusting off the Atlantic, in which case this whole stage will take on a very different complexion.

■ Gameplan

Being in the break is likely to yield no more than a good dose of publicity for sponsors, as the sprinters’ teams will be determined to prevent any group gaining more than a few minutes on the peloton before, inevitably, chasing it down and setting up their designated speedster for the finish.

As for the GC contenders, they will want to negotiate this stage with as little fuss as possible; if the wind does become a significant factor in the closing 40km, one or two of the big names are likely to get caught out.

■ Players

Sam Bennett is the most recent in a long list of sprinters to benefit from the steamroller that is the Deceuninck-quick Step leadout train so you’d be brave to bet against him. The other fastmen will run him close though, perhaps most notably Elia Viviani, who has all the motivation to prove he can still do it, having just left that very train behind in his move to Cofidis.