It has been all Team Sky until Stage 10 of the Tour de France 2015 as current yellow jersey holder Chris Froome took the honours after successfully completing the 167km stretch of the race to storm to victory at La Pierre-Saint-Martin on Tuesday.
The 2013 Tour de France champion claimed his fifth stage victory at the TDF 2015, and his teammate Richie Porte, slower by 59 seconds, stood second in the stage. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) came third.
Froome, 30, showed glimpses of his 2013 TDF win as he broke away with 6.4km left of the first mountain-top finish of the tour this year. The win puts the 30-year-old in a commanding position in the race, with 11 stages to go.
Tejay van Garderen lies second overall, with the rider as much 2 minutes and 52 seconds behind Froome.
"What a stage! Through Monday's rest day, we were very focused on today's [Tuesday's] stage. We didn't necessarily want to ride aggressively. We were happy to let a breakaway go, let other teams chase and be more defensive than usual. But when I heard the big names were struggling and getting dropped, I told Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas: "let's push"," an ecstatic Froome said after the race.
"We have to see how much we'll pay [in Stage 11] for the efforts we produced. Two years ago, we were in trouble in the second day in the Pyrenees, we hope to not repeat that. But everyone has seen how strong we were in the team time trial. We've learnt the lessons from the past. We'll be on our guards. I can always fear a mechanical or a puncture at the worst moment. That could have consequences. We'll also be careful of early breakaways. We'll stay focused."
Colombian Quintana, a highly-regarded climber, had been widely expected to launch a major attack in an attempt to claw back time, but he was overtaken by Porte in the final metres.
But no-one could catch up to Froome, as the Brit made his explosive move with 6.4km remaining, and there was nothing anybody could do to stay with him.
The Briton will look to continuing his riding-flair as the race continues in the Pyrenees with a 188km stage 11 that features six categorized climbs, including the infamous Col du Tourmalet climb.
A dramatic finish is expected in this stage of the race.
"At the heart of the three-day Pyrénées chapter of the Tour, the Col d'Aspin and the Tourmalet will have to be climbed by the peloton on the way to Cauterets-Vallée de Saint-Savin. The stage could give riders having struggled on the previous day a good opportunity to hit back and move back up the GC [General Classification]," Christian Prudhomme, Director, Tour de France, told SBS.
WHERE TO WATCH LIVE
In India, the Tour de France Stage 11 can be watched live on Ten Sports (7 pm IST), with the option of live streaming on tensports.com
Viewers in the UK can catch it on Eurosport from 1:15 pm BST. ITV4 will be broadcasting with programmes starting at 2 pm BST, while S4C's live coverage starts at 3 pm.
Highlights: Eurosport2 6 pm - 7 pm & 9 pm - 10:30 pm; ITV4 7 pm - 8 pm; S4C from 10 pm
Live TV: British Eurosport, ITV4, S4C
Viewers in the US can catch it on NBC from 8 am ET - broadcasting four to five hours of live coverage every stage on its NBC Sports channel.
NBC Sports will also air a slightly compressed three-hour broadcast of each stage in primetime, starting at 8 pm ET each night.
