Mathieu Van der Poel won an enthralling ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, sprinting to the line after a chaotic day in the Massif Centrale.
The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider had been part of a huge breakaway which eventually formed after 60km of aggressive racing in the boiling centre of France.
Only four of the group survived to compete for the win, with Tobias Haaland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) taking second place, while Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) was third. The breakaway's only other survivor, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) held on for fourth place, just six seconds ahead of the chasing peloton.
As the leading quartet entered the closing kilometre, with the bunch closing fast, Van der Poel had been stranded on the front by his breakaway companions, but had the power to win the sprint from the front.
Despite the stage being shortened because of the intense heat blanketing the country, stage 9 had always been predicted to be one where the breakaway had a chance of taking the win. Even when overall leader, Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG decided to chase them down, they resisted, taking their lead into the final 30km.
Netcompany-Ineos then took over the pace setting in the bunch the breakaway's dropped, but Van der Poel attacked the breakaway taking three others with him, the quartet racing to the line. Even when Lidl-Trek entered the fray, hoping to set up a win for Mads Pedersen, the leaders held on for the win.
The General Classification remains unchanged, the only difference being Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) moving into 10th overall. Pogačar continues to lead by 2.42 as the race heads into the first rest day on Monday.
The Tour has not gone to plan for Alpecin-Premier Tech so far, with Jasper Philipsen failing to win any of the three sprinters' stages, so Van der Poel was rightly pleased with his victory.
"It was a super hard day," he said. "I think like always we stayed calm, we have a really nice group here and we kept believing that it will turn around and today maybe second week, maybe third week, but it's really nice to go to the first rest day with a win.
"It was for sure better than the first few days," he said, referring to the heat. "I was really struggling and had some difficulties to recover even from the easier days, but already the past two days I felt a little bit better, of course they were easier days, but today I finally had some legs to go for it.
"I spent a lot of energy trying to keep the breakaway alive, there was a lot pressure from the bunch. The roads were horrible for a breakaway, headwind the whole day, we really fought for it, and I'm happy to finish it off."
More to follow…
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sunday's ninth stage between Malemort and Ussel had been slated to cover 185.5km, but with a red alert for intense heat placed on the Corrèze Departement, through which the race rode, Tour de France organisers lopped 30km off the route.
Though an opening southerly loop was removed, the constantly undulating stage still included almost 3,000m of climbing, including four classified climbs, one second category, two third and one fourth.
The shortened course also brought the day's intermediate sprint to kilometre 13.9km. The sprint came on an early unclassified climb, after 2km of a 4.6% gradient, and suited Mads Pedersen, leader of the points classification, perfectly. As a result, his Lidl-Trek team set to work controlling an early break, perfectly leading out the green jersey to take maximum points, extending his lead in the classification.
Concerted efforts to form a breakaway began immediately after the sprint, the road continuing to drag upwards. Filippo Ganna (Netcompany-Ineos) and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost were among the early protagonists, but, with many teams hoping to get up the road, and despite the unrelenting 36º heat, the breakaway did not form quickly.
Indeed, only after 35km of hectic racing, on a sinuous descent, did two riders go clear, the Tudor Pro Cycling pair of Julian Alaphillipe and Marco Haller getting a gap. They were soon joined by three others and it seemed a truce would be called in the bunch, but on the day's first classified climb, they were brought back, and the fight resumed.
With 100km to go a break was still not clear, though on yet another unclassified ascent, five riders began to claw their way up the road. They were soon joined by 11 others and finally, after 60km, a large breakaway formed, and the day seemed set.
However, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) thought otherwise, riding off the front of that group, though with 80km to go they had been joined by Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) and Simmons' team mate Derek Gee-West. The remainder of the group eventually slipped back into the clutches of the peloton, which was led by yellow jersey, Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, an ominous 1.15 behind.
With 60km to go, UAE had closed that gap to within one minute and it seemed they planned to set up Pogačar for another stage win, holding that gap steady until inexplicably allowing it to grow again. Then, in another twist, Netcompany-Ineos headed to the front, apparently in an effort to defend Bernal's 11th place on GC, the gap beginning to drop once more.
Over the the final classified climb, with 25km to go and the buch closing to within 50 seconds, Van der Poel led Johannessen, Baudin and Pidcock off the front of the break. With much of the remaining kilometres downhill, the leading quartet's advantage settled at that point, despite Lidl-Trek helping the chase in the hope Pedersen could take another stage win. However, with 10km to go the peloton still trailed the leaders, and despite some finessing at the front, the break held on.
The Tour de France takes a day off now, returning on Tuesday for stage 10, a medium mountain stage between Aurillac and Le Lioran.
RESULTS
Tour de France, Stage 9, Malemort > Ussel (154.6KM)
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech, in 3:27:51
2. Tobias Haaland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility,
3. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Pinarello-Q36.5,
4. Alex Baudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, at same time
5. Filippo Ganna (Ita) Netcompany-Ineos, +06
6. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek,
7. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco AlUla,
8. Nicolas Breuillard (Fra) TotalEnergies,
9. Jordan Jegat (Fra) TotalEnergies,
10. Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost, all at same time
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 9
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 32:17:04
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:42
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +3:27
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:30
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +3:34
6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:55
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:00
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +4:21
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+4:57
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, +9.12