If anyone expected an easy day for the riders in the flat 9th stage of the Tour, they were greatly mistaken. Right after the start of the 174.1-kilometer test, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck) attacked, soon followed by his teammate Jonas Rickaert.
Together they gained almost six minutes of advantage before the peloton started chasing them. It seemed that van der Poel, who was left alone in the lead at the end, would celebrate his second victory in this year’s Tour, but the peloton caught him in the last kilometer, and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick Step) won the sprint in Châteauroux.
It turned out that with an average speed of 50 km/h, this was the second fastest stage in the history of the Tour de France. It did not affect the order at the top of the overall standings. Tadej, who finished in the peloton in 26th place, continues to wear the yellow jersey 54 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick Step), 1:11 ahead of Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea B&B Hotels), and 1:17 ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike).
But the news of the day for Tadej’s team UAE Team Emirates – XRG was the withdrawal of João Almeida. The Portuguese, who broke a rib and suffered several abrasions in a crash in the 7th stage, stepped off the bike 84 kilometers before the finish.
»We are very sad to have lost João, I think it was all too much for him. I also suffered on the bike this time, it’s hard to imagine what he went through with all the pain. It was very fast all day, it must have been very painful. He didn’t give up in the last two days to continue the race, but this time it was too much suffering. He deserves all the respect, I’m grateful we raced together this week. I hope he recovers, and I can’t wait for him to return to racing, I think he will come back even stronger,« said Tadej.
Almeida, who finished 4th in the Tour last year, was supposed to be one of his key helpers in the mountain stages. »It was a luxury to have him in the fight for the top in the overall standings, he could also have achieved an excellent result in the Tour. He would have been a great help to me in the mountains, physically and morally. Now we have to reassess the situation. We will succeed, we will continue to fight with seven riders and win the Tour for him as well,« Tadej is optimistic.
After the 9th stage, he does not have a rest day, as is customary in three-week races. Tomorrow is July 14th, the French national holiday, on which the Tour stages are usually the most spectacular. Tomorrow’s 10th will likely be such, as it will be the first mountain battle of this year’s Tour in the Central Massif. The riders will have to overcome 4,450 meters of elevation in the 165.3-kilometer test.
»This time we expected a tough stage, but it was even more challenging due to the heat and van der Poel’s speed in the lead, but a mountain stage is ahead of us, which will be even more important. We will see how we approach it. We no longer have João, maybe we will follow the moves. It’s a big day, there will be many attacks from local riders, it will be hard to control the race from the start. We will probably have toadapt to the events during the stage,« Tadej added.
On Bastille Day, he has already won twice, in 2021 he won the 17th stage on July 14th at Col de la Portet ahead of Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz. Last year, in the similar Pyrenean 15th stage with the finish at Plateau de Beille, he was faster than Vingegaard and Evenepoel.