Mathieu van der Poel prevailed in the sprint of a four-man lead group, securing his third stage victory overall at the Tour de France in Ussel, on the edge of the Massif Central.
The scorching heat in the Corrèze département took its toll on the riders during the ninth stage, yet they still delivered a spectacular race. In temperatures well above 30°C, the Dutch former world champion left Norwegian Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Briton Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) with no chance after 154.6 km.
The route, originally planned at 185.5 km, was shortened by 30 km due to officially mandated temperature limits for sporting events.
The general classification remains unchanged: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates-XRG) continues to lead by 2:42 minutes ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), with Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) third at 3:27 minutes back. Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) currently holds fourth place (+3:30 minutes) and leads the internal team duel with Florian Lipowitz (+4:00).
Notably, Lipowitz and Evenepoel had to complete much of the stage without support riders. The 25-year-old Lipowitz took on supply duties, handing his co-captain bottles. This comes after recent media reports about internal team tensions between the two.
The peloton will enjoy its first rest day on Monday. On Tuesday, France’s national holiday, the tenth stage awaits: 166.6 km from Aurillac to Le Lioran, featuring seven mountain classifications in the final 100 km and an uphill finish at the Massif Central destination, located at 1,240 m altitude.
