Belgian-born Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel powered through the heat and hills of central France on Sunday to win Stage 9 of the Tour de France.
Known as “The Flying Dutchman,” van der Poel needed three hours, 27 minutes, 51 seconds to complete the heat-shortened stage from Malemort to Ussel and give his Alpecin-Premier Tech team its first win of the race.
On the day’s fourth and final ascent, van der Poel attacked the Category 4 climb and eventually broke away from Tobias Johannessen of Norway and Tom Pidcock of England. Uno-X Mobility’s Johannessen, Pinarello’s Pidcock and EF Education-EasyPost’s Alex Baudin of France finished directly behind van der Poel.
Though race officials made accommodations for the heat by slicing Stage 9 from 185.5 kilometers to 155.5, van der Poel suggested the 90-degree-plus conditions weren’t the worst of the race.
“It was for sure better than the first few days,” van der Poel told TNT. “I was struggling and finding it difficult to recover, even from the easier (days). The past few days I’ve felt a bit better and today I finally had some legs to go for it.
“I was not so sure (about the finish), I spent a lot of energy trying to keep the break alive with all the pressure from the bunch. The roads are horrible (with) head winds and we fought for it and I’m happy to finish it off.”
Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia finished 11th overall — six seconds behind van der Poel — to maintain the overall lead. The four-time champion sits at 32:17.04 heading into Monday’s rest day, the first of the race.
Two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, who finished in the same bunch as Pogacar, remains two minutes and 42 seconds behind. Mexico’s Isaac del Toro, Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, stayed in third place.
After a rest day, Tour de France organizers will celebrate Bastille Day on Tuesday by sending the riders on an ambitious 166.6-kilometer ride through the mountains from Aurillac to Le Lioran.
When they scheduled a similar finishing climb in the 2024 Tour de France, Vingegaard rallied to catch Pogacar and win the stage in a photo finish.
–Field Level Media
