Mathieu van der Poel powers to thrilling stage 9 win – Tour de France

Tour de France 2026

Stage 9

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) sprinted to the third Tour de France victory of his career on the shortened stage 9, outpowering a group of four breakaway riders to grab the win in Ussel.

After instigating the move that selected the final group of four with 25km to go, Van der Poel was forced to lead out the sprint for almost the entire final kilometre, but once he opened up, no one could come around him, and he held the front all the way to the line.

Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) held on for second, a small margin in front of Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5), who had to settle for third after suffering a mechanical on the final descent.

After a long fight, a strong breakaway of 16 went away earlier in the day, which was soon whittled down to eight as only the most powerful riders pushed on, and despite the peloton trying to keep them close, they managed to stay away into the finale.

From there, Van der Poel launched a move over the final climb with 25km to go, which drew out the decisive group of four, who worked together all the way to the line to hold off the peloton and fight for the win between them.

The bunch finished just a handful of seconds down in the end, with Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos) sprinting to fifth after his team had tried but failed to chase down the break in the finale.

“It was a super hard day. The start of the Tour was not great for our team, but I think like always we stayed calm. We have a really nice group here, and we kept believing that it would turn around. Maybe not today, maybe second week, maybe third week, but it’s really nice to go to the first rest day with a win,” Van der Poel said. His win comes off the back of a pair of sprint disappointments for teammate Jasper Philipsen.

“[Regarding the heat] it was for sure better than the first few days; I was really struggling and had some difficulties to recover even from the easier days. But today and already the past few days I felt already a bit better. Of course, they were easier days, but today I had finally some legs to go for it.

About the sprint, Van der Poel said, “I was not so sure. I spent a lot of energy trying to keep the break alive; there was a lot of 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.”

Despite an early fear that UAE Team Emirates-XRG might control the day once more to go for another stage win for Tadej Pogačar or Isaac del Toro, they eventually set the breakaway free and did not contest the finish particularly. Pogačar came across the line safely in 11th to defend his yellow jersey for another day, still leading by 2:42 over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Stage 9 rolled out of Malemort under a blazing sun and 38º C temperatures for a shortened day in the Massif Central. The route alteration meant that the day’s intermediate sprint came after just 13km instead of 44km as planned, which slightly disrupted the start of the stage as the sprint teams wanted to keep things together for the sprint rather than let the break go early.

This plan worked, and green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was able to grab the maximum points at the Beynat sprint ahead of Biniam Girmay (NSN), with the breakaway battle basically starting properly after that. Behind, stage 7 and 8 winner Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) was dropped early amongst other sprinters for what would be a long, hot day in the hills.

There were plenty of big names getting involved in the breakaway attempts, including Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos), but with the day primed for a breakaway win, it was going to take a long time for the break of the day to be decided. Various groups got away briefly and then were brought back, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG getting ominously involved.

After 50km of fast and furious racing, there was still no move as the desperation intensified to get a move away before the day’s longer climbs began. With 95km to go, a big, strong group got away, with no GC threats in it, and initially UAE Team Emirates-XRG looked to be chasing, but they eventually let up, and the gap began to build to just over a minute.

Up front was: Derek Gee-West, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Tobias Foss (Netcompany Ineos), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Lars Craps, Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Clément Braz Afonso, Ewen Costiou (Groupama-FDJ United), Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies).

Soon after the break was established, though, Simmons and Johannessen decided that 16 riders was too many and went on the attack as a pair on the Suc au May climb. They got a gap of 30 seconds over the main break, and then Pidcock, Gee-West and Van Eetvelt went in pursuit to try and close the gap. Those three, along with Van der Poel, Castrillo and Baudin made the junction before the top of the climb, making it eight over the top, though they were still only holding a gap of around 1:15 on the bunch, where UAE seemed determined to keep things fairly close.

The eight leaders definitively distanced the rest of the break, who were soon swept up by the peloton, and worked on trying to build a time gap. The peloton really didn’t want to let it go out, though, and with 50km the eight leaders were still only holding a minute’s advantage. UAE briefly knocked off at one point, as Netcompany Ineos joined in the chase, but they were back on the front with 35km to go.

They handed back over to Ineos soon after, though, who were seemingly chasing to try to move Egan Bernal up to 10th place on GC and defend against Johannessen and Pidcock, who could both gain time and placings from the break. Up front, as the fatigue started to set in, the cooperation in the break started to fade, with riders skipping turns and Van der Poel getting visibly frustrated with the lack of pace. This messing around saw the gap halve in just a few kilometres, down to 30 seconds with 25km as the break hit the final categorised climb of the day, the short but steep Mont Bessou.

It was Van der Poel who kicked away on the climb that suited his strengths, dragging Johannessen and Pidcock with him over the top whilst Lidl-Trek, with their numbers, got caught out. Baudin managed to join on the descent. Four nearly became three as Tom Pidcock suffered a mechanical on the descent, but a few hard kicks to his derailleur seemed to get him going again as the four pushed on to try and chase the stage win.

With 15km to go, the leaders were still leading by only a minute, so it was far from certain that it would be a breakaway win, especially as Lidl-Trek joined the chase behind after missing the crucial move. Going into the final 10km, it was still just about an advantage for the breakaway despite the efforts of Lidl-Trek and Netcompany Ineos, who were making gradual inroads but not really fast enough. The question was if the leaders could work together long enough, or if they started attacking each other early.

Fortunately, the quartet worked together well into the final kilometres and went under the flamme rouge with a gap big enough to play a little bit of a tactical game in the finale. Van der Poel’s companions forced him onto the front for the final kilometre, and he had to lead out the sprint, which isn’t usually the best point to launch from, but the Dutchman’s power was so strong that he launched from the front and sped to the win.

Johannessen did his best as a pure climber to take second, whilst Pidcock took third, with Baudin taking the least rewards in fourth. It was probably a frustrating finish for Netcompany Ineos, with Ganna sprinting to fifth from the bunch behind, possibly confirming that if they had done what they wanted and caught the break, they could have been in for a stage win.

After a well deserved rest tomorrow the riders return to the saddle on Tuesday – Bastille Day. The Tour traverses the Massif Central over 166.6 kilometres of racing from Aurillac to Le Lioran. Most of the 3,900 metres of elevation gain is packed into the second half of the stage. The final 40 kilometres follow the same roads as two editions ago, when Vingegaard outgunned Pogacar in a thrilling finale.

Aurillac boasts a rich Tour de France history. La Grande Boucle has visited the town on the River Jordanne fifteen times, most recently in 2024. That stage set off for Villeneuve-sur-Lot, where Biniam Girmay sprinted to victory.

A bunch sprint is not on the cards this time, as the route is far more demanding. The riders enjoy gentle rolling terrain over the first 65 kilometres, but then the climbing commences with the Côte de Pailherols. The 3.3 kilometres test at 6.5% is a mere appetiser compared to what lies ahead.

After almost 100 kilometres, the peloton tackles the first official climb, the Col de la Griffoul (5.9 kilometres at 6.7%), followed by the Col de Prat de Bouc (3.2 kilometres at 5.8%) and, straight from the descent, the Côte de Murat (6.6 kilometres at 4.4%). In truth, these are still little more than warm-ups for the Grande Finale.

The race really ignites on the Puy Mary – also called Pas de Peyrol – a climb of 7.8 kilometres at 6%, with the final 2.2 kilometres ramping up to 8.8%. After an 8-kilometre descent, it’s straight back uphill on the Col de Pertus, 4.4 kilometres long and averaging 8.5%. The summit comes with 14.6 kilometres remaining.

A 6-kilometre descent leads into Saint-Jacques-des-Blats. The road starts to rise again straight away, but only the final 3.3 kilometres count for the KOM classification. The Col de Font de Cère averages 5.8%.

From the top, it’s 2.5 kilometres to the finish in Le Lioran. The road drops slightly before the final few hundred metres go up at 6%.

In 2024, Le Lioran was the scene of a titanic battle. Tadej Pogacar launched a solo attack on the Pas de Peyrol (climbed then from a steeper side), but Jonas Vingegaard refused to let go. The Dane chased relentlessly, catching the Slovenian near the top of the Col de Pertus, before edging him out in in a photo finish sprint.

Stage 9 result:

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:

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