Tour de France

Stage 9 was one of the most important of this edition, comprising fourteen dirt road sectors for a total of 32 kilometers of gravel that spiced up the race just before a well-deserved first rest day. Held in the Champagne wine region, and starting and finishing in Troyes – the city which made its first appearance at the race 85 years ago – the stage was full gas from the opening kilometer, when half a dozen teams tried to book a place in the breakaway.

The kind of day where you can’t win the Tour but you can definitely lose it, this 199km stage turned into pure chaos as soon as the peloton hit the first gravel sector. Soudal Quick-Step made sure Remco Evenepoel was in an ideal position every time, thanks to an incredible effort of Yves Lampaert and Gianni Moscon, the latter guiding his leader and keeping him at the front as the bunch split, leaving only 50-odd riders in the main group.

With each kilometer and each gravel road segment that passed, Evenepoel felt better and better, and with an incredible 77 kilometers to go, as the unsurfaced roads went up, he took off and put 15 seconds into the chasers. Joined by the yellow jersey and the defending champion, the 24-year-old Belgian kept pushing through the dust, helping the trio take their buffer to almost half a minute.

The move had potential, but the lack of collaboration ended any hope of it going all the way and allowed the chasing group to bridge across. Remco had the incredible Mikel Landa for company – the Basque producing a fantastic effort on this challenging stage – and remained prominent and in the thick of the action as more attempts to split the peloton came on the challenging white roads of this brutal day.

While at the front the escapees had their own battle, which ended up being won by Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), the GC favourites continued to trade blows as the kilometers ticked down. Evenepoel remained calm and was present in all the moves, and eventually, the group accepted that there won’t be any changes on Sunday and came home together, around two minutes behind the breakaway.

“I felt good today, stayed the whole time out of trouble thanks to a very good team, and at one moment I decided to attack on one of the sectors, despite being some 80 kilometers from the finish. It’s a pity that some didn’t work in the group, as we could have gained a significant margin of minutes even over the others, but it was their tactic in the end, so we have to accept it, that’s cycling.”

“Personally, I did a good stage, had fun out there and proved that I can ride on the gravel. It’s a nice way to conclude what has been a strong and rewarding first week of the Tour de France for us. I am satisfied with how things stand, the shape and the confidence are there, so everything that comes from now on will be a bonus”, said white jersey Remco Evenepoel, who remained second overall after this stage.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images