Inevitably, who says sprinters, undeniably says a duel between the two best in the discipline of the peloton, Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan. The two runners have already raised their arms but during the 8th stage, the teammate of Remco Evenepoel was unable to sprint, victim of a puncture 12 km from the finish.
However, two men will upset the already written script for this 9th stage. Directly to the attack from the departure to Chinon, a certain Mathieu Van der Poel and his teammate Jonas Rickaert launched the breakaway of the day. The objective was to take the 20 points of the intermediate sprint, but ultimately, the two men continued their journey to Châteauroux.
Meanwhile, tension was starting to climb within the peloton, with multiple border attempts during the last 50 kilometers. Wout Van Aert, but also several Merlier teammates, found themselves trapped.
Mathieu Van der Poel was finally resumed 800 meters from the finish, offering the so long -awaited the Paloton.
Tour de France rankings:
Relive the 9th stage of the Tour de France:
Fine you live!
Thank you all for following us throughout this ninth stage! We meet tomorrow for the 10th stage around 2:45 p.m. but before that, go to around 9 a.m. to follow a new day of the Mercato newspaper in our company. Until then, do not hesitate to consult all our information on our website! Good end of the day to all!
Two Belgians on the podium, a third in the top 10
With the victory of Tim Merlier (Sudal Quick – Step) and the third place by Arnaud de Lie (Lotto), Belgium is greatly represented on the podium of this ninth stage of the Tour de France. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe) also appears in the top 10 taking eighth place.
In the general classification, nothing moves. Pogacar (UAE) keeps the yellow jersey, Milan (Lidl – Trek) is always the holder of the green jersey, Tim Wellens (UAE) wears the polka dot and Remco Evenepoel (Sudal Quick – Step) white.
Tim Merlier wins the sprint and wins the 9th step!
TIM MERLIER of the Sudal Quick – STEP team wins the sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan (Lidl -Trek) and Arnaud de LIE (Lotto). The Belgian sprinter offers his 12th victory of the season, his 61st in career.
During this day, we must highlight the work of the Alpecin – Deceuninck team which made the breathless step until the end!
Mathieu Van der Poel is poorly paid for all the efforts he produced this afternoon with his teammate Jonas Rickaert.
1km – The red flame
The Dutchman will have tried everything but is finally taken up by the peloton. What a van der Poel race!
